Chapter 96 Reading Poems at a Paris Pet Cemetery

Sophie said to me, go to the distance first, don't look back at me.I turned my back to her and walked deep into the Paris pet cemetery.The cemetery is located on the banks of the Seine in the northern suburbs of Paris. There is no sound of the city, only the singing of birds.Walking among the generally neatly arranged tombs, looking at the photos or statues of pets on the tombstones, as well as the flowers and sacrifices left by the grave sweepers, I can’t help but feel the same as the buried people Lachaise and Montmartre who visited before. Compared with the scene of cemeteries such as Tete and Montparnasse, I feel that except for the smaller tomb, the whole atmosphere is exactly the same, that is, family affection overflows, where the living and the dead can talk and continue the communication between hearts.

It was a typical Parisian weather that day, sometimes cloudy, sometimes drizzle.At that time, apart from Sophie and I, there was only an old couple in the cemetery. I vaguely saw them bending over to place potted flowers beside a grave over there. My dog ​​doesn't want me to disturb the grave-sweeping, so how can I disturb that strange couple?I pointed the camera at a cat and dog burial near me. The cat’s name was Peach, who died in 1992 and lived for 12 years. The dog’s name was Nicola, who died in 1997 at the age of 15. It can be seen that the owner bought it in advance and was able to bury it. Their acupuncture points, on the top of the wavy black marble stele, the jade photos of the two were taken in the arms of the hostess.

After lingering, Sophie came over, the tears in the corners of her eyes had not been wiped away.She offered to translate the inscriptions on those tombstones or stones for me. "In 12 years/We spent together/Those good and bad days/The memories engraved on my heart/The years can't be eroded", this is for a cat named Sibei. "You / our dog / are more human than people / some people will turn their backs at some point / and you are always / even when we are unlucky / deep in our hearts / you are number one", there is a family behind sign. "A sincere heart/wrapped in fur/six kilograms is pure love/the joy you give us/cannot be expressed in words", the six-kilogram cat Emily received such a heavy posthumous posthumous phrase after her death, heaven knows , how to smile happily?

Sophie told me that this cemetery, covering an area of ​​several hectares, was built in 1899 donated by the Marquise Margaret Durand.At that time, she died of a beloved horse and was buried in the cemetery at the entrance.Under the tall dog statue sitting at the entrance is the second burial person in the cemetery, who was buried publicly by the municipal government of Mrs. Durand's hometown, Asnier.There was an avalanche in a ski resort that year. This dog named Bapari rescued 40 victims in a row, but was shot and killed by the panicked guy when he went to rescue the 41st.During our visit, we found several bird tombs, one monkey tomb, and the rest were almost all cat and dog burials.

The cemetery of Westerners focuses on artistic decoration and the creation of atmosphere.In the cemeteries where people are buried in Paris, there are more inscriptions and poems.But people are sometimes not exempt from hypocrisy.The beautiful and moving verses may be the product of perfunctory, and the inscriptions and poems in this pet cemetery can never contain hypocrisy.It is said that this is currently the only officially operated pet cemetery in the world. The cemetery is basically full. New applicants can only use the cemetery after the purchase period of the old tomb has passed the statutory waiting period for renewal, and the cost is expensive. , if there is no true love in the heart, who would write hypocritical words for the vanity of dead animals?

Sophie said that there are two best inscribed poems, I must listen to her translation, and she took me to the two tombs, a short poem: "My joy and sorrow / can be seen in your eyes / This is the light of doublethink / You are gone / But your eyes are still in my eyes"; a long poem: "Here lies Dick / The only friend in my life / Guilt pricks my heart / I was I reprimanded him so violently / I remembered how fragile he was at that time / I was surprised that I didn’t stop in time? / How lonely I am now / I want to tell him that I will never be rough again / Looking forward to the forgiveness when we meet in the dream / Dick's master loved him with all his heart / It is because I believe that he understands this love / That I no longer feel pain in my heart".Those who wrote these sentences are not poets, but who can say that this is not poetry?

But more tombs in the cemetery have only short inscriptions such as "the love of our lives" and "forever unforgettable".Turning to the tomb of Sophie's pet dog Milu, the plain granite tomb only has the name and the year of birth and death on it, and there are many ways to deal with it like this.I glanced at Sophie, and there were tears in her eyes again.I know that Milu came to her home at the most difficult time in her life, but passed away when her life was improved. There were many strange encounters and deep heart songs in the years spent together, and the tears in the corners of her eyes Light, isn't it just a poem recited for Milu?