My Family and Other Animals: A Corfu Adventure
CHAPTER 9. Ulysses
In the summer, my new tutor, Peter, arrived. He was a tall, handsome young man from the University of Oxford. At first, he taught me math and English grammar. But finally, Corfu Peter worked his magic. He discovered that we could study mathematics at the beach. It was also decided that I could learn English grammar by writing an hour a day.
I wrote a journal of my observations of nature. For English class, I decided to write a book. Every morning, I spent a happy hour adding another chapter. The book was about traveling around the world with my family, catching animals. Each catch involved an encounter with a dangerous animal. It was sometimes difficult to rescue my mother from a lion or Larry from a snake, in just one hour.
While I was writing, Peter was walking in the garden with Margo, looking at flowers. Peter and Margo were both so interested in the flowers and each other that Peter had less time to make me work math problems or do other work.
One afternoon, while I was climbing an olive tree, I put my hand into a hole. I felt something soft and warm under my fingers move. I pulled my hand out and saw what it was: a baby owl. I bit my finger and we fell out of the tree together.
I put the baby owl in my pocket and took it home. The whole family thought it was a wonderful pet. We called him Odysseus and gave him a basket to live in next to my desk.
Roger was used to sharing my room with all types of creatures, so I decided to introduce him to Ulysses. I put Ulysses on the floor and told Roger to go up to him. Roger walked around Ulysses slowly. Roger followed Ulysses with his eyes. Roger began to look worried. I told Roger to go away. Ulysses jumped on his nose and looked into Roger’s eyes. Roger barked from the shock and ran under the desk. I had to return Ulysses to his basket before Roger came out again. It was not quite a successful meeting.
While Ulysses was growing up, he and Roger became friends. In the evenings, when I was swimming in the sea, Ulysses rode on the back of Roger to the beach. He sat on my clothes as a guard while Roger and I played in the water. Sometimes he flew over our heads and called to us.
As it was the hottest summer, the family spent much time on our boat, the Sea Cow. I spent hours collecting specimens from the rocks and puddles in the small islands. Unfortunately, my family did not like the islands as much as me because they did not have good beaches. I decided I needed a boat to myself.
I went to talk with Leslie, when he was in a good humor.
“Leslie, what are you going to give me for my birthday?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Gerry. Choose something,” said Leslie.
“I really want a boat. You could build one for me,” I replied.
“A boat,” said Leslie. “That’s too big for a birthday present.”
“Well, you told me to choose and I really need a boat. Of course, if it is too difficult for you…” I said.
Leslie stared at me. “No, it’s not too difficult,” he finally said. “But it’s hard work.”
In the next two weeks, there were many bangs and shouts from the backyard when Leslie was working on my boat.
The day before my birthday, we went to the city. Lugaretzia went to the dentist. We bought food and wine for my birthday party and my family had to buy my gifts. We wanted to invite ten people to the party, but in the city every person in the family invited ten different people. It was obvious that the party would be huge.
The dentist took out all of Lugaretzia’s teeth. She cried in the car on the way home. She would not be helpful in preparing a huge feast.
“Don’t worry,” Spiro said. “I’ll make the party.”
On the morning of my birthday, Leslie took us to the backyard to see my gift. The boat was almost round and was painted green and white on the inside and black and orange on the outside. I thought it was beautiful, perfect for collecting specimens. The whole family helped to lower it to the beach and we called it the Bootle.
The house and garden were soon filled with guests. Spiro made stew in the kitchen and his friend served meals and drinks. Some people brought their entire family to the party. Most of the guests brought gifts, but my favorite gift was the two puppies that a peasant family gave me.
In the afternoon, Leslie and Theodore started dancing the national dance, the Kalanatianos. Spiro and some of the other men began to dance too. Lugaretzia walked around showing people the inside of her mouth. Larry was in the garden teaching some Greek people to write poems. Everyone had a good time.
That night, Roger went to sleep by my feet, a puppy under each arm and Ulysses sitting on my bed.
CHAPTER 10. The Family Goes Hunting
In late summer, Mother decided that Margo and Peter were too young to be so interested in each other. None of us wanted Peter to become part of the family. Leslie wanted to shoot Peter, but Mother did not agree. She asked Peter to leave. He departed on the ferry in the middle of the night without saying goodbye. Margo cried and acted like the heroine of a tragedy.
“My life is complete. I want to die,” she said, while walking around her room dressed in black. She refused to come downstairs and eat. I took food to her room.
Spiro loved a good drama, and cried as much as Margo, but also sent his friends to the coast in the event that Peter decided to return.
Winter came and the hunting season began. Leslie brought many dead birds and rabbits home. He told stories of hunting all afternoon.
“It sounds very difficult,” Larry said one afternoon in the middle of a story. “They only point the gun and shoot.”
“It’s much more difficult than that,” Leslie said.
“I don’t see why,” said Larry.
“Come hunting with me tomorrow and see why,” Leslie said.
“Okay,” said Larry. “Tomorrow you will need to use your brain to be a good hunter.”
The next morning was cold and damp, but we all went to see Larry hunt.
“I don’t understand why I have to show you how easy it is,” he complained. “I’ve already explained.”
Suddenly, a bird came flying by. Larry shot, but nothing happened.
“You have to put bullets in the gun,” said Leslie, laughing, “or it doesn’t work.”
“I thought you put them in,” Larry said as he put bullets in the gun.
Larry was standing next to a pond when another bird flew away. When he shot, he fell backwards into the water.
The mud was very deep and Larry got stuck. He could not get out by himself. Leslie’s gun was also in the mud and Leslie was furious.
“My gun!” cried Leslie. “You ruined my gun!”
“Stop worrying about your stupid gun and get me out of here!” Larry shouted angrily.
“Take the end of the gun and use it to pull yourself out,” ordered Leslie.
“Are you okay?” asked Margo, when Larry was finally out of the mud.
“I’m fine,” said Larry. “I’ve had a wonderful time. I’m cold, I’m wet and dirty. My shoes were lost in the mud and I’ve probably caught pneumonia.” Larry walked home complaining.
When we got home, Lugaretzia made a great fire in the fireplace in Larry’s room. He took a bottle of brandy and went to bed. After a while, we heard him singing. Margo went upstairs to see if everything was alright.
“Larry’s drunk,” Margo said, when she returned downstairs.
Mother went upstairs to Larry’s room. “Who are you?” asked Larry, when Mother opened his door. Then he fell asleep.
Early in the morning, Margo saw smoke coming from Larry’s room.
“The house is on fire!” she cried.
Mother ran to Larry’s room. He was asleep. “Wake up, Larry! Wake up!” she cried. “Your room is on fire.”
“Well, get some water for putting it out,” said Larry. He sat up on the bed and gave orders and instructions to everyone.
When the fire was out, Larry said, “There was no reason for panic. Now please bring me a cup of tea. I have a headache.”
“You have a hangover,” said Leslie, “from drinking cognac.”
“I had a fever last night, and then this morning, I had to help a group of hysterical people to extinguish a fire. It’s enough to give someone a headache,” said Larry.
“How did you help? You didn’t leave the bed,” said Leslie.
“Somebody had to say what to do,” said Larry. “You use your brain to think in a situation like that.”
CHAPTER 11. The Letter from Aunt Hermione
Spring arrived and the island was covered with flowers. We spent our time on the terrace, eating, sleeping, reading or just talking.
Once a month, Mother received a letter from our great-aunt Hermione in England. One day she showed us a particularly thick letter and said, “Aunt Hermione wants to come and stay with us.”
“No, I refuse,” cried Larry. “Aunt Hermione is impossible. Illness is her profession. Tell her we have no room.”
“I can’t do that, dear,” said Mother. “I already told her that we have a large villa.”
“Well, tell her that there is an epidemic,” said Larry.
“Don’t be silly. I already told her how healthy it is here,” said Mother.
“Really, Mother, you’re impossible. I was planning a nice quiet summer with a few friends,” Larry said. “I know. I will write and tell her you’re sick.”
“If you do, she will come to take care of you,” Mother replied.
“There is only one solution! We must move to a smaller villa,” said Larry.
“Larry, don’t be stupid!” Mother said. “People will think we’re crazy if we move again.”
“If Aunt Hermione comes, Mother, we will be crazy,” Larry said. “We have to move to a smaller villa. There is no other option.”
“It’s so eccentric,” said Mother.
“It’s not eccentric,” said Larry. “It’s perfectly logical.”
“Be sensible, Mother,” said Margo. “A change is as good as a rest.”
We did not understand Margo’s saying, but we moved to a smaller villa.
The Snow-White Villa
CHAPTER 12. More Animal Friends
The new villa was as white as snow. It was on top of a hill. There was a large terrace on either side of the house. The front garden had many flowers, there was a magnolia tree in the backyard, and there were olive trees everywhere.
Now I had a chance to see some green praying mantises with their big eyes and long arms and legs. I named one of the largest of these strange insects Cicely. She flew into my room at night to hunt insects flying around my light. Cicely was almost twelve inches wide. The first time I picked her up, she grabbed my thumb with her long legs. The sharp needles along her legs broke my thumb and I immediately let go. When I looked at my thumb it was bleeding in several places.
Transparent lizards called geckos also entered my room at night to hunt insects. I called a particularly clever gecko Geronimo. He lived under a rock in the garden. In the afternoon, he climbed the wall and came to my window to hunt in my room. He also hunted the insects flying around my light.
One night there was a terrible battle in my room between Cicely and Geronimo. Cicely was flying in to hunt while Geronimo was already there. Cicely attacked Geronimo to protect its territory. They fought on the roof and up and down the wall. Finally, they fell into my bed. The sharp Cicely legs made a big cut on the back of Geronimo. Geronimo grabbed one of Cicely’s legs with his mouth. Cicely grabbed his tail. Cicely lost the fight when Geronimo pulled the wing off one of its legs. Then the winner ate the loser.
Meanwhile, Mother found a new tutor for me. His name was Mr. Kralefsky and he lived in an old mansion near the outskirts of the city. Mr. Kralefsky was a man with an oval head.
“Are you Gerry Durrell?” he asked the first time we met. “I’m sure we are going to be great friends. Come and help me give my birds fresh water.”
We climbed to the attic of his house. It was filled with huge cages. There were dozens of birds flying around in them. Mr. Kralefsky spoke to the birds as we filled each water jar. We spent part of every lesson talking about birds, but Mr. Kralefsky also made me learn a lot of history, geography and French.
I soon discovered that Mr. Kralefsky had a fantastic imagination. He told me wonderful stories of adventure. He was always the hero and always had to rescue a beautiful lady. One day, I told Mr. Kralefsky I wanted a bulldog.
“Oh yes, bulldogs are great dogs,” he said. “But pit bull terriers are dangerous. I remember how I saved the life of a lady,” Mr. Kralefsky told us. “I was walking in a park when I heard someone screaming. I ran through the trees. Suddenly, I saw a lady with her back against a tree. Her dress was torn and her legs were bleeding. A bull terrier was attacking her. She was trying to protect herself with a chair, but she was giving up.
His eyes were shining as he continued, “I ran to hit the dog with my stick. The beast turned and leaped at my throat. I hit the animal’s head, but my stick broke. The dog was injured, but I missed again. I got up there with empty hands.”
“What did you do?” I asked impatiently.
“I did the only thing possible under the circumstances,” said Mr. Kralefsky. “When the dog jumped at my face, I put my hand into his mouth and held his tongue. He bit my hand and I was bleeding, but I grabbed his tongue. Finally, the dog’s body stopped moving. I could not breathe while he was holding his tongue.”
I knew it probably was not true, but it was a wonderful story. One day, I met the mother of Mr. Kralefsky. She was a little old woman, not much bigger than a child. Her room was full of flowers. “Can you hear the flowers talking?” she asked.
I shook my head. The idea of talking flowers was new to me.
“I can hear them having long conversations,” she said. “At least I think they have conversations, because, of course, I can’t understand their language. Do you see that rose? It was in a vase with some wild flowers and they were very rude. It was dying. I put it in a vase alone and gave it half an aspirin. Now it is beautiful again and is trying to stay beautiful as long as possible.”
“Well, bats talk to each other and can’t be heard, so maybe the flowers are the same,” she said.
“Exactly,” said Mrs. Kralefsky. “I’m old now and everything has slowed down. I notice things that I never had time for when I was young. When you’re old, you will hear the flowers as well.”
One evening, after my lessons, I was walking on a hill near the villa when I found a magpie’s nest. There were four baby birds in it. I took the loudest and hungriest home. All of the family reacted to them differently.
“They are lovely!” said Margo.
“What are you going to feed them?” asked Mother.
“They’re disgusting!” said Leslie.
“Oh no! No more animals!” shouted Larry.
“What are they?” said Spiro.
“They are crows,” I said.
“Magpies!” said Leslie. “They are terrible thieves. Larry took a hundred-drachma note and held it up to the baby birds. They looked up and opened their mouths. “See that?” said Larry. “They are trying to attack me and get the money. Gerry, you can’t keep these birds.”
“Nonsense,” said Mother. “They’re hungry. I think Gerry can have them.”
“You’ll be sorry!” said Larry. “We will need guards to protect our jewels and money with these birds in the house.”
“What are their names?” asked Spiro.
“Magpies,” said Mother.
“Ah, Magenpies,” said Spiro.
“No, magpies,” said Mother.
“That’s what I say,” said Spiro. “Magenpies!”
And that’s what we called the two birds – Magenpies. After they began to fly, they learned which rooms they could enter. They thought that Larry’s room was the most interesting because he always shouted at them. They were sure he had something important to hide.
One day, Larry went swimming and left his window open. When he returned, his room was a disaster. There were papers all over the floor and paper clips all over the carpet and bed. The magpies’ footprints and green ink were smeared around the table, floor and bed.
“Gerry, you must do something to control or kill those birds,” Larry cried.
Mother and Leslie came upstairs and looked at Larry’s room. “My God! What happened here?” asked Mother.
“It was probably the Magenpies,” Leslie said, looking over his shoulder. “Did they steal anything?”
“No,” said Larry. “That’s the only thing they didn’t do.”
After that, I decided to build a cage for the Magenpies.
CHAPTER 13. The Prisoner
Beneath our village there were fields with channels running between them. Figs, grapes and potatoes grew there. It was a wonderful place to hunt for specimens.
One afternoon, I was walking through the fields with my dogs, when they started barking. I saw two water snakes in the mud of a channel. I captured them and put them in my collecting basket. When I looked up, I saw a man sitting and watching me. “You have to be healthy,” he said as I walked out of the mud. “Are you a foreigner?”
“I’m English,” I replied. “We live in a house on the hill.”
“I’m going to my boat,” he said. “Where are you going?”
“We are also going to the sea,” I said.
“Well, we can walk together,” said the stranger. “My home is here in the hills, but now I’m in a prison on the island of Vido. I am a good prisoner, so I can come home in my boat on the weekends. I return to Vido on Monday morning.”
We walked to the sea together. When we got to the stranger’s boat, I was surprised to see a large gull with its leg tied to the boat.
“Be careful! He bites,” said the stranger, but the large bird put his head forward and let me touch it. “He likes you. Do you want to have him?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” I said, “Of course I want him.”
“Take him,” said the stranger. “His name is Alecko. He will come when you call him.”
I tucked Alecko under my arm and the stranger returned to his boat. “Come tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll take you to catch fish for Alecko.”
“What is your name?” I asked. “Why are you in prison?”
“My name is Kosti Panopoulos. I murdered my wife,” he replied.
I held Alecko’s beak closed and put him under my shirt to take him home. Everyone was in the yard when I arrived.
Mother said, “What’s that?”
“What a huge bird!” Margo said. “Is it an eagle?”
“It’s a gull,” said Leslie.
“Nonsense,” said Larry. “It’s an albatross and it is obviously dangerous. Everyone knows that they are unlucky. We will probably have an epidemic.”
“Where are you going to keep it, Gerry?” Mother asked.
“I’ll share the Magenpies’ cage and put it in there,” I said.
“What are you going to feed it?” said Mother.
“Kosti said that tomorrow I will go fishing to catch fish for Alecko,” I replied. “He’s a good prisoner, so he has a boat.”
“A prisoner! Gerry, I don’t think that’s a good idea to go fishing with a prisoner,” said Mother. “After all, dear, we don’t know what he did.”
“But I know what he did, Mother. He murdered his wife,” I replied.
“Gerry, you can’t go fishing with a murderer,” Mother said.
Finally, Mother said that if Leslie got to know Kosti first, I could go fishing with him. In the morning, Leslie dropped me off in his boat at Kosti’s and shook hands with him. Leslie went hunting in the hills and Kosti and I went fishing. Kosti was a good fisherman and we caught enough fish to feed Alecko for a week. Later, he came to the villa with me and we had tea with Mother on the terrace.
CHAPTER 14. The Party
We decided to have a party in the new villa. It was September, so naturally, my family decided to call it a Mid-Summer Christmas Party. We invited everyone we knew.
The farmers brought baskets of fruit and vegetables to the kitchen door. Spiro came from the city with a car full of food and wine. Mother made a huge amount of food because she invited people for lunch, tea and dinner.
Strange things always happened at our parties. In this event the goldfish started it.
I still had my water snakes in a pond in the garden. I told Spiro that I could not find any goldfish to put in the pond with them.
“Goldfish?” said Spiro. “Don’t worry. I’ll find you some goldfish.”
One day, Spiro came for me in his car after my lessons. We drove to the gates of a beautiful mansion with a large garden. Spiro got out of the car with a pail and went to the door. A man opened the door to Spiro. They went into the garden, and a few minutes later Spiro returned to the car and gave me the pail.
“Here you are, Mr. Gerry, goldfish,” said Spiro. “But they are not for showing to anybody.”
A week later, I walked near the same house with Theodore, and I asked him who lived there.
“Oh, the King of Greece is staying there when he comes to Corfu,” said Theodore. I had even more respect for Spiro and my goldfish.
On the day of the party, I looked at my fish tank and saw that the water snakes were eating one of my goldfish. I put the snakes in a container, and went to the kitchen to get some food for my dogs while thinking about how to solve this problem. When I returned, the pail was in the sun and the snakes were almost dead. Mother ran to the kitchen.
“Mother, my snakes are dying!” I said.
“What can we do, dear?” she asked.
“Can I put them in the bathtub?” I asked. “I think that will help.”
“I guess so,” said Mother. “But please, clean the tub afterwards.”
I filled the tub with cold water. After a while, the snakes were better and I returned to the party because the guests were arriving.
I went to the porch to look at the table. The Magenpies were sitting in the middle of the meal. There were broken beer bottles on the floor and there were birds’ footprints in the food. The Magenpies did not know how to fly. They were drunk on beer.
“Gerry, put them in their cages,” Mother said. She was angry with the Magenpies, but she usually forgot because they were drunk.
When I put the Magenpies in their cages, I saw that Alecko was not there. I expected him to be at the beach.
Leslie came home from hunting and went upstairs to take a shower and change clothes. After a few minutes, I heard him screaming and he came to the balcony wearing only a small towel. “Snakes!” he cried. “There are snakes in the bathtub.” The guests began to look worried.
We went to remove the snakes from the bath. When I returned, Larry was telling the worried guests, “This house is dangerous. Every corner is filled with dangerous creatures. I was attacked by a scorpion while lighting a cigarette. The magpies destroyed my room. Now there are snakes in the bath and an albatross is flying around the house.”
“We’re going to eat now,” said Mother, trying to distract the guests.
We all sat around the table, but several guests immediately jumped up again. “Something has bitten me!” cried the guests.
“That’s exactly what I was talking about,” said Larry, “Gerry probably has a family of tigers down here.”
Theodore looked under the table. “Actually,” he said, “it’s a seagull.”
“Gerry,” said Mother, “put Alecko in his cage immediately.”
Alecko finally returned to his cage and the guests ate a long and wonderful meal. After the meal, Spiro arrived. He had a large box with him.
“There are three turkeys that my wife cooked for your mother,” said Spiro.
“We’re all going to have a drink before dinner,” said Larry.
All the guests went to the living room talking and drinking champagne.
Mother had a little dog named Dodo. She went to the garden to find a tree. Unfortunately, there were some male dogs running around and they chased Dodo into the living room. The male dogs ran into the house after Dodo and my three dogs jumped up to defend their territory.
“Wolves!” said Larry.
“Keep calm! Keep calm!” cried Leslie. He pulled the couch cushions off the couch to throw at the dogs. The dogs grabbed the pillows and soon there were feathers everywhere.
“Where is Dodo?” said Mother. “Find Dodo!”
“Paradlos! Paradlos!” cried Margo.
“I think black pepper is good to stop dogs fighting,” said Theodore, “but I’ve never tried it.”
“Save the women!” shouted Mr. Kralefsky. He helped the nearest woman to get on the couch and then got on with her.
“Water is good,” said Theodore. He had feathers in his beard.
Spiro overheard Theodore and went to get a bucket of water from the kitchen. He returned to the living room with the bucket. “Beware!” he roared. “I’ll deal with the dogs.”
The guests ran in all directions but they were not quick enough. The water flew through the air and hit the floor like a wave, soaking everyone in the room. This had an instant effect on the dogs and they disappeared into the garden.
The guests were wet and covered with feathers.
“Well,” Mother said, “This room is a disaster. Leslie, get some towels for us to dry ourselves. Come out to the terrace, everyone, and we’ll have tea.”
Finally, we were all dry and happy. Larry played the guitar, Spiro and Leslie carved the turkeys, Mother gave more food to everyone; Mr. Kraleksky sat on the terrace wall telling Margo one of his wonderful adventures.
The island was black and silver in the moonlight. Owls hooted to each other in the trees. The magnolia tree in the garden was full of large white flowers. They filled the garden with a wonderful smell.
CHAPTER 15. Leaving Corfu
Finally, Mr. Kralefsky told Mother that he had nothing more to teach me. He suggested a school in England or Switzerland to finish my education.
“But, Mother,” I said, “I like being half-educated. Everything is so much more amazing.”
However, Mother refused to listen. She decided to go back to England in a month to find a school for me. To avoid a rebellion in the family, she told us we’d be having a very short break. We would be returning to Corfu soon.
Our bags and boxes were packed and we made cages for the birds and tortoises. The dogs looked uncomfortable in their new collars. We took our last walks through the olive trees and we said goodbye to our many farmer friends. Spiro came to the villa to take us to the city one last time.
In the customs building, Mother was questioned about our mountain of possessions. The Magenpies and Alecko stared at the customs officer.
“These are all yours?” asked the customs officer. Mother nodded her head nervously.
“Do you have some new cloos?” the inspector then asked.
“Excuse me,” said Mother. “I didn’t understand the question.”
“Do you have some new cloos?” he repeated louder.
Spiro came over and saved Mother from replying. “No,” he said. “They have no new clothes.”
Our good friends waited for the boat with us. It was hard to find words to say goodbye.
“Well, I will not say goodbye, but au revoir,” Theodore said sadly, while his hands shook all of ours. “I hope you return very soon.”
“Bye, bye,” said Mr. Kralefsky, going from person to person. “Fare ye well. Have a very good holiday. Come back soon.”
Spiro shook hands with each of us and then stood with a sad expression on his face. “Well, I say goodbye,” he began, and then began to wail. “Honestly, I wail. But you are like my family.”
The boat waited while Spiro consoled himself. When we finally boarded, our friends waved as the boat took us out to sea.
After we came ashore in Italy, the train took us from Brindisi to Switzerland, and no one spoke. The birds and the dogs were asleep. At the Swiss border, a guard checked our documents very efficiently and wrote something. A few minutes later, Mother looked at the documents.
“What a rude man!” she said. “Look what he wrote!”
On the form, under Description of Passengers it said, Travelling Circus.
Larry looked at the form. “Well, that is the punishment for leaving Corfu,” he said.
The train continued on to England.