My friend Annalisa is a lovely sweet person with a very poetic soul. She can turn everyday facts into beautiful special events. So when I read this little tale on her Facebook page I decided (with her permission) to share it with you, my dear readers.

Ho l’abitudine di mettere appena fuori casa del cibo secco x gatti, e acqua per i vari “ospiti” che passano di qua. Ho visto che il cibo umido x i gatti rinsecchito dal caldo (che Mimì non mangia) viene divorato dalle formiche, così quando Mimì avanza la pappa non la butto e la do alle formiche.
I have the habit of putting dried food for the cats, and water for the various ‘guests’ that pass by here, just outside the house. I’ve seen that humid cat food dried out by the heat (which Mimì doesn’t eat) gets devoured by the ants, so when Mimì leaves food I don’t throw it way, I give it to the ants.

… ed io apro piano la finestrella della persiana … In this photo you can see the traditional persiane (shutters) with their small windows at the bottom which open upwards. Photo ©Geoff Chamberlain

Ma da un po’ di tempo ho un altro ospite gradito! Da un po’ di notti sento il rumore del piattino (sotto la finestra della camera), rumore della ciotola dell’acqua e … chi ti vedo?? non un gatto, ma bensì un riccio cicciottello! Fantastico! Tutte le notti esce e viene a mangiare e bere nell’osteria degli Angella&Moretti!
But for a while I’ve had another welcome guest! For a few nights now I’ve heard the noise of the saucer (beneath the bedroom window), the noise of the water bowl and … who do I see?? not a cat but rather a chubby hedgehog! Fantastic! Every night she goes out and comes to eat and drink at the Angella&Moretti Inn!

… ed io apro piano la finestrella della persiana e mi godo lo spettacolo del riccio a cena da noi …
… and I slowly open the little window in the shutters and enjoy the show of the hedgehog having her evening meal at our house …

A Few Grammatical Notes:

x is the mathematical symbol for multiplication, which in Italian is written per. The letter x is now commonly used in text messaging to substitute the preposition per (for) or in other words which begin with per, such as perché (why/because) which is written xké. See this post: Messaggini

quando Mimì avanza la pappa = literally: when Mimì leaves the food. The transitive use of the verb avanzare (to be left over, to remain) is used in the region of Lombardia, and in fact Annalisa comes from Monza, near Milano, in Lombardia. In standard Italian the verb avanzare is intransitive, so the normal construction would be: quando avanza la pappa di Mimì (when Mimì’s food is left over)

chi ti vedo? = who do I see? The redundant use of the pronoun ti is a fairly common colloquialism. It is used to involve the reader or the person we are talking to.