My Life with Kangaroos: A Deaf Woman's Remarkable Story

3. Under the Spell of the Kangaroo

28 3 Under the Spell of the Kangaroo ONE day after the war had officially ended, Auntie told me for the first time about the origins of World War II. To help explain, she took me into her bedroom and showed me a large map of the world that indicated the theaters of the war. She also pointed out the seven continents, including a huge, purple-red island. “That’s Australia!” she said. I peered at this richly contoured shape. It was not only totally foreign to me but also seemed to be at the edge of the world, and I could not have even told you whether any living creatures existed there! Regardless of this, the shape of the island stuck in my mind like a seed planted in my memory. Of course, at the time I had no idea that Australia would one day hold a central place in my life. One superbly sunny day in May, Auntie sat opposite me at the table, opened the school reading book, and smiled down at me. “I’ve got a long zoo story for you today,” she announced. I was four years old at the time. She began reading, and I followed the story word for word from her lips.8 This was a hard job, but I enjoyed this exciting animal story. At first, there were stories about apes, elephants, various predators, and other inhabitants of the zoo. And then Auntie read about the kangaroos. 8. This is how we always communicated. We did not use sign language. 9781563685590_My Life with Kangaroos.indd 28 4/8/13 11:04 AM Under the Spell of the Kangaroo 29 At this word, Auntie looked at me kindly and made kangaroo hops with her hands. In doing so, she demonstrated to me how high these animals can jump even with a full pouch. I laughed with her! Some days later we visited the Natural History Museum. Auntie instructed me to draw various animals, an assignment I didn’t much care for. After completing sketches of several animals, we packed up our things, but as I was heading for the exit, Auntie gently tugged at my sleeve and signaled that I should go back. She placed my stool in front of a glass window and, with a cheeky smile, suggested that I draw this one last animal. It was a kangaroo. Still a little unwilling, I nevertheless sat down and drew what was there. Not overly pleased with my rendering, Auntie took the pencil and corrected some of the outlines. Then she had me copy the description on the display. I scribbled down the text. A moment later I was astonished to read that kangaroos eat only plants. “Do they eat tulips, cowslips, and sunflowers, do you think?” I asked. “You know they eat only grass!” Auntie replied, her forehead furrowed. A few days after this we went to the zoo again. Auntie hurried along in front of me, carrying a list of animals that she wanted to show me. We rushed past several pens in the process, including those containing kangaroos. However, I just could not help glancing at them, and it was at this very moment that something passed through me like a flash of lightning. It may sound rather strange, but so it was. Without wanting to, I jumped into the air! The inner spark had become a flame, and a close relationship with kangaroos had been struck. This was how it was to be in the future. On another occasion, Auntie and I went for a walk in the brilliant sunshine. All of a sudden, I stopped for a moment and then began hopping over puddles so that my braids just flew! “Kangaroo! Kangaroo!” Auntie called the moment I turned toward her again. Looking back on that moment, I can say that my enormous affection for the species was first promoted by Auntie, who understood me and cheerfully accompanied me everywhere. 9781563685590_My Life with Kangaroos.indd 29 4/8/13 11:04 AM 30 MY LIFE WITH KANGAROOS From then on, our school lessons went along in a more cheerful way, and on every suitable occasion I talked about kangaroos. It wasn’t long before the blackboard, my exercise books, the edges of newspaper reports, and even the pavement outside were full of kangaroo portraits. With assiduous practice, I soon became a master of kangaroo portraiture. I...