S ackcloths …

»Do you hear the sheep sing?«

What?

We are turning around to Hildegard, the cook and housekeeper, all four of us at the same time.

What did she just say?

She is looking out of the window, and we are following her direction of view while she is singing a kind of a bumpy song.

»Do you hear the sheep sing?
Singing the song of angry beasts?
It is the music of the animals
Who will not be slaves again!«

And indeed I can hear a bleating sound coming from the yard outside.

What's that rhythm? A waltz?

I cannot believe my eyes. The group of sheep outside - let's call them a flock - has risen to their hind-legs, forming a circle, front-legs put around the shoulders of their next-to sheep. They are swaying from one side to the other, almost dancing and chanting,

»Not be slaves again! Not be slaves again! Not be slaves again!«

Claude Sideburns, the man we used to call Burnside and Professor, jumps out of his chair.

»What is that nonsense?« He cries out. »Not in my backyard! Didn't I tell you? Not in my backyard!«

»It's your front yard, Master Claude«, Gilbert the butler remarks. »They are singing and dancing in your front yard.«

»And no-one will believe that«, Claude Sideburns sighs, hiding his face in the palm of his hand.

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Today is Friday, the 24th of February 2023.

Dancing Sheep