A Remarkable Reading Rat Named Zatoichi
by PapaRattzie
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This is the story of a little white rat that had a long journey until he met the special people who became his family. Zat recently passed away but his story always touches me.
Zatoichi (Zat) was named after a very famous Japanese folk hero. He was a blind samurai and a man of peace, but no one would let him be. Just like my little Zatoichi, he was found on the streets. Zat was cornered by a cat and his tail was hurt. Someone had thrown him in an ice chest and shut the lid in the hot summer heat of California. He barely lived to be rescued. But, an angel of a lady found him, managed to revive him, and brought him to an adoption fair. It was there, while I was filming a TV story
that "Julius", (that was his name back then) got on my shoulder, and stayed for over two hours. I think he wanted to come home with me, so he did. Now he is "the light of my life", and I dearly love him. He lives in
our bedroom so he will not be lonely, and he gets only the best of
the best of everything including lots of play and the best care.
Well, enough of
that part of the story. The most special thing about Zat is that I noticed he would always hang out with the books I was reading. If one was open, he would sit
on the page and look at it, especially the pictures. And sometimes, he will
look up at me, as if to say, I understand daddy...
He began dragging books over to my elbow at night. He would try to open the cover, but they were
usually a little awkward, so I open the cover and he just lights up
with enthusiasm! Then, he scans the pages and looks intently at
the pictures. What is it that he sees? Can he really read? He is, after all,
not educated as far as I know. And, rats can't read can they?
Zat will look at three or four pages and then, with a contented look,
put his little head down and go to sleep. He is truly "the light of my life"
