When at half past three at night it rang at my door, first I thought of a bad dream. Which merciless person would then, have the idea at this hour, to get someone out from the bed? On top of that, in such a lonely region, the nearest neighbourhood  in the distant miles and the only possibility of approach being a bumpy country lane. Annoyed, I wanted to turn round straight back, there one rang again, this time long, continuously and importunately. So I arose, then, in my destiny and shuffled to the door. To my surprise, it was gleaming light outside , so that I could not recognize first at all, even more, as a small shade which reached to me only up to the navel. I just prepared myself to  give vent to my rage, there I already got a stranger.

 

" Of revered natives! I come here past by a bus of full hungry tourists, and what do I see? This that grows in your garden  in heaps , is what we all really eat . What would it cost if we dine here in tithe? "

 

I stared at him unbelievingly. Since the death of my wife nothing grew in the garden as weeds. I had never done a lot of gardening" If you want at all costs, help yourselves, this is to be had everything free of charge. However, please, be quiet, I am tired and tomorrow I have to go again early. "

 

The small one squeaked with  pleasure.

 

 

" Oh what they are, nevertheless, for a broadminded nature! One introduces himself, a banquet for ten and this completely free! I will inform my travel agency of this, here every bus should take a stopover. "

 

 The shiny horror enveloped me.

 

" Nevertheless, you cannot do this to me! Nevertheless, sky, you see clock, it is in the middle of night! Get now your people, pick what you  need and do that they get away again. They are moved! "

 

The small bowed politely, pulled out of the folds of his cape, a small machine and a few words spoken in a language inarticulate for me. Few minutes later, it was teeming before my house with small people who skipped themselves in their enthusiasm formally. Some already wanted to sneak off from the group in the garden, but a shout of the courier held  them back.

 

" Say what is speciality  then here in this region ? Nevertheless, I would like to offer something to the people. "

 

He must have completely lost his sense/reason. I murmured somewhat of wild dandelion and dried stinging nettles and believed, perhaps they could find still a few scruffy beets in the rear patch. He stared at me only unbelievingly.

 

" There you have such tits bits in your garden and do you live on fuel? " " HÄ? "

 

He shook the head, then he called  his people, they should take themselves as much as they wanted,and nobody would notice it. Meanwhile, my tiredness had completely faded and I was curious, what these peculiar tourists - where they probably came from – and particularly now so  gladly might eat.  I also quietly  followed them.

 

Nobody can believe my surprise when I discovered one of them  nibbling my garden wall. In addition, he was covered with moss and perhaps it was this, what these people wanted, but from the crunching of his razor-sharp teeth I concluded that he himself consumed unambiguously the stones. What did I have to do  here, really, with a heap of Irreparable?

The others also did not behave themselves better, some dug between the weeds and brought to the surface one stone after the other and with each they broke in loud cheers calls .

 

It went on so for more than one hour. For a long time, I had forgotten my bed and my tiredness. What happened here was so unusual, the fact that I wanted to miss  no moment of it. Finally, they were all fully apparent. Some stuffed the pockets of their caps and the others with  journey provisions, then they gathered gradually again around their courier.

 

 

" I do not know like I should thank you. Said he. " Now we have  traveled by twelve galaxies, but  nowhere did we receive such a banquet served. "

 

He beat off the hood of his cape a little and now, at last, I could see his face, nothing was like human beings, even slightly. It was controlled by an enormous mouth with big meal teeth, on whom a single eye was enthroned. But this eye radiated such a warmth and gratitude, as I had  not experienced with anyone with two eyes.

 

Spontaneously I held out to him the hand and he reached for it with a claw which had a  similarity with that of a bird.

" If I cannot pay to you anything, you can ask me , nevertheless, for at least something  as souvenir for this evening- a souvenir of my home planet. We have more than enough of it. "  

With these words he pressed  a big lump of gold in my hand. While I still stared unbelievingly at it, the natures were on the way back in their space bus. I ran behind, could not catch up with  them,any more. When I was  only few meters away from their unusual vehicle, it rose in the airs. I still waved to him till the long time nothing more could be seen  from their lights.

 

Übersetzung: nayana