In a small apartment in a small town, there lived a young painter.

The painter was extremely poor.

Why? Because this person's paintings are so bad, he can't sell them at all. For example, if a painter goes to sell his paintings, people will definitely say:

"You should study hard first and then sell them."

The painter has no choice but to hold on to his paintings. After selling the painting, he returned to his apartment with heavy steps.

He wanted to stop by for a cup of coffee, but his pocket was always empty. So, I had to look at the shop windows on the street, stand in the bookstore and read books, and then go home listlessly.

The room faces north.

Although there is an old heater in the center of the room, there is no diesel fuel to burn the heater. The painter was shivering with cold and wrapped his body in a blanket. Ah, he thought, it would be great if his life could be better.

One day.

When the painter wrapped his body in a blanket again, someone knocked on the door. The painter went out to take a look and saw a strange tabby cat standing there, talking like a human:

"It's too cold, let me in!"

Neither did the cat When the painter answered, he swooped into the room, and then shouted in surprise: "Fire, why is there no fire..."

The painter Smiled:

"Don't be surprised. I am a poor man and can't afford fuel."

"This is so surprising, it's colder inside the house than outside! ”

The cat trembled.

The painter nodded, pointed at the door and said:

"It's much warmer outside. So, you'd better go out!"

The honey-colored cat He rolled his eyes and said smartly:

"How about thinking of a way to keep warm without spending money?"

The painter smiled. Who would be wrapped up in a blanket in broad daylight if there was a way to do that? However, the cat shook its beard suddenly and said:

"I'll tell you a good way. Keep a cat, raise a cat."

"..."

"Cats are very warm. If you hug the cat to sleep, it is like a hot water bottle; if you put it on your shoulders, it is like a scarf."

"But what about cat food? ”

“Then you don’t have to worry. Smart cats always look for food outside.”

If this is the case, the painter thought for a while and then took a photo. He waved his hands and said:

"Well, I decided to keep a cat."

Then, the painter took the tabby cat to the north-facing window and rustled it with a brush. The ground brushed it. Remove the dust and the cat immediately becomes a beautiful cat.

"Okay, now you will become my cat."

The artist tied a brown ribbon around the cat's neck and wrote on it in small characters Got the address of the apartment. That night, he hugged the cat and slept. It was so warm, as warm as three hot water bottles. The painter was so happy that he gave half of his milk to the cat the next morning. While he was drawing, he tried putting the cat on his shoulders instead of a scarf. Although it was a bit heavy, it was very warm. In this way, the painter can paint a little better than before.

"Well, it feels good. It's the right thing to raise a cat."

The painter said to himself. However, the cat was not very happy anymore. Because to replace the scarf, you have to hold the person's shoulders, which is very tiring.

"Can I come down?"

The cat keeps asking. There was no other way, so the painter had to put the cat on the floor. The cat breathed a sigh of relief, stretched his waist and said:

"It's still too cold in the room."

The cat looked south He looked at the wall and said as if he had already thought about it:

"It would be very different if there was a window here."

"You didn't say that in vain. ! This room originally faces north. Unless magic is used, it is impossible to open a window on the south side." Hearing what he said, the cat meowed immediately.

"Then let's cast some magic!"

What nonsense are you talking about! The painter turned his face aside.

However, the cat said seriously:

"Yes, let me try the magic. Please help me."

The cat raised its tail, and then said solemnly The voice said:

"Please draw a picture on the south wall first. Draw a window. Then I will use magic to turn the pictured window into a real window."

Hurry up and draw, the cat is urging the painter.

"Hey, why are you still dawdling! Aren't you a painter? If you were a painter, wouldn't you want to paint a beautiful window on this huge wall?"

"..."

Suddenly, the painter's heart moved. That's right, windows are indeed a good thing, whether they are viewed from the outside or from the inside, they are very beautiful. Warmth, nostalgia, and contains many dreams and hopes...

Okay, then draw a beautiful window! Draw a beautiful window frame that no one has ever seen before, with a beautiful view from there. Yes, yes, yes! The painter was dancing with excitement.

From this day on, the painter began to paint windows on the south wall. The painter first drew a large square on the stained wall. The window frames were tan, as if they were made of solid wood. Then, I painted a pot of pansies on the windowsill.

"It's great, it feels like spring."

The cat said with great fascination. The painter also looked at his paintings with great fascination, and even he was infected. The purple petals of pansies are thick, like gold velvet.

"The window of spring!"

The painter took two or three steps back and said.

The cat blinked and said:

"But there is no scenery outside the window!"

The painter nodded. When he thought about painting the scenery in this huge window frame, his heart was filled with emotion and tears filled his eyes. The painter forgot the cold, forgot the poverty, and thought wholeheartedly. Then, his eyes radiated with light:

"How about the endless grassland in the picture? It's full of red poppies, they sway in the wind, and a small tram drives past in the distance. "How about it?"

"Okay." The cat praised, "It's really great! Having a window that can see such a scenery will fill our hearts with happiness." "

"Okay, that's it."

The painter immediately stood up and squeezed a large piece of green paint on the palette. There are also rose paint, yellow paint, orange paint, sky blue paint, purple paint...

The cat jumped on the painter's shoulder and said:

"Well, let me be a scarf."

However, the painter no longer felt cold at all. Because the desire to paint an extremely beautiful scenery occupied the entire chest, and the whole body became hot.

"No need, no need." The painter said to the cat, "No need to wear a scarf. Just sit on the bed and watch me draw."

"Really? Then I Just feel comfortable."

The cat sat on the bed happily.

So, the artist rolled up his sleeves, took a deep breath, and began to paint a large work that he had not painted for a long time.

When painting, the painter almost always stands. When I was thirsty, I would stand and take a sip of milk; when I was hungry, I would stand and take a bite of bread, and even draw pictures at night.

I don’t know how many days have passed.

On the south wall of the artist’s house, a painting of a huge window has been completed. In that square window, a spring field is painted. In the distance, a small tram is coming west.

In the sky, there is a red sun in spring.

"Masterpiece! Masterpiece!"

The cat liked this painting so much that he turned three somersaults in a row. Then, he sat down solemnly and said with a solemn expression:

"Next, I am going to use magic to make this window real. Please cover this window with white curtains first ."

"I don't have any curtains."

"Go ahead and buy them."

"I don't have any money."

“Then go and withdraw your deposit.

”

“How can you withdraw your deposit so easily! That's reserved for when there's really nothing else you can do. ”

“Isn’t it true that you have no choice now? In such a cold weather, I can't even get a decent meal, and I can't sell my paintings. How can you live like this? Um? "

The cat continued in a tone like a mother talking to her son:

"It took a lot of effort for you to draw such a beautiful window. It can't be in vain, right? This time we must make this window real. Curtains only cost more than 3,000 yuan. Well, the nearby Yellow Canary store has them. On the second floor of that store, they sell ready-made curtains, which are very cheap. Go and buy the curtain slide rails and parts as well! ”

Having said this, what else can be done! The painter took out the bankbook from the drawer of the table, stuffed it into his trouser pocket, and ran out.

The painter left the bank He took out the money and bought curtains from the store, and ran back while exhaling.

"I bought them. "

He put a big bag on the floor, and the cat nodded happily.

"Then please hang the curtains on top of the painting. Please hang it up gently, gently. "

The painter did as the cat said. He took a hammer, nailed the curtain rails, and gently hung the white curtains up. Oops, the back of the curtains seemed to have really turned into a window. .

The cat clapped its hands, then closed its eyes, muttered a long spell, and finally raised its head and said happily:

< p> "Come on, open the curtains and take a look! "

The painter nodded and stood up. Before he reached the window, he had already had a premonition that the cat's magic was successful. Why? Because the curtains were blown by the wind blowing outside. It swelled slightly.

The painter rushed to the window and opened the curtains.

Immediately, a dazzling golden light shone into the room, and there was a ray of light outside. A real wilderness! A piece of bright green in spring! Red poppy flowers are swaying in the wind. In the distance of the flowers, a small tram with two carriages is moving towards the place. West, kept heading west...and soon disappeared from the window.

"Where is the tram going? ..."

The painter said to himself.

Because a sunny window was opened in the south, the painter's room suddenly became bright and warm.

p>

“Great. "

The cat said.

"Yes, this way our lives will become more colorful. ”

The painter took a big breath of the wind blowing from the window.

From then on, the two of them looked at the scenery outside every day. The scenery at dusk was the most charming, and the two of them leaned on it. Look outside at the window until it gets dark?

Yes. This incredible scenery will become dusk at dusk.

As soon as the sun turns to the west, the field will be dyed in rose color. The poppies will burn red and sing a song. Soon... everything will become a violet. When the first star of dusk appears shining brightly above the poplar trees in the distance, a tram - a small tram composed of two carriages - will make a gentle clicking sound again. Drive over. There is a yellow light in the window of the tram.

"Hey——"

The painter and Mao Chong. He waved at the tram. The tram drove slowly westward and disappeared.

But one evening, at the first window of the tram, the painter unexpectedly saw a person.

p>

It’s a passenger.

“Hey, there’s someone on the tram. "

The artist poked the cat in surprise. It was definitely not like what the artist had painted. A long-haired girl wearing a white sweater waved her hand out from the tram window.

"Hey——"

The painter also raised his hand quickly, but the tram was already heading west...that is to say, it had disappeared behind the window frame on the right. The painter couldn't help but want to lean out of the window. , but at this moment, the cat stopped him.

“This is not possible!”

“Why?...”

“Why? Isn’t it another world over there?”

< p>　"..."

"Did you hear that? If you go outside the window, you will disappear from this world!"

The cat's eyes are terrifyingly serious. Ah, maybe that's true, the painter thought. As a result, he felt that the scenery outside the window was even more eerily beautiful.

Outside the window during the day, it is always so quiet and warm. And the most rare thing is that the warm sunshine fills the painter's room every day, so there is no need for a heater at all.

The painter concentrates on painting under the warm sunshine every day. The cat lay beside him for a long nap. One day, the artist drew the cat lying there sleeping. Unexpectedly, this painting was surprisingly good. When I put it up for sale, it was sold instantly. This made the painter ecstatic, and now he could live a comfortable life for a few days. So, on the way home, he bought halibut sashimi and had a small party with the cat in the evening.

In this way, their life became much more comfortable, but the painter was always thinking about one thing.

It’s the scenery outside the window.

It’s the tram passing through that scenery every evening at dusk. No, I should say it was the girl in the white sweater on the train who kept waving. The girl in the white sweater always waves to the painter. And every time the painter waved in response, the girl would wave harder. Then, the girl would lean out of the window of the tram, letting the wind blow her long hair, as if calling for something. The painter couldn't help shouting:

"Hey——"

He himself would lean out and almost fall out of the window. The cat always stopped him:

"No!" said the cat, "if you get out of the window, you will disappear from this world."

The painter felt like he was dreaming. Every time I wake up, I get a terrible feeling. But when dusk came, he couldn't help but miss the girl again.

It’s 5 o’clock in the evening. When the surroundings turn into the color of dusk and the evening breeze blows, there will be a faint clicking sound as the tram passes through the endless grassland. At this time, it happens to be the time when the painter has finished painting and washed his brush. He would lean on the window frame and stare out the window.

“Where do trams come from and where do they go?”

One day, the painter said to himself. The cat tilted its neck and repeated:

"Yes, where did it come from and where is it going?"

The artist thought that the girl probably lived in Xicheng and went there every day. Let’s work in Dongcheng! From West City to East City, in addition to this tram, there must be buses and buses, but you can't see them from this window.

"So, I must only take the tram when I come back...

The artist also thought about many girls' things. Girls' lives, girls' work, girls' families, etc.... In this way, the girl's face, which was so far away and impossible to see, became clearly visible.

Gradually, the painter began to think about the girl from morning to night, not to mention when he was painting, when he was eating with the cat, when he was walking on the street, and after a while, he was still dreaming. Chuuya thought...

"You've been absent-minded lately! "The cat said, "It's not okay to just think about the people in the tram. You have to paint well. It's not easy. I started to draw better and my life got better. If I only think about unnecessary things, everything will go back to the way it was before. ”

That’s right, the painter thought. Ah, but the more he thought about it, the more girlish things filled his mind.

It can be said that now, the painter is just for the short time of dusk. I only live for the few seconds when the train passes by outside the window...

I must find a way to see her and talk to her...

I don’t know since when, this has become the painter’s biggest and greatest wish. Finally one day, the painter made up his mind to beg the cat:

“Hey, I’m begging you.

Can you do your magic again for me? "

"..."

"I want you to use magic to bring the man in the tram here. Can you do it? ...

The cat sighed "Alas", said nothing, and fell into deep thought. After pondering for a long time, he finally uttered a sentence:

"Then let me try my last magic!"

At dusk the next day, the cat said to the painter :

"Painter, I am about to enter the painting. Go see the girl and beg her to come here."

"But, but..."

p>

The painter stuttered. In that case, wouldn't you... you would no longer be a cat in this world? ...

But the cat said resolutely:

"Don't worry. I am a magical cat, and I will find a way to bring that girl back. But , it may take some time. Don’t worry, just wait patiently.”

“Of course I can wait as long as it takes.”

“Really? During this time, you should paint more. Also, you should make the house more beautiful. Change the tablecloth, buy a clean set of tableware, and be patient. I'm coming back!"

The cat muttered a spell and jumped onto the window frame. At this time, the painter shouted:

"Give her this bunch of pansies!"

The painter hurriedly pulled out the pansies from the flowerpot by the window. He took it out, quickly tied it into a bunch, and handed it to the cat.

"I know."

The cat held the bouquet in its mouth and jumped out of the window. The painter has been watching its back.

The sky at dusk was fiery red. The poppies were as red as fire and sang a song.

Soon, there was a clanging sound, and the tram came. The girl in the white sweater waved her hand from the train window. The cat ran quickly in the direction of the girl.

The painter stared out of the window nervously. The cat approached the tram, ah... Can it take the girl off the running tram safely?... The artist couldn't help but close his eyes.

After about two seconds, when he opened his eyes...ah, what is going on? The cat was picked up by the girl and got on the tram.

The girl in the white sweater is holding the cat, with the bouquet of pansies in its mouth. Just like that, the tram drove to the west...

"Hey - how can this be done?"

The painter screamed, crying.

“Come back—why did you leave with her—”

The painter kept beating the window frame with his fist. At this time, the painter really started crying, just like a child... When he woke up, the scenery outside the window became an ordinary painting again.

"..."

The painter blinked, then reached out and touched the painting. Yes, you can touch it. You can touch the wilderness, you can touch the field of poppies, and the sky...but that's just the feeling of a high and low oil painting. It was the painting of the wilderness during the day that the artist painted on the wall at the beginning. However, the strange thing is that the tram is missing.

"Where did the tram go?..."

The painter took a closer look and saw that there were no railroad tracks in the overgrown field.

The painter sat down on the floor, as if waking up from a long dream.

The painter's life suddenly became deserted.

The cat is gone, and so is the beautiful window. In other words, everything is back to what it was before.

But there is one difference.

Spring is here. The seasons change quietly and surely. Open the north window, and what comes is not the cold north wind, but a slight spring breeze.

"The weather is getting warmer, so I should work harder."

The painter said to himself.

In order to endure the loneliness, the painter painted desperately. Paintings of girls in white sweaters, poppies, pansies, and cat paintings one after another...

The paintings painted by the artist gradually gained acclaim, and sales increased steadily. Therefore, the painter can drink a cup of coffee in the cafe when he is out. The painter changed the tablecloth to a new one, bought beautiful tableware, and always put flowers on the table.

A day full of spring.

Someone knocked on the painter's door.

Dong, dong, dong, knocking politely.

The painter who was mixing paint took his palette and opened the door.

I saw a girl wearing a white sweater standing there. The girl holds a tabby cat in her arms. She asked him:

"Excuse me, is this your cat?"

The painter looked at the cat in surprise. There is a brown ribbon tied around the cat's neck. "Ah, ah, probably..." the painter nodded and said softly, "It looks like a cat I used to raise."

Then, he raised his head in fear and looked up at the radiant girl. :

"You, where did you come from?"

The painter asked.

The girl smiled sweetly:

“I work in a cafe on the street. Don’t you often come to our shop to drink coffee?”

“… ..."

"Today, this cat got lost and ran into the store. Because the address on the cat's neck was written here, I sent it."

Painter. Pointing to the south wall of her home, she asked:

"Do you remember this painting?"

No, the girl shook her head.

The painter patted the cat on the head and said: "Hey, where did you come from and how did you come back?"

However, the cat didn't say anything, just "Meow" The ground gave a small cry.

From that day on, the painter lived with the tabby cat again. But the strange thing is that the tabby cat has become an ordinary, meaningless cat that can neither speak nor perform magic.

However, the painter got his wish. The painter and the girl in the white sweater in the cafe became good friends.

The girl in the white sweater likes pansies best. She likes to face the wind and run in the vast wilderness. I also like to take the small tram in the suburbs. But she really knew nothing about the scenery in that painting.