The Rat Catcher

121 00:05:24,375 --> 00:05:26,500 Now you got it, you really said somethin'. 122 00:05:26,583 --> 00:05:29,542 A good ratter's gotta be more like a rat than anythin' else. 123 00:05:29,625 --> 00:05:31,167 Cleverer even than a rat, 124 00:05:31,250 --> 00:05:33,958 and that is not an easy thing to be, let me tell you. 125 00:05:34,917 --> 00:05:36,292 Well, let's get on with it. 126 00:05:36,375 --> 00:05:39,583 Lady Leonora Benson's asking for me urgent up at the manor. 127 00:05:39,667 --> 00:05:40,750 She's got rats too? 128 00:05:40,833 --> 00:05:42,667 Everybody's got rats. 129 00:05:42,750 --> 00:05:45,042 The rat man ambled off down the driveway. 130 00:05:45,125 --> 00:05:47,958 The way he walked was so like a rat, it made you wonder. 131 00:05:48,042 --> 00:05:51,625 That slow, almost delicate, ambling walk with a lot of give at the knees 132 00:05:51,708 --> 00:05:54,625 and no sound at all from his footsteps on the gravel. 133 00:05:54,708 --> 00:05:57,833 He hopped over the gate, and walked quickly 'round the hayrick, 134 00:05:57,917 --> 00:06:00,417 scattering handfuls of oats onto the ground. 135 00:06:00,500 --> 00:06:03,083 The next day he returned and repeated the procedure. 136 00:06:03,167 --> 00:06:06,083 The day after that he came again, and the day after that, 137 00:06:06,167 --> 00:06:09,500 and finally, on the fourth day, he put down the poisoned oats. 138 00:06:09,583 --> 00:06:12,958 But he didn't scatter these. Instead, he placed them in little piles 139 00:06:13,042 --> 00:06:14,875 at each corner of the hayrick. 140 00:06:17,375 --> 00:06:19,042 - You got a dog? - Yes. 141 00:06:19,125 --> 00:06:23,000 Well, if you want him to die a horrible, twisting death, let him in that gate. 142 00:06:23,083 --> 00:06:25,167 The next day he came to collect the dead. 143 00:06:25,250 --> 00:06:27,958 Get me an old sack. I'm gonna need one to put 'em in. 144 00:06:28,042 --> 00:06:31,542 He was puffed up and important now, the black eyes gleaming with pride. 145 00:06:31,625 --> 00:06:34,875 He was about to display the results of his catch to the audience. 146 00:06:34,958 --> 00:06:37,833 Claud fetched a sack and we walked across the road. 147 00:06:37,917 --> 00:06:39,625 The rat man prowled around the hayrick, 148 00:06:39,708 --> 00:06:42,500 bending over to inspect one of his piles of poison. 149 00:06:42,583 --> 00:06:44,458 - Something wrong here. - …he muttered. 150 00:06:44,542 --> 00:06:46,000 His voice was soft and angry. 151 00:06:46,083 --> 00:06:49,500 He ambled over to another pile and got down to examine it closely. 152 00:06:49,583 --> 00:06:52,042 - Something wrong here. - What's the matter? 153 00:06:52,125 --> 00:06:55,208 He didn't answer, but it was clear the rats hadn't touched his bait. 154 00:06:55,292 --> 00:06:57,417 "These are very clever rats here," I said. 155 00:06:57,500 --> 00:06:58,667 The rat man was annoyed 156 00:06:58,750 --> 00:07:02,208 and showed it on his face and nose and by the way the two yellow teeth 157 00:07:02,292 --> 00:07:04,208 were pressing into his lower lip. 158 00:07:04,292 --> 00:07:06,792 - Don't give me that crap. - …he said, looking at me. 159 00:07:06,875 --> 00:07:09,708 Nothing's wrong with these rats, somebody's feedin' 'em. 160 00:07:09,792 --> 00:07:12,542 They got somethin' juicy to eat somewhere, plenty of it. 161 00:07:12,625 --> 00:07:16,708 No rats in the world will turn down oats unless their bellies is full to burstin'. 162 00:07:16,792 --> 00:07:18,417 The rat man turned away, sullen. 163 00:07:18,500 --> 00:07:22,000 He knelt down again scooping up the poisoned oats with a small shovel, 164 00:07:22,083 --> 00:07:24,250 tipping it carefully back into a tin. 165 00:07:24,333 --> 00:07:27,917 When he had finished, all three of us walked back across the road. 166 00:07:29,125 --> 00:07:31,125 The rat man stood by the petrol-pump, 167 00:07:31,208 --> 00:07:32,917 a rather sorry, humble rat man now 168 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,667 whose face was beginning to take on a brooding aspect. 169 00:07:35,750 --> 00:07:38,083 He had withdrawn into himself over his failure, 170 00:07:38,167 --> 00:07:39,542 the eyes veiled and wicked, 171 00:07:39,625 --> 00:07:42,875 the little tongue darting out to one side of the two yellow teeth. 172 00:07:42,958 --> 00:07:45,083 He looked up at me, a surreptitious glance, 173 00:07:45,167 --> 00:07:46,167 then over at Claud. 174 00:07:46,208 --> 00:07:48,208 His nose-end twitched, sniffing the air. 175 00:07:48,292 --> 00:07:51,292 He raised himself up and down on his toes, swaying gently, 176 00:07:51,375 --> 00:07:53,917 and in a soft voice, soft and secretive, he said… 177 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,333 You want to see something? 178 00:07:55,417 --> 00:07:57,708 He was trying to ret