Rooms
of a Twenty-First Century House
In
this house, there are many curious rooms.
One of these is the room where the clothing
is washed.
This room contains a couple of strange shining boxes. Each box is approximately
the size of a goat.
Because one of these boxes holds many buckets-full of water, the clothes can
be washed indoors!
The fresh-smelling soap that is used to clean the clothes, is wet like
water,
and is stored in bottles. It is poured into the top of the box. The clothes are put inside and the
door is shut.
I can see through the door, but it is not made of glass. Then I turn a knob, and
press one of the buttons. Suddenly, the box, which begins thumping like
a stampede of cattle,
spins the clothes round and round, cleaning them in
the soap and water. The clothes are
clean
when the box stops,
but they still need to be dried.
Rather than walking to the clothesline to
hang them, they can simply be put in the next box. I cannot see the clothes. Once the clothes is
put inside this box, I simply press a button and it
removes the water while spinning the clothes.
I
must not wash clothes together that have many
different colors, or they look dull and grey once I
have finished.
Rather than toiling to carry the clothes to the river and clothesline to
be washed
and hung, it can be brought to this room, inside!
Another
stunning room, is the one that contains the bath. The bath is built against the
wall. It is massive! At the front, is a knob. Once I turn this, either scalding hot or freezing
cold
water out of the wall. Surprisingly, water sometimes patters down from
a shimmering silver
spout near the ceiling. When you do not plug the hole in the floor
before your bath, the water
disappears.
There is no need to fill the tub with water from a well, so bathing is
done every few
days! On the
other side of the room, is the pot in which you relieve yourself. This is raised high
above the floor, and is full of water. You simply push a lever located on the side, when
you are
finished and the water inside whirls around then
vanishes with a loud gurgle. I must also
wash
my hands once I am done. To do so, there is soap contained in
bottles. There is also a little
spout which contains water. You push small spouts to make it hot or
cold. Water in which to
bathe is easy to get without a well.
The
next bewildering room, is the room in which cooking is done. To bake things in the
oven, you press a series of buttons on the
front. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows
from holes in
the top. The
oven becomes scorching hot quickly. When
I peek through the door, I can see the
metal become red, yet it does not use fire. Another box in this marvelous mansion, is the one
that washes the platters and cups. I simply put the dishes in to metal racks,
pour in some soap,
and press a button.
The box begins rumbling. Clear water
fills it, spraying and cleaning the
dishes. The box
which brews imported tea, is approximately the size of a chicken. It also brews
a dark, hot drink made of ground beans. The tea is contained in small bags that are
placed in the
cups. The
water heats and then into the cup, when I push a couple buttons, mixing with
the
spices and becoming flavored. Cooking can be done easily without having to
gather fire or
water.
