My mother, whom I loved very much, had a trouble with me. I had very good school certificates. But I tormented her with horribly stinky collections. … - Włodzimierz Ptak

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My mother, whom I loved very much, had a trouble with me. I had very good school certificates. But I tormented her with horribly stinky collections. It was not enough for me at home to have a dog, a cat, a canary, a fish, and even a white mouse. A mouse loved to walk around the apartment, although it lived in a cage. I added the protozoa to this menagerie. Traditional definitions regarded these small organisms – such as, for example, amoebae, flagellates, sponges, algae – as single-celled. What was in these asexually reproducing animals or plants that could intrigue the little boy so much that he would permanently bring this muck (as the mother would say) home?! After all, neither the request nor the threat of this exceptionally tolerant woman, who carried out her home diligently on a daily basis, did help. A trip to the ponds, or actually to the morass at Bonarka district, were exciting for the little boy. And even more, he enjoyed the moments when he could watch what was happening in aquariums, jars or cages for hours.