Tibetan Mastiff Notes

Chapter 19 Fighting the Wolves (9)
While I was listening to the story, there was the sound of pattering footsteps on the snow outside, messy, coming from far away, I knew it was not a human being, but a pack of wolves walking across the snow the sound of.Both Uncle Dorje and Gesang were listening. Suddenly, Uncle Dorji said, "Come on, I have nothing to do at night anyway. Let's guess the wolves. Guess how many wolves are outside and how many packs there are."

I was stunned, and asked Uncle Duoji: "Wolf is coming, isn't uncle afraid? Could these wolves come to attack the village or the flock? I saw a few wolves coming to act as spies during the day." Uncle Duoji smiled and used Pointing to the outside, he said: "Listen, the voices come from different directions. There may be more than one pack of wolves. Moreover, they are not coming here, they are going up the hillside. The wolves want to fight, fight." Only the winning wolves are eligible to come to this village to find food, and the losing wolves have to leave."

"So that's the case. Why don't those wolves unite and come to the village to look for food?" I asked back. Of course, I definitely don't want those wolves to swarm into the village.

Uncle Duoji laughed and told me: "Wolves are not like humans. The nature of wolves is cruel and selfish. When they can't bear the winter, they will kill their own kind. Besides, now that winter is here, some wolves are clustered together and oppressed by large groups. Small groups, to seize more food and territory, and small groups can only retreat to other places.”

I imagined that wolves are smarter than humans. When they were four-legged animals, they knew how to gather forces and fight as an army unit, but they were not good at gathering weak wolves of the same kind.The weak wolf pack will be annexed or driven away, or directly killed by the large army, what a cruel reality, just like human beings!
"Then how long will they fight?" I asked again.

"Maybe." Uncle Dorji said, "I don't know how many wolves have come this year. If it looks like this, it will take a few days." Then, he added another piece of dry sheep dung into the oven.

The herdsmen here do not have charcoal for the fire. The energy source is the collected dried cow dung and sheep dung. Cow dung and sheep dung are an indispensable part of herdsmen’s life. In summer, a cow dung fire is also lit in the house at night.Generally, more cow dung is burned, but sometimes sheep dung is burned.There is a lot of rain in summer, and sheep dung is not formed. Duoji's family will also burn some cow dung, and then burn sheep dung in autumn and winter. After all, the family raises a lot more sheep than cattle.In fact, cow dung and sheep dung are far from being as dirty as everyone imagined. On the contrary, they are as precious as gold in Tibet.They have such a low ignition point that all it takes is a piece of newspaper to ignite even in high altitude areas with low oxygen levels, and they don't have soot that will smoke your eyes into tears.Cow dung or sheep dung fire does not smell bad, the flame is light blue, very beautiful, the firepower is not strong, very gentle, although the appearance of the lumps of dung looks unacceptable, but the people here I like it, and I also use cow dung ash to make buttered tea, which is very sweet and delicious.Originally, there was no other energy source here, and everything that needs to be ignited in life cannot do without those dung.

The dried sheep dung in the stove was burning, just like Uncle Dorji, who was half a hundred years old. Although the uncle was not good-looking, dry and thin, he was not handsome, just like that pile of dung, black and not autumnal.But the uncle's heart is the purest, the purity unique to the plateau area, like cow dung and sheep dung, burning himself to keep warm in the cold area.

I stared at the dry sheep dung in the stove in a daze, and when I was thinking about these principles of being human or being dung, I heard the howling of wolves from the hillside in the distance. To grab food, in order to survive the entire severe winter, wolves are doing everything they can.I ran to the yard, hoping to see the scene of wolves fighting. It must be very heroic. I imagined that wolf fur was flying around, wolf blood was splashing, or some wolves would be bitten to pieces by another family. , The blood all over my body surged at once.

"You can't see it, it's too far away. They don't fight near the village. You can hear the sound because it's in the snow, it's very open, and the hillside is far away." Gesang said.He wanted to doze off a little bit, so he called me, "Brother, come in. It's so cold outside, Dahei doesn't care about those wolves!"

I ran into the house, indeed, Dahei was lying on her red carpet, just raised his head, and listened carefully to the howling of wolves outside. In her grasp.

It was late at night, everyone was asleep, and I couldn't sleep, listening to the wolves howling miserably outside, thinking about the cubs in Dahei's belly.Dahei still has to be wary of the wolves outside, so he must not be able to fall asleep.I wrapped the army quilt around my body and ran to Dahei's side.The sheep dung fire burns relatively fast, and a piece of sheep dung is almost burned out in more than ten minutes at the longest. I added a few pieces of sheep dung into it, and threw the last two pieces of dry cow dung into the stove together, and then , and lay down on the red carpet beside Dahei.

As for the red carpet that symbolizes status, Dahei has always occupied it, but tonight he has no intention of driving me away. The little mastiffs in Dahei's belly can make a fuss when they are happy, no matter day or night. Rolling somersaults in the big black belly.Dahei seemed to be suffering, and licked my hand, but she also seemed at ease, probably because I was by her side, especially in such a cold night.

Early the next morning, the snow stopped, so I ran outside into the snow and looked up the distant hillside, but saw nothing.The snow had accumulated to the depth of my calves, and it was a little strenuous to walk. I was a little discouraged, so I didn't plan to go far.I went back to the yard again, and there was some wood and scrap wood in the yard, which was left over from my fence wood.I suddenly had an idea to build a watchtower in the yard.

As soon as I thought of this, I immediately started to work. In such a cold and heavy snow day, I was wrapped up like a big rice dumpling. It was very inconvenient to exercise, and there was not much wood, so the project was a bit tight.Gesang heard me making a lot of noise in the yard, so he crawled out of bed, ran to the yard and asked what I was doing.I answered him: "Be a watchtower and watch the wolves fight on the hillside in the distance."

The name "Observatory" was too new for Gesang, his confused eyes widened and he asked me curiously: "Observation Deck, is it fun? I want to see it too!" I twisted He twisted his body, his neck was wrapped up a little out of breath, and the clothes on his body were layered on top of each other, which was very cumbersome.I took a breath, deliberately teased Gesang, and said, "It's very fun, do you want to play? Come and help me, I'm almost exhausted."

After getting dressed, Gesang came to help me, and suddenly asked me, "Brother, what is in that bag in your room? It's like an iron box."

I thought about it, it was an old discarded radio station given to me by the lieutenant colonel when I visited the lieutenant colonel in Shigatse for the second time, because there was no electricity, no telephone, and no mobile phone signal, so I also I didn't bring my mobile phone, and I came here after I cut off all contact with my family.

The reason why the lieutenant colonel gave me the old radio station was because he was afraid that the winter here would be difficult, and if something happened, I would not be able to contact him.I never took that radio station seriously, and kept it in my bag when I came back. Now that I remembered it, I told Gesang: "That's a radio station, for radio transmission."

"What is the radio for?" Gesang asked curiously again.I said, "If I go to a place far away now, and there is no phone or computer here, you can use the radio to contact me, you know?"

Gesang still didn't understand, so he asked how to get in touch. I couldn't explain clearly to him, so I put him off and said, "My brother will teach you how to play in the future, but I don't have time now. I have to build the watchtower first. You kid." But build it firmly, don’t engage in tofu dregs projects, as the snow will collapse when it presses on.”

Gesang was an honest boy. Hearing what I said, he tied the four feet of the platform round and round, which was stronger than leggings.I said, "Okay, let's build the upper one." Gesang then ran over to help build the upper one.

This child is very obedient and honest, a little simple and honest, I like it very much, and I paid a lot for it.Gesang often pestered me to tell him about the affairs in the army, and I often told him too. Of course, the secrets would never be leaked, but it would be shown on the mass news and on TV.

We built the platform all day, because there was not enough wood, and Gesang built the four legs firmly. When the watchtower was built, the wood was gone, so we had to use a few remaining fences to surround it carelessly. Four railings were installed.

Just after dinner in the evening, Gesang couldn't help but climbed up to the watchtower and looked into the distance. He thought it was fun, but after looking for a long time, he saw nothing but a vast expanse of white snow, and felt a little disappointed. Climb down again.Uncle Duoji smiled and said, "Wolf may not go to that mountain again tonight, and it may not come for a few days!" Gesang was a little disappointed, and I was also a little disappointed.

In the evening, after checking Dahei's belly, Uncle Duoji happily announced: "Dahei is going to give birth! It may be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, anyway, it will only be these two days."

We are all very happy. This is Dahei's first baby. I am especially excited. I have never seen a ferocious mastiff baby. I wonder if it will be the same as a human?I was so excited that I didn't sleep well all night. I tossed and turned, imagining what the little mastiff would look like when it was born. I was as happy as if I was going to be a father. Now that I think about it, I feel so ridiculous at that time.

In the middle of the night, I heard wolves howling again. Gesang and I rushed to the yard almost at the same time. Because I didn’t take off my clothes when I slept, I ran faster. I was the first to climb up to the watchtower. Gesang was a step behind.The watchtower is too small, only one person can stand, so he had to stand below helplessly and look up at me.

Although it was midnight, because everywhere was pure white, there was only some faint light in the distance. I could only see some black spots shaking on the hilltops in the distance. Except for the howling of wolves brought to my ears by the wind, there was really nothing. Other things to see.I watched patiently for a while, and saw those black dots moving, gathering more and more, and suddenly scattered again, fleeing here and there.The wind was still blowing, but the howling of wolves slowly disappeared. My face was so painful that I jumped off the observation deck.Gesang still wanted to climb up to see it, so I said, "They're all gone. There's nothing left. There's nothing to see. It's just a field of snow and black spots. It's too far away. Let's go to the top of the mountain tomorrow and have a look." Gesang Saying yes, we both ran back to the house and went to bed.

Early the next morning, Uncle Duoji made sheep dung scones.To tell you the truth, when I first saw the dough cake baked with cow and sheep dung, I was really disgusted and felt a little nauseous.When I saw Uncle Dorji digging out the baked cakes from the sheep manure, I lost my appetite even when I was so hungry.But it's strange that the cake baked with dung turned out to be so fragrant and delicious. I couldn't bear the hunger in my stomach, so I took a small sip tentatively, and it turned out to be very delicious. When I was in the army, I ate dead mice.Besides, Uncle Dorji and Gesang both ate it, and I was a little embarrassed not to eat it, so I just didn't think about it and ate a full meal.

When Gesang and I went out, we carried two yuan in our pockets. Dahei seemed to know that we were going on a long journey, and he was a little worried. He followed us with a bloated belly, and followed us all the way to the snow field outside. inside.I patted Dahei's head and said, "Go back, I'll be back in the afternoon at the most. You have a big belly and it's hard to walk. Don't follow me. You're not worried about the baby in your belly, I'm still worried!"

Dahei seemed to understand what I said, arched my hands, and watched Gesang and I go far away. We have walked a long way. When we look back, we can still see the door standing in front of Dorji’s house from a distance. Holding a black fur ball, looking towards us.

The snowy road was very difficult to walk. The snow did not reach the calves, and the heavy wrap around the body made walking even more difficult. Gesang said: "The snow is not too deep. At the deepest point, it can reach the waist. , people can’t leave. Not to mention the fact that Fengshan is so far away, just block the door, and you can’t even get out!”

I was so surprised that I stuck out my tongue and prayed to God that there would be no such heavy snowfall this winter, but God seemed to be ignorant. When we were halfway, small snowflakes fell down unwittingly.

It took us half a day to walk up that hillside, and when we got there we were all out of breath.The long walk exhausted a lot of physical energy. I took out the scones in my arms and ate them. The scones were frozen hard and made a crunching sound in my mouth.

Gesang stepped on the snow under his feet, and suddenly called me over: "Brother, there is something under the snow, it's frozen hard, it's a dead wolf."

I hurried over to see that Gesang had already kicked the snow away with his feet, and I saw a dead wolf body exposed under the snow.

This wolf died in the killing of its own kind. There were many scratch marks on its body, and there was a big hole in its throat. The blood that oozed out was frozen into pieces of ice.I guess: there should be many corpses of wolves nearby. Since it is a group battle, it is impossible for one or two to die, or there will be injured wolves, which may have escaped or were frozen to death directly. here.I was suddenly a little worried, where would those wounded wolves flee?In such a world of ice and snow, the wind howled non-stop 24 hours a day, and those wolves would starve to death if they were not frozen to death.The reality is cruel, as long as it is life, it cannot escape death after all.

When we got home, it was almost dark.Dahei ran out to meet us, wagging his tail slowly.It seems that her stomach is a little uncomfortable.Originally, the mastiff should give birth in late autumn, but Dahei was pregnant at the wrong time, and when it was born, it was such a cold winter.Dahei’s first child was not born last year, and this year’s child came at such a time. Gesang doesn’t understand these things, but Uncle Duoji and I are very worried, especially when the child is about to be born in these two days. Can't relax a bit.

I slept next to Dahei at night, although it was cold, but Dahei could bear it, so I had to hold back.In the middle of the night, before I fell asleep, I dozed off in a daze. Suddenly, Dahei stood up, and I heard movement in the yard outside, and a few sheep were also calling, and the voice sounded a little frightened.

I immediately ran to the yard, Dahei had already rushed out, and was yelling at a group of black shadows in the corner of the courtyard. The group of black shadows shrank tightly, as if trembling.Both Uncle Dorji and Gesang were awakened by the start. They lit the lamps and came out to look, only to find that the black shadow was a wolf covered in blood.Gesang's first reaction was to run into the house, pull out an iron fork, and go for the wolf.But the wolf didn't move, just huddled into a ball, trembling in fear amid Dahei's roar, looking very sad, looking at us pitifully.

"Gesang, put down the fork!" Uncle Duoji yelled, then held up the lamp, walked a few steps closer to the wolf, and looked carefully.Dahei rushed over with a big belly, ready to bite the wolf. After all, that wolf had broken into the house. No matter how tolerant Dahei was, he would never tolerate a wolf standing on her territory.

After watching for a while, Uncle Duoji sighed, told us all to go back to sleep, and said, "It's all right, this is a wounded female wolf, pregnant with cubs, didn't you see that it has a big belly?"

In a pack of wolves, only a pair of wolves in the dominant position can reproduce and reproduce at will. This female wolf should be the female leader of a pack of wolves.Wolves usually conceive and give birth in spring and summer, but why does this female wolf have a big belly in winter?This is the first time I have seen it. Could it be that their group has been attacked and their members are decreasing rapidly, so do they need to be supplemented?No matter how society develops, the evolution and change of all species in nature has its inevitable reason for its appearance.

Both Gesang and I became interested, watching the poor female wolf as if admiring animals in a zoo, but the female wolf could hardly move except for trembling, the blood and water on her body were frozen to the fur. Formed into one piece.Uncle Duoji took some minced meat out of the house and threw it in front of the female wolf. The female wolf was probably starving, so without thinking about it, she stood up suddenly, took a step forward, bit the piece of meat, and then quickly He shrank back into the corner and devoured the meat voraciously.

Dahei was still roaring furiously, but when she saw the female wolf standing up and stretching her big belly with difficulty like herself, the fierce roaring stopped abruptly, and she looked at the female wolf sympathetically, Suddenly turned around and walked slowly back into the house.The female wolf looked at Dahei's back gratefully, stood up again, quickly picked up the remaining meat, and carefully shrank back to the corner.

Gesang and I looked around the female wolf with great interest. Uncle Dorji handed the oil lamp to Gesang, turned around and moved out a small wooden table from the house, and grabbed some hay. He put the small wooden table in the sleeping place of the female wolf. , and sprinkle hay evenly underneath.When Uncle Dorje was doing this, the female wolf didn't know what was going on, so she shrank back in the corner in fright. Later, she found that Uncle Dorje was making a shelter for her to avoid snow and keep warm, so she lowered her head gratefully, with her tail between her legs Come and lie down on the hay.

The female wolf's stomach is already very big, and there are small holes on her thighs and rear buttocks that were bitten by teeth, and a piece of skin under her neck was also torn. Fortunately, her throat was not bitten off, at least her life can be saved. It can also keep the child in its stomach.

As for the wolf, I don't know whether I should feel sad or sympathetic for it, but Uncle Duoji was obviously very sympathetic to the female wolf, sighed, and said to himself: "Oh, poor!"

I asked Uncle Duoji: "Leave the wolf here, isn't it afraid that it will eat the sheep in our pen?" Uncle Duoji said confidently: "No, we saved its life, and the mother wolf with cubs will be grateful. Not the same as a male wolf."

(End of this chapter)