Tibetan Mastiff Notes

Chapter 39
I was suddenly a little worried. The blizzard had passed for a while, many small animals ran out to bask in the sun, and all the edible things on the prairie came out from under the snow. Should wolves come out in large groups again? Those mice and rabbits If there is not enough food for wolves to fill their stomachs, will wolves come to eat the herdsmen's sheep?Will!With a drum in my heart, I ran outside the house to look at the sheep in the pen. Uncle Duoji was opening the sheep pen, and the sheep swarmed out, running around, bleating.I asked Uncle Dorji, "Why did you let all the sheep out?"

Uncle Dorji looked up at the sky again, and said: "The sheep are going crazy. Taking advantage of the good weather, I drove the sheep to the pasture on the leeward slope to eat some grass. Someone went to see it yesterday. Green! In another two months, when the weather turns warmer, new grass shoots will grow."

I was not at ease and just drove the sheep out like this. I always feel that it is very dangerous to herd sheep in the snow. This year is no different from previous years. A large number of non-local wolves have moved into this area. Mice and rabbits can fill the stomach, this year may not be the case, there are too many monks and too little porridge!
Uncle Duoji sighed, and said: "No way, I have to go today. The sheep can't just eat hay, they have to eat something fresh. Let's talk about the weather. Don't think it's sunny these two days. It’s not a good omen, there will be another snowstorm in two days, and then the mountains will be closed, and the sheep will be sad for the whole winter.” I said, “Okay, uncle, I’ll go with you, And bring Dahei. Let's be careful, there are more wolves on the prairie, and this year there are more wolves than in previous years. The sheep are our life, and I feel sorry for losing one of them."

Uncle Duoji smiled honestly, and the wrinkles squeezed by life on his face stretched into one by one, with a smile on his face. He heard me say "we", obviously I have integrated into this prairie, and I feel very happy, but Still said: "Dahei will not go, let her reflect at home."

I deliberately said: "Dahei is not going, what if you encounter wolves? Two-legged ones can't run as fast as those four-legged ones. When the time comes to run with uncle on your back, I can't guarantee that nothing will go wrong. Haha." Uncle Duoji also laughed and said: "Don't worry, even if we meet wolves, we are not afraid. Don't look at Uncle as an old stick, if you really want to meet wolves, you will run as hard as you can. We must be able to catch up!"

Jokes aside, Dahei failed to herd the sheep with me after all, she was still receiving punishment, a mastiff was squatting at home, facing the wall and thinking about her mistakes.I drove the flock along the way, watching the sheep running happily, thinking of Dahei sitting in the house alone and boring, I felt very uncomfortable. These were originally my faults, but Dahei was going to suffer.

Along the way, I followed behind the flock without saying a word, and Uncle Dorji was driving the flock in front. The snow outside was so white, and it was dazzlingly bright when it was illuminated by the sun. There were no sunglasses here, so we had to pull our hats very tight. Low, blocks white light from reflected snow.My feet are walking in the snow, but my mind seems to fly into heaven. Dahei knows self-discipline and self-punishment, but when I make mistakes again and again, I still can’t muster the courage to criticize myself. Evading again and again, evading my responsibilities and the reality around me.

Who am I?Worse than a mastiff?I bit my lip, quickly caught up with Uncle Duoji, and said, "Uncle, I plan to go back after winter. I have made it clear that I can no longer waste my time like this. I am still young and there are many things waiting for me To do it, I want to be like Dahei, do my best, do what I should do, and be brave enough to take responsibility, instead of blindly escaping from reality.”

Uncle Duoji looked at me and smiled. He is not very good at talking about those high-sounding principles. After thinking for a long time, he stroked my hair and said, "Xiao Bing! People, if you live in reality, you will always get Walking around reality, you can escape for a while, but you can't escape for the rest of your life! People like you shouldn't stay here. I knew you were going to leave, and I never thought about keeping you. Let's wait until the weather is warmer. Uncle will send you off."

I said: "Okay. But uncle, you have to give me something when the time comes. I want to keep it as a souvenir. The prince, prince, princess and Gege, I don't plan to take one away, and I may not have my share long ago." I know that since it is a mastiff, it should stay where the mastiff should be. Just like us humans, no matter whether it is a human or an animal, we have our own responsibilities and obligations. Don't mess it up."

Uncle Dorji is an old herdsman. He knows a lot of truths, which are the essence refined from the hard life of several generations. But he didn’t know what to say. He just smiled and stroked my head again, as if caring. his own children.

It is a long way to go to the grassland on the leeward slope. Standing on the edge of the grassland and looking into the distance, you can see a large area of ​​woods, which is the boundary line of the wolf pack.I was worried that suddenly a pack of wolves would come out of nowhere and rush into the flock of sheep frantically, feasting on them happily, so the blood splashed, the wool flew around, and the miserable wails of the sheep were earth-shattering.

I was always vigilant, imagining the scene of preparing to fight the wolf over and over again in my mind. Uncle Duoji suddenly called me over. He dug a snow hole and pulled the grass roots below. The grass leaves were still slightly green, and the roots were already yellow. A little rotten.Uncle Duoji dug under the grass roots and said, "Look, wild rabbits have gnawed them, and mice have made holes underneath. This leeward slope has the most rabbit holes and mouse holes. The weather is very cold this year." , the grass roots have been dug up by pikas long ago, and some roots have been dug out and exposed in the snow, frozen to rot, and I don’t know if they will germinate next spring.”

"What if it doesn't sprout?" I asked.

Uncle Dorji said: "What else can I do? If such a large grassland is deserted, it is equivalent to being deserted. The wasteland will spread, and the sand will spread layer by layer, and the living turf will be buried by the sand. A large piece of turf is lost every year. As an old man, I can’t see it for long, but I don’t know how long the children of Gesang’s generation can look at this prairie. Went far, far to find grass that the sheep could eat."

I am silent and silent. This cannot be changed in a short period of time, nor is it something that can be done by one person. It requires the efforts and compensation of several generations. How could one be aware of such looming danger?Beautiful prairie, how long can you hold on to the earth on which human beings depend?

Tired of eating hay, the flock happily ran on the snow slope, eating the grass leaves that had not rotted under the snow layer. The pure white flock and the pure white snow merged into one, creating a beautiful scene.I don't know if there will be grasslands on the earth hundreds of years later?Without grass, where should these grazing sheep go?What do herders live on?What should be used to make those delicious beef and sheep dishes on our table?

33. Dahei is completely mad

When we were about to go back, it was already afternoon, and on the way back, we met a few wolves.Those were local wolves. A male wolf came out hunting with a few cubs and was teaching the cubs how to catch prey. Today the cubs were learning to catch hares under the snow cave.

I saw the "three-eyed" little wolf, which has grown very big. I still remember Uncle Dorji and I, watching us from a distance.Those wolves found out that we still have sheep, but they didn't come over, and they didn't try to hide on purpose. Maybe they felt that Uncle Dorji and I would not hurt them, and they didn't need to snatch our sheep now.Their group firepower is far from enough. A male wolf and a few cubs can't pose any threat to two big living people and a large flock of sheep. Moreover, their lesson today is not to catch sheep, but to catch sheep. Rabbit, a hare under the snow.

At the beginning, when I spotted those wolves, I immediately became nervous and was always ready to fight them. Uncle Dorji reassured me and said, "Don't worry, the weather is good these days. The wolves can find something to eat. The sheep will not come to snatch them. I know all these wolves, but if it is a foreign wolf, it will be hard to say."

I relaxed a little and asked, "Uncle, do you still recognize these wolves? Then do these wolves recognize you?"

Uncle Dorji thought for a while and answered me: "I still know some of them? I'm not sure if these local wolves still remember me, but every winter when these local wolves are famine, they will come to me and ask for food. , I will throw some frozen sheep to them to eat, and they will leave after eating the sheep. , nor take the initiative to attack the flock.”

I was so surprised that I wanted to roll my eyes, but after thinking about it, I felt that it was very possible that such a thing happened to Uncle Duoji. The local wolves knew that robbing the herders’ sheep would only attract greater resistance from the people, so They don't hurt Uncle Dorji either, so that when there is a snow disaster, they can ask for food with Uncle, and Uncle has never taken the initiative to harm the wolf.The wolf kept the pasture, that is, the sheep. Uncle Dorji protected the wolf, and the wolf kept the pasture. The pasture fed the sheep, and the sheep fed the herdsmen. When the wolves stopped, the herdsmen could provide food and clothing for the wolves The source of food, the cycle of life from generation to generation continues like this.

I was finally relieved, convinced that these wolves would not pose any harm to our flock, so I stood on the side of the road boldly and watched the male wolf teach the little wolf a lesson.

There are woods beside the road, not in the center of the woods, the trees are still relatively sparse, and the snow is a bit thick, but as soon as the weather clears, the wild rabbits will come out of the holes under the snow to bask in the sun and breathe the winter before the arrival of spring. The smell of snow.The wild rabbits are very clever. Instead of running out of the hole in a swarm, a rabbit came out first and squatted outside the hole as a sentinel. The rabbits danced outside the hole while observing the movement around them.In fact, this is not a rabbit dancing, but tapping and jumping on the ground with two powerful hind legs, sending out different sound signals. The rabbits in the hole use these sound information transmitted in to analyze whether there is danger or Safety.

The little wolf stood obediently by the edge of the woods, watching the male wolf attend class. The big male wolf first hid behind a tree, poked his head out to scout left and right, and when he found a wild rabbit, he didn't rush to catch it, but stopped first and observed. situation, then stalked around behind a tree ahead and hid again.

The rabbit was dancing, bouncing, and listening around with its ears pricked up. Suddenly, the male wolf jumped out from behind the tree. It ran very fast on the snow, like an arrow off the string. With a sound, he rushed to the rabbit.The rabbit jumped up and down, but before it could jump away, it was bitten by the male wolf. The bite was not on the vital part. The male wolf probably wanted to keep the rabbit for the little wolf to practice, so the rabbit pretended to be dead. The male wolf just threw the rabbit on the snow. As soon as it was released, the rabbit immediately jumped away like a spring, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The male wolf barked twice at the little wolf, saying: You see, this is how rabbits are caught.You have to remember that rabbits are also like us wolves, they are deceitful, and you can't be soft when you see them in the future, and you can't let the rabbits escape like I taught you today.

The rabbit ran away, but the nest was still there, and there were other rabbits in the nest. The wolf knew how to jump up and down above the rabbit hole like a rabbit dancing, and kept tapping the ground with its paws to stun the rabbit.The rabbits in the nest finally couldn't stand it any longer, and jumped out from different exit directions with a clatter, and ran for their lives quickly. The little wolves rushed up in a swarm to fight for their target. The wolf caught a rabbit.

I always thought that the "three-eyed" little wolf has the qualifications to be a wolf king in the future. He is very smart, cruel enough, and has great commanding skills, and he is born with the demeanor of a wolf king. Throat, rabbit blood dripped a line on the snow.

Uncle Dorji was already driving the flock back, calling me loudly to follow.The wolves did not attack the flock, so the sheep did not panic. Maybe the sheep raised by Uncle Duoji also encountered such scenes, and they seemed much calmer than other sheep.I started to walk back, and the "three-eyed" little wolf took a look at me and followed me a step. It may still vaguely remember that I fed it mutton and drank goat milk when it was a child, and I used explosives more than once. Li knocked on its head, and it stared at me, the fur around its mouth was stained red with rabbit blood.

I wanted to tease the little wolf, but I was afraid of arousing its strong desire to attack. After thinking about it, I decided to forget it, and quickly caught up with Uncle Duoji.After walking a long distance, I looked back and saw that little wolf was standing in the snow, biting the rabbit, and then swallowed the torn meat in one gulp. It looked up in the direction I was walking while eating.I don't know why this little wolf is so interested in me. Almost every time I meet it, it always looks at me a few more times. What is it trying to do to me?Or is it just a feeling of gratitude to me for saving its life from childhood and raising it?

I caught up with Uncle Duoji and asked him: "Uncle, this little wolf is the one we raised before. Why does it always follow us every time we meet it? Sometimes it will follow us all the way. "

Uncle Dorji looked at the distant sky, thought for a while, and then answered me: "In the wolf family, the cub has followed the female wolf since he was a child, and the male wolves all go out to hunt. My own mother. This little wolf has followed Dahei since he was a child. Before he opened his eyes, Dahei took him with him. Maybe, he took the Dahei he saw for the first time after he opened his eyes as a female wolf. right?"

"But..." I thought for a while, and then asked, "Uncle, but the little wolf has grown up now and has returned to his own pack. He should know that Big Black is not a wolf, and he is not of the same kind as himself. I don't quite believe it, it still remembers Dahei now, I often think, maybe one day it will collide with Dahei, and maybe they will start fighting."

Uncle Duoji smiled and said: "I don't know about this. However, no matter how cruel the wolf is, he can still recognize his mother. The little wolf may not have much impression of his father, but he will remember his mother." For a lifetime, I guess Little Wolf will still remember Dahei? Whether Dahei will remember Little Wolf or not is hard to say."

I joked: "Dahei can only be regarded as the adoptive mother of little wolf, ha ha!"

Talking all the way back home, the sheep were well fed and in a good mood, and before Gesang could drive them into the pen, he got in by himself.Gesang closed the door of the sheepfold and said, "Tashimu came here just now and wanted to see the little mastiff, but I didn't dare to let him see it."

Gesang did not like Tashimu's family. When Zongzhe was at home, he liked to bully Gesang since he was a child.Gesang hated Zhaximu's family so much that he seldom called Zhaximu his uncle, more often he just called him by his first name.

Uncle Duoji knocked out the ashes in the cigarette pot, coughed, and wiped the ashes off his sleeves, and said: "When I'm not at home, don't let him see, Dahei is wary of him and will bite. "

In my mind, Dahei is a very rare caring female mastiff. A normal mastiff no matter who it is to, as long as it is a stranger who has never met, there will be an attacking desire to bite when meeting, but Dahei does not Yes, if she wants to bite, she will only bite those people she doesn't like to see and who make her feel disgusted, and Tashimu is one of them.It's hard to imagine, what kind of person would be disgusted by even an animal, I can't say clearly, but I always feel that every time I see Uncle Tashimu, I will feel a sense of boredom in my heart, It was as if a piece of cotton had been stuffed in his throat, and he couldn't breathe.

Dahei was punished for a day, he didn't eat anything, he squatted against the wall for a day, from yesterday to today, it can be regarded as two days and one night without food.Uncle Duoji also felt distressed, and planned to buy her a sumptuous dinner.

But Dahei didn't seem to forgive herself, and ran out without waiting for Uncle Duoji to get her something to eat. It seemed that she wanted to grab food by herself.In such a cold day with thick snow, it is good that the temperature is higher during the day, but when it gets dark, the temperature drops sharply, and the pikas basking in the sun have already gone into their holes.

After a long time, when we almost finished our meal, Dahei returned home with a smell of wind and snow. She didn't enter the door, but she had a fat chinchilla in her mouth, and her mouth was covered with blood. Maybe she I didn't come in because I was afraid that the house would be dirty, so I killed the ground squirrels in the yard.

As soon as Dahei entered the door, Uncle Zhaximu followed behind him.As soon as he entered the door, he said with a smile: "Duoji, the little mastiff has grown up. I saw them grabbing a bone at the door of the house yesterday, and I heard that the family also wanted a mastiff! There's another one that wants it too, right?"

We didn't say a word, and Gesang ran outside to pee.With his back to Uncle Zhaximu, Dahei went to the nest to coax her child, bent towards a pile, and then lay down by himself, holding the four little mastiffs in his arms, with his buttocks facing Uncle Zhaximu's face.I knew that Uncle Duoji was going to roll tobacco again, so I rolled it first, stuffed the tobacco leaves into the pipe pot, and handed it to Uncle Duoji.Uncle Duoji is an old man who has experienced many things. Although he is simple, he can also hear other people's voices, especially the greedy and greedy tone like Uncle Tashimu. , without looking at Uncle Zhaximu’s face, he took a deep breath and said, “Yes, the little mastiff has just grown all its deciduous teeth and is still suckling. Sometimes when Dahei is not around, they will secretly lick some The taste of meat is satisfying, and the little guy is just greedy, just like a child."

Uncle Tashimu's face was full of smiles, like a pile of folds, he leaned over to Uncle Duoji, sat down without waiting for anyone to invite him, and said, "Anyway, my wife has nothing to do at home, so why don't you hug me?" The little mastiff has been raised for two days? Anyway, the two are close, and Dahei wants to have a baby, so I went to have a look, if it doesn’t work, then send it back!"

(End of this chapter)