Ever have imagined what will
happen if belligerent dogs, stubborn goats
and noisy chickens share accommodation?
Guess the self-righteous dogs
would be self-appointed policemen, the
reserved goats would refuse to co-operate,
while easily-excited chickens, like many
media guys, keep stirring things up with
sensational news reports, comments and
forecasts. Before long we may see the dogs
biting the goats and the goats chasing the
chickens and the chickens fleeing the scene.
In the end the dogs impose their hegemony in
the site, but their victory could be rather
shallow: the goats are mortally broken and
can not serve the ruler whether they are
willing or not, and the chickens have long
sought refugee elsewhere. Then the dogs may
have to turn on each other to determine who
shall rule over who until they end in common
ruin.
The theoretical scenario of
above almost became reality in the yard of a
Chinese farmer known as Big Sister Liu.
The ostriches
fleeing in panic
Liu lives in Yanqing County in
the outskirts of Beijing and keeps four dogs,
tow goats and dozens of chickens in her
family-run farmhouse accommodation (农家院). Her dogs are not more
humble than any other dogs, her goats are not
more easygoing than any other goats, and her
chickens are not more meditative than any
other chickens. Then how is she able to
accommodate this multi-species community
under one roof without turning her residence
into a war zone? Well, she has a secret
weapon: a pair of ostriches.
The young birds are quite
pretty (they are on strict diet and eat
oil-free & salt-free cabbage salads only)
and very tall (up to 2 metres) with a pair of
long and robust legs, that only a
well-trained ballerina or a highly
accomplished martial arts master would
possess. They do enjoy showing off their kung
fu kicks, but on the dogs only. The poor dogs
are so petrified of these long-range arms
(legs that are) that they would immediately
lie low, not daring to demand an apology.
But hasn’t Big Sister Liu
just installed a new bunch of dictators to
replace the old? Fortunately, nope. Because
no matter how successful the birds have
managed to terrify the dogs, they are unable
to impress the goats who view them just as a
couple of tall chickens. Whenever the goats
get a gutful of the dogs, they’ll try to
get even with the ostriches by chasing them
around as they do to the chickens. And
whenever the ostriches spot the sight of the
sharp horns, they run away faster than any
chicken would do, failing to remember their
legs are multi-functioned. Thus the balance
of power is achieved.
Of course, it still leaves a
lot to be desired if Big Sister Liu ever
wants to create a harmonious backyard. That
might require Liu, for instance, to set up a
forum to talk about The
Analects to her multi-being
audience, so her furred, horned and feathered
friends can learn to have genuine respect
for, instead of fear of, each other. When
this happens, it will be a miracle. But
miracles do occur. You never know.
(Original
news report in Chinese on 北京晚报by 黄敬、郑永: 农家大院里动物循环称霸王)
