Duel on the stamp

Author: Zheng Yuanjie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Yaqi is in fifth grade and loves stamp collecting. This year is the Year of the Ox, and the twelve zodiac series stamps are about to be released with the ox stamp. Yaqi's dad is really like a dad, arriving at the stamp store at 4 a.m. to queue up and finally manages to buy a Year of the Ox stamp for his son. Yaqi is overjoyed, carefully inserting the ox stamp into his stamp album and placing it next to the Year of the Rat stamp.
Yaqi has no idea that as soon as he inserts the Year of the Ox stamp into the album, a thrilling battle ensues inside. The ox on Yaqi's stamp is named Hans. Hans often takes pride in the status and honor of his family. People praise oxen for being hardworking and enduring. They often say, "Work as diligently as an old ox." You see, even people are willing to compare themselves to oxen, and it’s a supreme honor! This is something every member of Hans’s family has earned through hard labor, and Hans cherishes it deeply.
However, now Hans is furious. Just moments ago, Hans arrived in the stamp album with great confidence, his head held high, eyes fixed on the sky, waiting for praise from his neighbors.
"Look, here come the ox brothers!" a sharp voice came from nearby.
"Brothers?" Hans’s heart warmed. He thought, "How come there are already members of my family here before me in this stamp album?" Hans lowered his head and was shocked—his accuser was a mouse! The mouse stood on a yellow stamp, smiling at Hans.
"Hello, little ox brother!" the mouse greeted first.
"Stop calling me brother!" Hans was furious. "What is a mouse? Lazy, cunning, always seeking pleasure, afraid of hard work..." Hans grew angrier with every thought.
"You...?" the mouse didn’t understand why Hans was angry.
"Why are you here?" Hans questioned the mouse head-on, assuming the mouse had sneaked onto the stamp.
"A human sent me here!" the mouse replied.
"Hoax! Humans hate mice!" Hans said.
"It’s true. A human sent me here." A rough voice interrupted. Hans looked forward and saw a pig standing on a stamp next to the mouse. The pig was also defending the mouse.
"Exactly, a human sent me here. We’re all witnesses." Several voices spoke at once. Hans looked further and saw monkeys, chickens, and dogs.
"You...?" Hans was surprised that they were all defending the mouse.
"Little ox brother, don’t be angry," the monkey winked. "To be honest, Shuke arrived a year earlier than you and is now worth several times more than last year—not just eight points!"
What? The mouse has a name? And is worth more than my ox? Hans clearly remembered his dad had bought him for eight points. Now he was standing next to a mouse, even behind it! This was a great humiliation, and Hans felt compelled to defend the dignity of the ox and uphold the honor of his family.
"I can’t stand next to you," Hans solemnly declared to Shuke.
"Why?" Shuke still spoke with a smile.
"I must uphold the dignity of our sacred family," Hans said, puffing out his chest to show off the ox’s kindness and loyalty. Then, he deliberately lifted his front hooves to reveal the thick calluses on his feet—proof of hard labor!
Everyone laughed, and Hans was furious.
"What should I do then?" Shuke asked helplessly.
"You must leave immediately!" Hans said firmly.
"Is that possible?" Shuke glanced at everyone.
"Of course not. Shuke can’t go!" the chicken said.
"Exactly. Hans is too unreasonable," the dog added.
Hans was furious, and his ox nature took over: "Let’s have a duel! The loser leaves!" Hans challenged Shuke.
Everyone was stunned. They never expected the usually kind and honest ox to be so unreasonable.
"Come on, little ox brother. Let’s not hurt each other’s feelings," Shuke said.
Hearing the mouse still shamelessly call him "little brother" was an open insult to his family. Hans lowered his head, pointing his sharp ox horns at Shuke.
"If you call me brother again, I’ll gore you!" Hans was on the verge of violence.
Shuke didn’t speak. He shrugged and found it amusing.
"Will you dare to duel me?" Hans pressed further.
"Alright," Shuke agreed calmly.
"How do we duel?" the chicken asked worriedly.
"By working! By who works faster! By who doesn’t fear hard labor! By who can endure hardship!" Hans listed a series of duel challenges.
Everyone held their breath for Shuke. Who didn’t know that oxen were strong and renowned for their ability to endure hardship?
"Let’s duel!" Shuke agreed.
After some discussion, three challenges were set:
1. Plowing—ten acres, whoever finishes first wins.
2. Strength—two one-ton boulders, moving them fifty meters, whoever finishes first wins.
3. Pulling a cart—two fully loaded carts, pulled by Hans and Shuke, whoever can’t move it loses.
Best two out of three. Both parties signed a contract.
Fortunately, the stamp album was vast and diverse, with all kinds of stamps. The duel venue and equipment were fully prepared. The monkey, being the most senior, volunteered to be the judge.
These were two stamps, each with ten acres of land. Now, Hans and Shuke would start plowing simultaneously to see who finished first.
"Ready—go!" the monkey raised the starting gun.
Bang! The gunshot rang out. Hans quickly harnessed the plow to his shoulder and began plowing. He lowered his head, stepping firmly with each stride, exerting all his strength forward. Sweat dripped drop by drop into the soil, the plow turning the earth into clods.
Shuke, however, had no idea how to plow. How could he move the plow? But this wasn’t a problem for him. Shuke knew the terrain of the stamp album and knew where the tractors were. Soon, he was driving a tractor into his ten acres of land.
Shuke sat comfortably in the driver’s seat, humming a song as he drove, without breaking a sweat.
When Hans finished plowing one acre, the monkey signaled him to stop.
"What?" Hans asked in confusion.
"Shuke has finished," the referee announced.
"Impossible!" Hans exclaimed. The monkey showed a yellow card.
"Please respect the referee!"
Hans unharnessed the plow and ran to Shuke’s ten acres to see—wow, it was really finished. Shuke was sitting on the tractor, legs crossed, humming a tune.
"You... you’re slacking!" Hans jumped up.
"The field is finished," Shuke replied with a smile.
"You... you didn’t sweat!" Hans shook his head, and sweatdrops fell to the ground, breaking into pieces with pops.
"The field is finished," Shuke repeated.
"I protest!" Hans found the referee.
"You didn’t say we were competing on sweat," the monkey reminded Hans.
Hans had no words.
"First round, Shuke wins, Hans loses," the referee announced the result.
Hans was furious and determined to win the second round at all costs.
Two one-ton boulders stood on the ground, with a finish line fifty meters ahead. The goal was to move the boulders to the finish line first.
The gunshot rang out. Hans rushed to the boulder and pushed it with his shoulder. The boulder moved slightly. Hans gritted his teeth and pushed harder and harder. Finally, the boulder was subdued by Hans’s perseverance and slowly moved forward.
"This time, I must win!" Hans strengthened his determination. He glanced over and saw Shuke’s boulder was still motionless. Hans felt his strength multiply, convinced that strength was the most valuable thing in the world—once you had it, you had everything.
Shuke found a pack of dynamite and a small electronic computer. He pressed buttons on the computer, placed the dynamite at a calculated spot under the boulder, and sat back with the remote control for the explosion, watching Hans push the boulder from a distance.
Shuke’s method was (directional explosion). As long as his little finger moved, the shockwave from the dynamite would accurately send the boulder beyond the finish line. But Shuke didn’t want to press the button yet. He thought, since Hans was willing to expend his strength, he should let him. Otherwise, Hans would be unhappy.
Some people liked sweat—they believed it was proportional to success. Shuke wasn’t like that. He decided to press the button at the very moment Hans was about to reach the finish line, to at least fulfill Hans’s hard work.
Just as Hans’s boulder was ten millimeters away from the finish line, a loud explosion came from behind him.
When Hans looked up again, Shuke’s boulder had already crossed the finish line first.
"Cheating!" Hans’s eyes were red with anger.
"My boulder crossed the finish line first," Shuke walked over slowly.
"You... you didn’t exert any effort!" Hans was furious.
"The competition is about who crosses the finish line first, not who exerts more effort," the referee said.
Shuke held up two fingers.
"2-0."
"Should we continue?" the referee asked Hans.
According to the duel rules, best two out of three, and Shuke had already won.
"Let’s continue!" Hans was furious.
Could Shuke’s cart-pulling skills be stronger than my ox’s? This time, Hans learned his lesson and set a condition: both must yoke and have their feet on the ground.
Shuke had no objection. The competition began. Hans, despite his exhaustion, yoked up and pulled the car. Shuke found a small engine and installed it on the cart. He pretended to yoke and drive, but in reality, the cart was pushing him, not the other way around.
Hans looked back and saw Shuke was really pulling the cart! He thought, this time, I’ll definitely win—whether I do or not—I’m fighting for pride!
Ten miles, twenty miles—Shuke was right behind him! Hans gradually felt his strength waning, stars dancing in his eyes. But the moment he thought of family honor, he resolved to see it through!
Gradually, Hans felt his legs no longer responding, moving only mechanically. His mind grew numb...
Shuke, following behind, noticed Hans’s sweat had turned the road muddy. He felt sorry for Hans and decided to let him win the last round.
"I can’t pull anymore!" Shuke announced loudly.
The volume of his voice proved he could still pull for at least another hundred miles.
"This round is yours!" the referee said to Hans.
Hans opened his eyes and a proud smile touched his lips. This joy of victory could only be experienced by one who had sweated for it. Hans felt proud.
Everyone ran over to help Hans (unload the cart) and wipe his sweat. Hans accepted their warm hospitality as a hero.
The honor of the ox family! Hans hasn’t disgraced it!
Now, I announce the duel results: Shuke wins with a score of 2-1!
Hans only then snapped out of his daze and realized he had lost.
Shuke took the contract from the referee and tore it up. He walked over to Hans and said,
"Don’t go. This was all a joke. Let’s play together from now on, little ox brother!"
"Shut up...," Hans had no strength left to shout. He couldn’t stand next to a mouse. He was an ox, a hardworking ox, and couldn’t be with a cunning, lazy mouse.
Everyone tried to persuade Hans, but he stubbornly refused to listen to a word.
Hans left without looking back, leaving only a blank Year of the Ox stamp behind.
Hans couldn’t accept being defeated by a mouse. He suddenly remembered that mice fear cats. He decided to see if there were any cat stamps in the stamp album. Yes, let’s call a cat to drive Shuke away!
The honest and kind Hans finally came up with a plan.
Hans saw a stamp with a cat on it. He quietly walked over to greet her, but then froze—sitting next to the cat was a Mickey Mouse, sharing lunch with her!
Hans’s throat felt blocked. He felt the world had changed. He was angry, bewildered, and aggrieved. Thinking of the scene at the stamp store where people rushed to buy the Year of the Ox stamp, Hans’s hope was reignited. He decided to leave the stamp album and go into the human world!
Hans left.