Human-dog relationship is not over yet

Author: Old Horse
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Behind, the companions called it One-Eyed Old Black. But in front of them, they respectfully called it Black Teacher, Black Uncle, or Black Big Brother, with Black Teacher being the most common. Black Teacher was a dog, a small but old terrier of American origin, known as the American Spaniel. Black Teacher had earned unique respect and prestige among this pack of dogs, primarily due to its extraordinary experiences and profound knowledge. It had lived in China for ten years, which could also be said to be ten years of studying in China, and could understand Chinese. Therefore, if dogs had academic titles, then the bilingual (and also trilingual) Black, at the very least, would be a postdoctoral researcher. Generally, dogs lived quite comfortably in Russia. They had no worries about food or drink and spent most days doing nothing. Out of a desire to find an excuse not to work, Russia had an abundance of holidays. When the owners rested, the dogs rested; and when the owners didn’t rest, the dogs still rested. Corruption flourished in a land of abundance, and as a result of being pampered, the dogs had picked up too many of humanity’s bad habits, rigidly imitating them without discernment: for example, they liked to play prejudices; they enjoyed gossiping about family matters—“so-and-so’s family” and “such-and-such’s family”; they would loudly belch after meals and shamelessly walk around with their bellies hanging out; they would gather together and complain about societal grievances, thinking they were trendy, and all pretended to be very angry at corrupt officials, just like humans. That’s acceptable enough; this isn’t really a moral issue. What is unbearable is that some of them, still young at heart, are engaging in second marriages, abandoning their children, and running off together. You must say, they’ve learned all humanity’s bad habits. And especially, when they heard One-Eyed Old Black describe the popular Chinese folk dance and the Northeast Yangge dance, their admiration was palpable, realizing how impoverished and monotonous Russian spiritual and cultural life was. Deep disappointment stemmed from deep regret, followed by a surge of complaints: their owners would never organize activities like the Yangge dance, which were beneficial to their physical and mental health. Life was truly fucking boring! Complaining couldn’t go on forever. Even if life was boring, it had to be endured. So what could be done? They had to do something to alleviate their loneliness. Thus, these ten or so dogs, all living nearby and with similar interests, naturally gathered at the riverside wharf. To seek entertainment. Happiness often stands on the suffering of others, you know. Every morning at 10 a.m., the tourist boat from Heihe City across the river arrived on schedule. They called it tourism, but it was really just smuggling goods. Dozens of Chinese people, each carrying luggage on their shoulders and hands, piled their belongings like small mountains. Many Chinese people had the habits of shouting and never queuing, no matter the situation. When getting off the boat, they, the ones in front were cursed when pushed, and the ones behind argued, saying, “Let’s find a place to settle this later.” The noisy chaos brought the dogs a lot of fun. The dogs had never seen such entertainment before. Once, a Chinese person was pushed so hard that he fell into the river, shouting for help. Actually, the water was just knee-deep, and the dogs laughed so hard they were on the verge of collapsing, saying it was interesting. The dogs’ fun wasn’t just in watching; One-Eyed Old Black could also translate what the Chinese people said to them, making it even more amusing. A Chinese person, sweating profusely, squeezed through customs, heavily dropping his large luggage onto the ground, and sighed deeply, then spat out a string of words the dogs couldn’t understand. The dogs all turned their attention to One-Eyed Old Black, as if asking for an explanation. Old Black told them that the sentence the Chinese person had said was “Cocksucker, you Russian bastard.”