Most Touching 88 Animal Stories - Yilin

Author: Xiaoping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Rolaq calmly told me that the lemmings were "having a meeting." He pointed to the orange-red small animals scurrying through the grass and said, "Look, whenever their population increases to a certain extent, they automatically change their grayish-black fur to orange-red to attract animals like owls and arctic foxes to eat them, thus naturally reducing their numbers." I took a closer look and indeed, those orange-red small animals were lemmings. It was truly incredible.
"This is their way of dealing with overpopulation," Rolaq said.
Rolaq then continued, "This year, the lemmings are going on their journey. Next, they will gradually gather together and head toward a mysterious destination." I asked, "What is this mysterious destination?" He refused to tell me, only saying that the research base is a must-pass point for the lemmings' journey, and they would be tracking and filming their entire life journey.
Over the next few days, I kept seeing the orange-red lemmings darting around the grasslands.
One evening a few days later, Rolaq told me mysteriously that the lemmings would probably set off tonight, and my heart started pounding. We quickly packed up our tents and sat in the off-road vehicle, waiting for this moment. As the sun over the Smeagle slowly dipped toward the horizon, the vast grassland was enveloped in an absolute silence. Rolaq stared into the distance with a profound gaze, then whispered, "They're here. It's starting." At that moment, I heard a sound coming from deep in the grassland—it was a low, heavy sound, as if someone had started a massive earth-moving machine to dig up the entire grassland. In the blink of an eye, a wave of orange-red surged from the depths of the grassland.
Closer, closer—we could now see that from about 500 yards away, large groups of lemmings were running forward. Just as Rolaq had said, they gathered together and began running in a frenzy, as if they had all gone mad, or as if an terrifying demon was chasing them from behind. The procession was vast yet highly organized. Every lemming seemed to be following a divine order, desperately rushing forward, without avoiding small streams, rocks, or tree trunks.
In the frenzied group, lemmings kept drowning, crashing, or being snatched away by eagles flying in the sky or foxes darting through the grassland. Yet these dangers seemed to be ignored in the speeding lemming herd. The lemmings ran, to meet their death, returning their lives to nature. This tragic scene made everyone's eyes red-rimmed. After a long silence, Rolaq finally gave the order: "Let's go!" The journey of the lemmings' lives had begun. P12