孩童與犬
Woo-Hsing lived near the market place and all the children thought him
a very wonderful man. He trained fine dogs to do almost everything but
talk. If one wanted a dog educated, Woo-Hsing was the man to take him
to. Whether for hunting, for performing tricks in public places or from
door to door—anything, all things, Woo-Hsing could teach his dogs. This
is why the children thought him a wonderful man.
It came time for Woo-Hsing’s little boy to learn how to teach dogs. So
one day he brought his son a very young one from the market place. Then
he told him how the dog should be taught. It would take three years to
teach him all: to play soldier with a gun, to dance, to bow his head,
to kneel, to play churn the rice, [28] to swim in water with a boy on
his back, or to take a basket and go from door to door and beg rice and
money for his master. Even then his training was not complete until he
could hunt the fox, the gibbon, the mouse-deer, and other animals.
Woo-Hsing’s little boy had been named Yiong-Yueng, which in Chinese
means “Forever.” The reason for the name was this: Woo-Hsing had been
given many sons, but they had all died young, so when the last one came
he named him Forever, for he said, “He will then live a long time and I
shall not be childless.”
Yiong-Yueng called his dog Hsi-Long, which means “for fun.” He was a
very wise dog and learned so many tricks in a short time, that he was
known and admired by all the boys in the country around.
One day a crowd of children coming home from school met Hsi-Long in the
road. They all shouted, “Here is Yiong-Yueng’s dog. Now we will have
some fun and make him do all his tricks for us.”
So one boy said, “Here, Hsi-Long! Come here,” but the dog would not
even notice him. Then another boy pulled his tail because he would not
obey; and Hsi-Long bit the boy’s finger and growled, and the boy ran
home crying.
Another boy said, “Now see me. I will make him take me on his back for
a swim in the water as he takes Yiong-Yueng;” and he caught Hsi-Long
roughly and tried to pull him in the water. But the dog pulled his
clothes and growled so fiercely that the boys scattered and ran home.
One of the boys, Ah-Gum, told his mother what had happened, and how
angry they all were at the dog, who needed a beating, as they thought.
“When Yiong-Yueng has visitors, Hsi-Long kneels and bows and does all
his tricks for him; why would he not do them for us, Ah-Ma? How can we
make him do the tricks for us?”
“Well, my son,” said his mother, “you wanted the dog to do many things
for you. Have you ever done anything for the dog? You are a stranger to
him. Did you ever give him anything to eat or drink?
“Try this,” continued the mother. “To-morrow, take a bowl of rice, put
a little meat and gravy with it, and give it to the dog. Speak kindly
to him and pet him. Do this two or three times and he will surely like
and trust you. Then he will do for you all he knows how to do.
“You will find people in the world are just the same, my son. Do not
expect people to do things for you when you do nothing for them, for
that is not right. You must give, if you expect to receive, and it is
better to give first.”