Since ancient times, this town has regarded dogs as unlucky animals, tabooing them and hating them. There is a legend that dogs are "the messengers of death." A dog is raised by a certain family. If someone dies in this family, the dog will be used as a burial object. This is a h

Since ancient times, this town has regarded dogs as unlucky animals, tabooing them and hating them. There is a legend that dogs are "the messengers of death." A dog is raised by a certain family. If someone dies in this family, the dog will be used as a burial object. This is a habit formed in this town. However, dogs are such lovely animals. Petting dogs is an older human habit. In this town, only if someone in the owner's family dies will the dog suffer a helpless fate. The affectionate people of this town scrupulously care about feeding this animal and have no choice but to tolerate cats or white rabbits. People who have confidence in their own good fortune instead keep two or three as if to show off the symbol of their family's happiness, and even the God of Death does not come close to peek through the cracks. The family felt quite proud when people in the town praised them and said, "They have so many dogs..."

The reason for believing that dogs are "messengers of death" is very simple. Dogs use blood-curdling barks to express the uneasiness they feel based on their sense of smell. The closer the dying patient is to death, the more unusual the odor will undoubtedly be. Especially people suffering from fever are more severe. The stench of corpses is even worse. It’s no wonder that dogs keep barking before and after death. Besides, when encountering a person's death, the stench once penetrates into the nose, and the second time it encounters it, it will be more unbearable than the last time. This is natural. Are the people in the town aware of this situation? They once saw a dog in a house where a person had died. They were as frightened as if they had met a demon and decided to kill it. Although I don't know who said the words "the messenger of death" in the past, but as soon as the ferocious fever spreads, the dogs in the town will bark, adding to the darkness of the already terrifying scene in the town.

There is a dog grave at the end of the village. There is a stone statue of a dog placed on the tomb. It seems to be a stone statue of a lion dog temporarily borrowed from the village community. The sacrificial dogs are buried here. What's funny is that the people in the town prayed for recovery from the disease in front of the dog's grave. They clasped their hands and offered fragrant flowers.

However, this town, which is more than eight kilometers away from the metropolis, did not expand until twenty or thirty years ago. It has turned into a factory area. Many outsiders have moved here, and of course the number of dogs has also increased. The belief and authority of the dog as the god of death was also lost. However, families who have died still adhere to the old custom of burying dogs. Sometimes there were conflicts between the old residents and the new arrivals over this matter. It is a terrible thing to let an unlucky dog ​​live. This is the idea of ​​​​people in this town since ancient times. In short, there is a steady stream of people visiting the "dog grave".

二

"It's best to wait until dark before burning. It's really unbearable for the family to see it." In the evening, a guest enjoying the cool air on the bridge said while looking at the smoke and clouds of the crematorium.

"But the crematorium in a certain metropolis also has electric lights on for ignition."

"Maybe it's because of psychological effects. It really stinks!"

The visitors who heard these conversations looked at the smoke clouds.

"Who died?"

"I don't know."

"If there were dogs, they would definitely be killed."

" Thanks to the fact that people have become fools, dogs can live easily. Some dogs don’t even bark "woof" after killing one or two people. "

After a while, A mother led a five or six-year-old boy who had just shaved his head and had a big head across the bridge. The mother came home later than usual, and the child went to the factory to pick her up.

Halfway across the bridge, the child said: "Mom, I always smell a scent."

The boy narrowed his nose, took a deep breath of the smell of burning corpses, and stopped for a while.

The tired mother ignored him and pulled his hand hard, urging him to walk quickly.

三

"There was a funeral in a certain family today. It is said that the family felt that the dog was pitiful and wanted to ask the neighbor to secretly store the dog with relatives."

"Ouch."

"But it was discovered.So, while they were arguing about whether to hand over the dog, the key dog ​​ran away. How ridiculous. "

After hearing this, the mother just now had a slightly melancholy look on her face... She and her children went home, had dinner, took a bath, and enjoyed the cool breeze in front of their home. She, her husband, and their big-headed child were a family of three. The person I spoke to lived in the humble housing of the company where I went to work every day. She is a neighbor girl.

In front of several simple houses, there is a long red brick corridor under the eaves from one end to the other. Bats are flying around in disorder. .

male The child held his mother's hands, put his feet between her legs, held his head high, put his weight on his mother's hands, and swayed around. After a while, he stopped shaking and put his big head back. Lean back, forming a right angle with your body, and look at the red sky in the evening, at the reeds on the riverside upstream of the bridge you just walked over, at the small bridge, and the bridge. The weeping willows were swaying in the breeze, and the tall bell tower stood out in the evening sky. Because he bent his head so much that his blood was not flowing, his vision suddenly seemed to become hazy, as he put the weight of his whole body on his mother. on his hands, he lost himself in a daze.

"How ridiculous. Some time ago, a female worker probably jumped into the river. At this time, no one said anything about what to do with the factory dog. It was natural to remain silent. "

"But..."

The moment the mother wanted to argue, she suddenly heard her husband's cry.

"Big beast! "

As soon as he finished speaking, a white thing jumped out of the door like a bullet and bumped into his mother.

"Ah! "The mother couldn't help but retract her arm. At this moment, the child who grabbed her finger fell to the ground with a clatter, his head hit the brick floor heavily, and he couldn't cry.

The dog flew across the bridge and rushed towards the white The dog escaped from the streets like a devil.

Ye Weiqu; Translated by Tang Yuemei