Animals: friend or foe? - Topic - Common Talk Weekly

Animals: friend or foe?
February 18, 2004

Whether human beings have the absolute right to control other living things is a question that has been asked for a long time. Since the early beginnings of the planet, animals and human beings have been relatively equal to each other. Nobody can deny the fact that animals are the best friends of human beings, whether in the past or in the future.

人类是否拥有绝对的权力主宰地球上的其他生物？动物究竟是人类的朋友还是敌人？长久以来，这些一直是大家所关注的话题。

Jack, 30 years old, a male customer service staff member in a state-owned company（国企）, a half-minded English learner. Hope to improve spoken English in activities organized by “Common Talk” and get to know more people from all walks of life along the way.

Grow up with animals
By Jack

Household animals always remind me of a carefree childhood in the countryside and kindle nostalgic feelings. Proud roosters were crowing on the roof of the henhouse in the early morning, and irritable（易怒的） hens were keeping a close watch on their buffy flocky chicks. And the geese looked funny but remember not to tease those steadfast guys otherwise you could be chased like a drowned mouse. The pigs were gluttonous(贪吃的) and lazy and they were my grandma’s beloved daughters. The ox was diligent and he was a pearl in the palm of my grandpa. The black dog was my favorite, playing with me, accompanying me all day and barking fiercely at those kids who wanted to fool me.

The great elephant, the perky lion, the boastful peacock and the cute panda in the zoo not only amused me but also gave me a broadened mind. I was intoxicated（兴奋的） by the wonderful stories of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, with my heart going up and down with their happiness and sadness. Those animals, living in a household or in the zoo, real or imaginary, were really part of my life.

Unfortunately, like many other naive children, I grew up only to find out that the stories between mankind and animals are not all sweet. Human beings sometimes have spoiled our friendship with animals. Large numbers of wild animals have been slaughtered and their habitats destroyed all over the world. The disservice（伤害） of mankind now backfires（适得其反）. More and more endangered species are dying out and the biological balance has been broken up, thus threatening the ecological system. Thus mankind nowadays is inevitably troubled with aids, SARS, mad cow disease, bird flu and so on.

Painfully pondering over the bittersweet relationship between animals and human beings, I cannot help doubting that the almighty God might had forgotton to instruct Noah about how to get along well with those animals as he commanded him to bring them onto the ark during the great flood.

Ivy, a 2003-grade postgraduate in Xiamen University, majoring in American and British literature. Reading and traveling are her favorite interests.

My aunt’s soul companion
By Ivy

When you step into my aunt’s garden at the back of her house, you are stunned at a whole sight of animals of different kinds living an idle life there. Swimming in the pool are groups of golden carp. Walking under the sun are a couple of dogs. Closely following in their steps is a white cat mewing like a spoiled child. Green grass grows dynamically under their feet and surrounding it are dozens of trees acting like soldiers safeguarding against any possible invasion. All of these constitute an atmosphere of vitality and harmony, and everything in the garden shows the hostess’ deep affection and delicate care for these little natural lives.

Since my aunt’s husband betrayed their marriage vow and left her, looking after these animals has taken up most of her spare time. She hardly bewails（悲叹） her miserable fate before us; instead she shows more interest in sharing with us some of the funny incidents taking place during her getting along with these lovely lives. And day after day it seems to us that what she talks of is not about animals but about one of her friends or her family members.

People who know her all praise her kind-heartedness, because most of the dogs and cats now enjoying their happy life in her garden, are animals once discarded to street, then fortunately picked up by my aunt. Thus it seems that my aunt is their undisputable（无可争辩的） savior. But she replies in this way: “I am not sure whether I am their savior, yet I can say for certain that they are my savior. When I first saw them in the street, their helpless eyes revealed their despair and unspeakable sorrow after their desertion and betrayal by human beings. I realized at that moment that they needed me. They needed me to help them survive as if to say “no” to their seemingly doomed fate; they needed my comfort so as to restore their lost confidence in human’s affection and sincerity. Now I have succeeded. Their bettering gradually adds to my confidence in myself that I can have a fresh start and live a better life. I have succeeded thanks to my fate. It once deprived me of one companion, but now returns me so many soul companions, much better than that former one.”

Long Hong, a Xiamen local. He likes fishing. With his personal experience of his youth, he has established a harmonious relationship with egrets, the city bird of Xiamen.
Photo by Zheng Xiaodong

A wounded egret
Narrated by Long Hong
Written by Happy Hong

Thirty-five years ago, there weren’t any modern buildings beside the Yuan Dang Lake. Instead, there was wild grassland dotted with some ponds. That year I was 20. Being unemployed, I fished in these ponds everyday to make a living.

One cloudy and chilly morning, I was doing my routine job in one of these ponds when I saw an egret stagger among the grass. My heart sank. I approached it carefully and found that it was wounded. It tried to fly away when it saw me. But one of its wings was unable to move. I said to it softly, “I won’t hurt you. We have the same fate of fishing for life. We are friends. You need my help now. ”

The egret seemed to understand what I had said, and let me take it to my home.

I examined its wound carefully. It turned out that a tiny bullet had passed through its wing. The wound was full of pus（脓）.

I managed to get rid of the pus from the wound. Then I set about sterilizing（消毒） the wound. Disinfectant（杀菌） sponge in my hand, I said, “I’m sorry I have caused you pain, brother egret! But if I didn’t cause you pain I would be even more sorry.” The egret listened to me silently. I said, “Good boy! Let’s begin.”

As the wet sponge was put in the wound, the egret gave a pitiful scream, as if a needle was stabbing deep into my heart. My palms were wet. My forehead was sweaty. But I went on until the wound had been cleaned thoroughly. Finally, I put some ointment（药膏） on the wound and fed the egret some drinking water.

I made a nest of hay for the egret and placed it beside my bed.

Early the next morning, I went out fishing and brought back some fresh fish, presenting it into the egret’s mouth fish by fish.

The egret recuperated（休养） in my home for the following days. I gave it treatment and fed it fish everyday. It was recovering day by day.

However, the egret was getting more and more anxious day by day. I understood that it was missing home. It wanted to go back to its free life.

I was not willing to part from my “guest” so quickly. Nevertheless, thinking of its free life of ease within its natural environment, I had the opposite impulse to send it back as soon as possible.

It was a sunny morning. Just at the same site where the egret had been rescued nine days before, I set the egret down slightly on the earth.

A breeze passed by, the sweet fragrance of the rare wild flowers, the smell of countryside earth, and the whispering performance of the insects constituted an atmosphere that both of us were familiar to.

The egret stood still for a moment. Then walked along. Suddenly, it geared up and took off. It turned back with a circle, passing overhead, leaving a joyful farewell, and then gradually vanished from my sight.

Picture by Zhu Lijun