The Livestock Forests

On those sweeping days, the woods were bustling like a marketplace. In the bushes and woods beyond the mountain paths, families with cows and calves, old women with goats and little girls with geese abounded. What's more, some people even fled with their family rabbits.

Everywhere, the thicker the chestnut trees, the more fat bulls and big-bellied cows there are, and they don't know where to step on the steep slopes. The goats were in a much better position. But no one was happier than the mules, who for once could walk without weight and nibble on the bark as they went. The pigs were so devoted to arching the ground that they ended up with chestnut shells on their long noses. Hens perched in the trees, which scared the squirrels. The rabbits, who could not dig holes to make burrows because they had been kept in captivity for years, had to go into the holes of trees, but sometimes they met sleeping rats that bit them.

That morning, farmer Juah Dey Fitch was cutting wood deep in the woods, unaware of what was happening in the village. He had left the village the first night and slept in a house in the woods used to air-dry chestnuts in the fall, intending to pick mushrooms early the next morning.

He was swinging his axe to cut a dead tree when he was surprised to hear the sound of a bell tied under the neck of an animal in the forest. He stopped what he was doing and listened to the sound from far and near. "Oh--" he called out toward the sound.

Juah Dey Fitch was a short, fat man with a round face that was dark and red. He wore a green conical felt hat with a pheasant feather stuck in it, a shirt with large yellow polka dots, a woolen undershirt over it, and a red scarf with polka dots tied around his blue-patched pants on his bulging stomach.

"Oh ooh-" someone answered him. From behind the mossy rocks, a peasant with a straw hat and a moustache emerged. It was his old countryman, leading a big goat with a white beard.

"Chua, what are you doing here." The old countryman said to him, "The Germans have entered the village and are searching the barns one by one!"

"Oh God, no! They're sure to find my cow, 'Big Sister Flower', and take her away." Juah exclaimed.

"You go quickly, you may still have time to hide it." The old countryman reminded him, "We saw the German party enter the mountain pass and withdrew immediately. Maybe they haven't gone as far as your house."

Chua dropped his firewood, axe and mushroom basket and scampered away.

As he ran through the woods, a flock of ducks flapped their wings and ran away from his feet. A flock of shoulder-to-shoulder goats would not give way to him. The children and the old woman shouted at him, "They've reached Madoneta! They are searching from door to door on the bridge. I see they are almost at the entrance of the village." Chua ran as fast as he could on those short legs, downhill like a rolling ball, uphill panting. He ran, ran, ran, over a ridge, and the village came into view. In the mountain village in the mountains, the morning air is fresh and soft. The simple houses made of stone bricks and slabs look so bleak. The air in the village was tense, and from time to time there were shouts of Germans and the sound of fists slamming doors.

"Oh my God! The Germans have entered the village!"

Chua Dey Fitch's whole body trembled. This was partly due to a long history of trembling hands from drinking too much, and partly because he shuddered at the thought of his only possession in the world, "Big Sister Flower," being taken away.

Under the cover of the rows of grapevines, he crossed the fields and quietly approached the village. His home was in the last row of the village, in the middle of a green pumpkin patch, where the houses and vegetable fields crossed. Perhaps the Germans had not yet arrived there.

As he looked around, Chua began to slip into the village. He turned from one corner of the house to another and saw that the street was empty, only the smell of hay and stables remained. Savage shouts and the sound of spiked leather boots came from the center of the village. His house was in front, and the door was still closed, both the door of the cattle pen and the door of the room attached to the broken steps. The broken pot at the door was planted with basil. "Moo ......" a voice came from the barn, it was the cow "Big Sister Flower", who heard her master approaching at that moment. Chua was happy.

Just then, suddenly from under an archway came the sound of footsteps, Zhua hurriedly hid in the doorway, forcefully contracted backward bulging belly. It was a peasant-looking German soldier, whose short uniform could not cover the long arms and neck, and whose legs were long, carrying a broken gun as tall as he was. He had left his companions and was trying to get something alone. The village reminded him of familiar things and smells. He sniffed with his nose as he walked. A pig-like yellow face looked east under a flat military cap. "Moo ......" called "Big Sister Flower" again, wondering why his master had not yet arrived. Hearing this sound, the German soldier's spirits were lifted and he quickly walked towards the barn. Chua was so nervous that he couldn't breathe.

He saw that the Germans were kicking the door ferociously and would surely break it down soon. So he went around to the back of the house, went into the hayloft and rummaged under the haystack. There was an old double-barreled shotgun and cartridge pouch hidden there. He put two wild boar bullets in it, tied the pouch around his waist, held the gun flat, and walked quietly to the door of the barn.

The German soldier was leading the cow out. It was a beautiful, red heifer with black dots, hence the nickname "Big Sister Flower". She was docile, but stubborn. Now she did not want to follow the stranger and stood still. The Germans had to push her behind to make her go.

Hiding behind the wall, Jua began to take aim. You know, he was the lamest hunter in the village, never aiming badly, not to mention wild rabbits, not even a squirrel. When he shot at the birds in the trees, they did not even move. No one wanted to go hunting with him, because he would hit the iron grit on the buttocks of his companions. His hands were already shaking and he couldn't aim well, and now he was so excited that the result was predictable. He tried hard to aim, but his shaking hands kept the muzzle spinning in the air. He tried to aim at the German's chest, but it was the bull's ass he was aiming at. "My God! What if I want to kill a German soldier and it's 'Big Sister Hana' who gets killed?" Chua thought so, not daring to shoot rashly.

The German led the cow, which refused to move forward because it heard its master coming, and strained to walk, when suddenly he realized that his companions had left the village and gone on their way. He was ready to pull the stubborn bull after his partners. Chua kept trailing behind, keeping a distance, hiding from time to time behind a fence or a low wall to take aim. But in any case, he could not hold the gun, not to mention that the German and the cow were so close that he dared to pull the trigger. Should we just let him take her away?

The German soldier tried to take a shortcut to catch up with his partner, who was getting away, and went into the woods. Now with the cover of the tree trunk, it was easier for Juah to follow him. At this point the German soldier would probably be a little farther away from the cow and might have a chance to shoot.

Entering the woods, the cow seemed less stubborn. Instead, since the German was not at all familiar with the wooded path, it was the cow who led him along and chose which fork to take. It didn't take long for the German to realize that instead of taking the shortcut to the main road, he had entered the depths of the dense forest. In a word, he was lost along with the cow.

Chua had been following the German soldier, like him, with his nose cut by thorns, his feet caught in the creek, and wrens scared and flying around. Trying to aim through the dense forest was even more difficult, especially through the multiple obstacles and the cow's ass that was always waving in front of him.

The Germans surveyed the dense woods with trepidation and wondered how they could get out. Suddenly, he heard a rattling in the poplar bush and a beautiful pink piglet ran out. In his hometown, he had never seen a pig running around in the woods. He let go of the rope holding the cow and went after the pig. Once the "big sister" was free, she ran headlong into the woods, where she had many friends.

For Joua, this was a good opportunity to shoot. The Germans were scrambling to catch the pig, trying to hold it tightly, but the pig broke free.

Just as Jaua stood there ready to pull the trigger, two children appeared nearby, a boy and a girl, wearing woolen hats and boots. With teardrops on their faces, they said, "Chua, please aim harder. If you kill our pig, we will have nothing." The shotgun in Chua's hand danced the tarantella again. He was too soft-hearted and excited. It was not because he wanted to kill the German devil, but because he was worried about the pigs of those two poor children. , the

The German devil was banging around with the squealing, struggling pig in his arms. Suddenly, along with the pig's cry, "Baa -" a sound, from the cave ran out of a small sheep. The German put down the pig and went to catch the sheep again. He grabbed one of the legs of the hissing sheep and carried it on his shoulders like a shepherd, and went forward. Chua crept after him, thinking, "This is your chance to get away." He was about to pull the trigger when a hand suddenly lifted his gun. It turned out to be an old shepherd with a white beard. He put his palms together and prayed to Chua, "Chua, don't kill my lamb, you just shoot him, don't shoot my sheep. You must aim better." Zhua was so confused that he didn't even know where the trigger was.

The German soldier wandered around the woods, amazed at what he saw: chicks perched in the trees, guinea pigs poking their heads out of holes in the trees. It was almost like Noah's ark. Look, there is a turkey standing on a pine branch with an open screen. He hurriedly reached out to grab it, but the turkey jumped gently, jumped to a higher level of the branch, tail feathers still unfurled. The German soldier let go of the goat and began to climb the tree. He climbed up one layer, the chin dangling flesh of the bright red turkey, jumped to a higher layer of branches, holding the chest, and kept the open posture.

Chua head thick branches, both shoulders and gun barrels are also camouflaged with branches, he quietly came to the bottom of the tree. At that moment, a young, fat girl in a red turban came to him. "Chua," she said, "listen to me, if you kill the Germans, I will marry you. If you kill my turkey, I'll cut your neck." Hearing these words, the shy Jua, who was not young but not yet married, turned red with shame, and the shotgun in her hand twirled before her eyes like an iron fork for roasting meat.

The German soldier continued to climb up the tree, the branches were getting thinner and thinner, the branch under his feet suddenly snapped and he fell, almost hitting Chua. This time Zhua is not confused, pull out his legs and run, camouflaged branches fell all over the ground. The German soldier fell on a loose branch and was not injured.

After falling to the ground, he saw a rabbit on the path, but not like a hare. It was round and bulbous, fatter than a hare, and instead of running when it heard a noise, it lay still on the ground, and turned out to be a domestic rabbit. The Germans grabbed it by the ears. With the rabbit squealing and twisting around, he went on his way again. In order not to make the rabbit run away, he had to raise his arms high and jump around. The forest was filled with cows, sheep and chickens crowing. New animals could be found at every step: a parrot standing on a holly tree and three red fish swimming in a spring.

Zhua rode on a high branch of an old oak tree, keeping an eye on the German soldier carrying the rabbit. Although the rabbit changed position from time to time, it was always out of alignment. Juah felt someone pulling the hem of his undershirt, and when he looked, it was a little girl with braided hair and freckles. She said, "Juah, don't shoot my rabbit, the Germans have taken it anyway."

The German soldier came to a place covered with gray rocks and green moss, with only a few dry pine trees nearby and a cliff in front of him. A hen was feeding on the ground sprinkled with pine branches. The Germans rushed to chase the chicken, the rabbit took the opportunity to slip away.

It was a bare hen without a few hairs left, and one could never see a chicken older and thinner than it. It belonged to Girumina, the poorest old woman in the village. It was soon captured by German soldiers.

Chua ambushed it high up in the rocks and built a gun mount with stones. In fact, he built a bunker, leaving only a firing hole where he could put the barrel of his gun. Now he could shoot without fear, even if he killed the hairless hen, it did not matter.

At that moment, old Mrs. Jirumina came up to him in a black torn shawl and told him this: "Jua, the Germans took my chicken, which is my only property in the world, and that is enough to make me sad. Now if you kill the chicken again, it will make me even sadder."

Hearing the old woman's words, Chua's hands trembled even more than before; his responsibility was too great. Nevertheless, he gathered enough courage and pulled the trigger.

Hearing the shot, the German saw the chicken in his hand without its tail. Then there was another bang, and one of the wings was lost. Did the chicken have magic and would explode and consume itself in his hands? Another shot and the hen was stripped of all her feathers, except for the fact that she was still squawking and could simply be sent straight to the barbecue. The frightened German soldier grabbed the chicken's neck and held his arm out flat, keeping a certain distance from his own body. Chua's fourth shot hit the neck of the chicken just below his hand, and he was left with only the head of the chicken in his hand + he threw it away quickly and ran. But he could not find the road any more, and there was a rocky cliff in front of him. On the edge of the rocky cliff grew a carob tree with a big cat lying on top.

Now he was not surprised to see all kinds of domestic animals in the woods. He reached out to pet the cat, hoping to hear it purr for comfort.

You know, for a long time there has been a vicious wild cat in this forest, specializing in preying on birds of prey and sometimes even stealing chickens from the village to eat. The German soldier, who thought he could hear the cat purring, saw the vicious animal, erecting its whole body of hair and lunging at him, and he felt about to be torn to pieces by the wild cat's sharp claws. The man and the wild cat rolled down the rocky cliff together in the fight.

In this way, Jua, an inferior shooter, was welcomed like the greatest partisans and hunters of the whole village. The people bought a litter of chicks for poor Jirumina from the provident fund.