Zhang added some dried dung to the fire. “One of my relatives is a minor leader in a paper mill, where confiscated books are piled high. The workers roll their cigarettes with pages from traditional thread-bound books that are to be pulped. Anyone who loves books could trade cigarettes for printed classics. I make over seventy yuan a month as a horse herder, a fairly high wage, so I’d be happy to buy cigarettes to trade for books. But since the founding of the country, our government has encouraged people to kill wolves. Those who do so are the new grassland heroes. It won’t take long for the Mongol youths, especially the shepherds and horse herders who have only had an elementary or junior high school education, to be completely ignorant of the wolf totem. So what’s the point of it all?”
Chen took the lid off the pot. “True scientific research has to do with curiosity and interest,” he said, “not whether something is useful or not. Besides, you can’t really say that something is useless if you manage to figure out what it is you didn’t understand at first.” The meaty buns were taken out amid hot steam. Chen tossed one of them from hand to hand to cool it off before taking a bite. “Delicious,” he said. “The next time a foal is injured, make sure you bring it home.”
“The other three yurts want them too, so we take turns.”
“At least bring back the parts bitten by the wolf for me to feed to the cub.” The two friends finished off the buns in one steamer and Chen stood up, utterly sated. “I can’t recall how many times we’ve enjoyed wolf food,” he said. "Let’s go play ’throwing a meat bun at the wolf.’ ”
They waited for the buns to cool before they each grabbed one and happily walked out of the yurt to visit the young wolf.
“Little Wolf, Little Wolf, time to eat,” Chen shouted. Two meat buns gently landed on the wolf’s head and body, sending him scurrying into the cave with his tail between his legs. Yellow and Yir immediately picked up the meat buns. Chen laughed and said, “We’re idiots. He’s never seen a meat bun, so how would he know if it’s good or not? Wolves are naturally distrusting; hell, he doesn’t even trust me. He probably thought they were stones, since the Mongol kids passing by never miss a chance to throw stones at him.”
Zhang walked up to the dugout. “He’s a cute little thing,” he said with a smile. “I can’t wait to pick him up and play with him.”
“He only plays with Yang Ke and me,” said Chen. “We’re the only ones who can pick him up. Gao Jianzhong won’t even touch him, afraid he’ll bite. I don’t think you should try.”
Zhang bent down to get closer to the dugout. “Little Wolf, don’t forget I’m the one who brought you the horsemeat. You’re not the type to forget a friend after he’s fed you, are you?” He called out a few more times, but the cub bared his fangs and refused to come out. Zhang was about to pull on the chain when the cub shot out of his hole, mouth open, ready to bite. Zhang backed off so fast he fell down. Chen wrapped his arm around the cub’s neck to stop him, and then rubbed his head to calm him down.
Brushing the dirt off and standing up, Zhang said, “Not bad. He’s still as ferocious as those in the wild. It’d be no fun if he turned into a dog. I’ll bring him some more horsemeat when I come next time.”
Chen told Zhang about the dangers the little wolf’s howls could bring down on their heads. Zhang returned The Sea Wolf and picked up A History of the World. “Experience tells me that the wolf pack could be here tonight, so be careful, and don’t let them take our cub away. They’re afraid of explosives, so toss a double-kick firecracker if they break into the sheep flock. Make sure those I got you last time are still dry.”
“Yang Ke wrapped them in wax paper and put them in a wooden box, so they should be dry. A few days ago, he got into a fight with the migrants and lit three of them. Scared the hell out of them.”
Zhang Jiyuan mounted up and rode back to his herd.
26
After dinner, Bao Shungui came to Chen’s yurt from Bilgee’s place and gave Chen and Yang a large flashlight that required six batteries; it was a weapon and a tool that normally only horse herders were qualified to use. The gift was accompanied by a special task: "Flash this light if wolves get close to the sheep; instead of using firecrackers, let your dogs take them on. I’ve already told the others around here to rush over with their dogs as soon as they see your light.
“I didn’t realize that raising this little wolf might work out so well,” Bao said with a smile. “If the mother and the rest of the pack come tonight, we can kill seven or eight of them. Where are you going to find a better opportunity to lure wolves than with one of their own cubs? This time we’ll turn the tables on them. Be careful, you two. One of these lights can blind a person for several minutes, and even longer for wolves. You still have to have your spades and clubs ready, just in case.”
After Chen and Yang gave him their promise, Bao left to pass out instructions to other yurts, forbidding them from firing their weapons, since that would scare away the wolves and could injure people or their animals. Then he rushed off.
The excitement of luring wolves by using one of their own energized the grasslanders, even though the consequences, since this had never been tried before, could not be predicted. A few young herdsmen, whose hatred of wolves ran so deep they had stopped visiting Chen and Yang, now came by to gauge the lay of the land. They seemed unduly interested in this new hunting strategy. “Female wolves are so protective of their cubs,” one of the shepherds said, “they’re sure to come if they know one of them is here. I’d love to see them every night, so we could kill wolves every day.”
“Wolves never fall for the same trick twice,” said a horse herder.
“What if a whole pack attacks?” one of the shepherds asked.
“Our dogs’ll outnumber them,” the herder replied. “And if that’s not enough, we’ll join in with our lights and shouts. We can open fire or set off firecrackers.”
After they’d left, Chen and Yang sat on a felt rug near the cub with heavy hearts, feeling profoundly guilty. “This is so ruthless,” said Yang. “If we succeed in luring the mother wolf, that’ll mean that after raiding her den, we now exploit a mother’s love to kill her. We’ll rue this day for the rest of our lives.”
“I’m beginning to wonder again whether raising this cub was such a good idea,” Chen said, his head bowed low. “Six cubs paid with their lives for this one, and who knows how many more will die. But I can’t stop now. Scientific experimentation is like butchery sometimes. It’s hard on Bilgee, trying to lead the people, too much pressure. He has to endure the sadness of wolves slaughtering the livestock, while feeling the pangs of having to kill wolves. But for the sake of the grassland and the people, he has to do whatever’s necessary to preserve the balance of interdependent relationships. I wish I could ask Tengger to tell the mother wolves not to come tonight, not tonight or tomorrow night. They’d run right into a trap. Give me a little more time and I’ll return the cub to his mother when he’s a bit older.”