The Cowherd Boy

Er Wazi lay in a pile of hay, a tattered straw hat covering half his head. He chewed on a grass root, its bittersweet taste filling his mouth.

In the distance, five cattle leisurely grazed on the half-withered grass. One old ox had eaten its fill and let out a great heap of dung with a series of wet splats, spreading its fragrance through the air.

The early winter sun shone on him, warming his body and making him drowsy.

Er Wazi thought contentedly, If only there were a sun at night to keep me warm. He never stopped to consider whether night would still be night if the sun were out.

He thought this way because he could only sleep in Wang Laocai's hay shed at night. Apart from hay, there was nothing inside but cold, which was why he had such unrealistic notions.

He had been so cold last night that he had not slept a wink, and he was still sleepy now.

But he could not fall asleep. He had to stay alert and watch the cattle.

These cattle belonged to Wang Laocai. For tending them every day, Er Wazi received a single meal. If Wang Laocai's wife was in a good mood, she gave him some cold leftovers; if she was in a bad mood, she fobbed him off with a coarse-grain bun.

Even so, Er Wazi treasured this job. Green Ox Village was simply too poor. The other villagers could barely feed their own families, so how could they have spare grain for an orphan like him?

With only one meal a day, he was starving until he was all skin and bones. If this went on, who knew when Heaven might claim him?

Besides tending Wang Laocai's cattle, he also washed clothes and cleaned for Teacher Lan Qing. He did it for no other reason than to listen to Teacher Lan Qing's lessons and learn to read and write.

Teacher Lan Qing was the village's only literate teacher. He taught the village children to read and write, and the villagers paid him in grain.

The other children's families had all given grain, but Erwazi had none to offer Teacher Lan Qing. The teacher could only let him listen from outside the courtyard; otherwise, everyone would stop paying, putting Teacher Lan Qing in a difficult position.

Still, his comprehension and memory were excellent. Often, he remembered something after Teacher Lan Qing taught it just once, unlike some children with heads of solid wood that simply would not open up.

During one lesson, Teacher Lan Qing posed a question that none of the children inside the courtyard could answer. Er Wazi, standing outside, answered it at once.

Teacher Lan Qing then asked Er Wazi what reward he wanted.

For as long as Er Wazi could remember, the other villagers had called him Er Wazi. He did not know why, though he had heard that his parents had called him that when they were alive.

So Er Wazi asked Teacher Lan Qing to give him a name.

He had learned that his family name was Ye. After a little thought, Teacher Lan Qing named him Ye Han.

He asked Teacher Lan Qing what it meant. Teacher Lan Qing said that he had been born into poverty and lived in hardship. By naming him Ye Han, he hoped the boy would endure the cold and, should he become wealthy someday, never forget the poverty of his past.

Er Wazi liked the name very much. At first, whenever anyone called him Er Wazi, he corrected them, saying his name was Ye Han.

Yet everyone still called him Er Wazi.

Still, compared with other children named Dog Egg, Second Dog, Second Fool, Niu Zhibei, Little Black, Little White...

At least Er Wazi sounded a tiny bit better. He could only console himself with that and accept it.

After freezing all night, Er Wazi thought, Once I make it through this winter, I'll leave Green Ox Village and try my luck in the world outside. If I stay in this poor place, nobody will ever call me Ye Han.

He had heard Teacher Lan Qing describe how prosperous and rich the world outside was. He did not want to spend his whole life in Green Ox Village tending Wang Laocai's cattle, never knowing where his next meal would come from. Perhaps after a few years out in the world, he could become one of the wealthy, respectable people Teacher Lan Qing spoke of.

Perhaps it was because he had slept poorly the night before, or perhaps the sunshine was too comfortable. Before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep.

He had no idea how long he slept before a gust of wind swept past, sending dead leaves dancing and blowing away the tattered straw hat covering Ye Han's face.

Er Wazi slowly woke and scratched the back of his head. The sun stood high overhead—it was nearly noon already, and its warmth was making him a little hot.

Grrr!

His stomach protested. Lately, Er Wazi felt that he grew hungry faster and faster. He was at that half-grown age when his body was still developing, making him especially prone to hunger.

He took half a coarse-grain bun from inside his clothes. He had saved it from last night to eat at noon. He finished it in a few bites. At least there was something in his stomach now, and he was not quite so hungry.

But he had been in the sun too long, and the half bun was terribly dry. He was just about to look for some water.

Suddenly.

Er Wazi's expression changed drastically. Sensing something was wrong, he sprang up and looked around.

Where were the cattle?

Everything around him was quiet. The cattle that had been grazing nearby were gone. He stood on tiptoe and searched in every direction, but there was no telling where they had wandered off.

If Wang Laocai finds out I fell asleep and lost track of the cattle, this job will definitely be finished...

Usually, he watched the cattle until they had eaten their fill, then tethered them before going to listen to Teacher Lan Qing's lessons. But after freezing all night and barely sleeping, he had dozed off-and now the cattle were gone.

In all of Green Ox Village, only Wang Laocai owned five cattle. Everyone else had only one or two. Cattle did occasionally go missing, either led away by thieves or eaten by ferocious beasts that came down from the mountains.

"Where did they go?"

Er Wazi was so anxious that sweat began to pour down his face. Forgetting his parched mouth and throat, he climbed onto a large rock on the hillside and scanned his surroundings. As far as he could see, there was not a trace of the cattle.

If all five cattle were lost, it would be perfectly normal for Wang Laocai to beat him to death. Otherwise, Wang Laocai would work him like an ox for the rest of his life.

Er Wazi was the cleverest child in the village. His mind turned, and an idea came to him at once.

That's right! Cow dung!

Cattle always eat and dung as they go. If I follow the fresh dung, I should be able to find them...

After walking a short distance, Er Wazi found a pile of dung that looked fresh. Encouraged, he followed the trail, but the farther he went, the grimmer his expression became.

The trail of dung led toward the mountains, where ferocious beasts roamed. If the cattle had wandered into the mountains, he was in trouble.

Last year, several village hunters had gone into the mountains together and never returned. The entire village had gone up to search for them, only to find a pile of bones. For a long time after that, no one had dared hunt in the mountains.

Thinking of what would happen if he lost the cattle, Er Wazi gritted his teeth and continued searching toward the mountain forest.

In the early winter weather, the grass outside was already half-withered, but the vegetation in the mountains was still lush and green. No wonder those damned cattle had gone into the mountains to graze.

I hope those cattle haven't gone too far.

Er Wazi prayed silently as he followed the traces the cattle had left and walked onward.

The deeper he went into the mountains, the thicker the forest grew. When he looked back, he could no longer see the path he had come along.

By now, the sun was sinking in the west, and darkness was approaching.

"I can't go any farther. Soon I won't be able to find my way back."

Er Wazi glanced at the sky and muttered to himself. A few cattle were not worth his life. If worse came to worst, he could flee the village overnight.

He had just turned around.

Suddenly.

"Moo!"

A cow's call came from a nearby gorge.

"The cattle are over there!"

Er Wazi cried out in delighted surprise and sprinted toward the gorge. As soon as he reached it, a powerful stench of blood struck him.

After advancing only a dozen or so yards, he saw the skeleton of a yellow ox at the gorge's mouth. Strands of fresh flesh still clung to its bones, and entrails and blood littered the ground. One look was enough to tell that some fierce beast had eaten it.

What happened?

Not daring to enter the gorge at all, Er Wazi's face changed drastically. He whipped around and tried to run.

Roar...

A beast's roar rang out, followed by a violent gust of foul-smelling wind. Er Wazi felt a shape larger than an ox slam into him and send him flying. His head struck the rock wall, and he lost consciousness.