One Tail at a Time

How to Play.

So much of what he has written is literally minute by minute as if he didn't have enough to do.  It's as if my presence had given him a whole new lease on life, because book after book is filled with the lessons that followed my mother's visit in order to prepare me for when he visits me in the grove.  He even adds in the littlest of details, like how I hate to chew my food anymore than necessary and how being a fox means he had to teach me to slow down because I would gobble down everything in sight without even chewing it.  Though the way he describes it, anyone would think I was going to choke to death.

Its funny looking back on those moments now, because it is normal for a fox to swallow whole morsels without chewing if it isn't necessary, but he had a ton of patience which at the time I just never took notice of, because I was too busy battling him to eat the way I had always eaten, though even now, I still don't know why one must chew every mouthful 36 times.

And as I read on, I notice how very peaceful he seems to be.  I don't need to read too deeply to feel the laughter in his writing or the see the smile on his face when he describes the way I would sometimes sneak into his bed if I had a bad dream.  I have a vague recollection of waking under his thick quilt with my tails wrapped about his neck and my face flat against his belly.  I remember it, because he awoke laughing so my face felt every jiggle of his belly when he tried to un-noose himself.  

I really don't know how he put up with me to be honest, because I was such a naughty little girl.  I would never have gotten away with sneaking into fathers bed in the night, but as I said, Mo Yuan had a ton of patience for me, and I think too that he enjoyed having a little girl on his mountain, because the tenderness I always saw in his eyes back then, is very evident in the way he writes about me.

Now reading about a lesson that saw us throwing chairs about in the dining hall has me laughing all over again at the memory of it.

My lazy little Xiaobai will pull every trick under the sun to get out of her chores.  She barely lifts a finger to help with anything, and will only help out if there is something in it for her, which sees a lesson in what helping out means for everyone on this mountain.  So far, she only has two chores, and that is to push the chairs in after each meal and to collect the mail.  They are simple enough and easy for a little fox to manage, but the way she drags her feet has me quickly using her grumpiness to teach her how turn work into play.

Actually, she is quite a mischievous girl and a highly intelligent one, so I am surprised she has not figured this out yet, though I have a strong suspicion that she never had to do chores before, so sees them as something boring, which she most adamantly verbalises the moment I bring the subject up.

So leading her into the dining hall, I drag out every chair while explaining what would happen if they were not pushed though the scowl on her face at what she is already seeing as boring soon has my own mischief rising and from a time when I wasn't much older than her.

Back then, my brothers and I pulled every trick known to not only get our chores done as quickly as possible, but we played all manner of games in order to make it fun, and one of those games is about to hit my little scowly face which erupts into a fit of laughter when I race her to push the chairs back in.

Also back then, we would all take turns at confiscating one cherished possession from each other and throw them into what was called 'the dungeon'.  It was really just a box which was hidden by a nominated constable who was always my father.  But in order to get our possessions back, we not only had to race to finish our chores first, but the winner got to upset the others chores to make it last longer.  So of course, there was all manner of cheating and tears to get our chores done as quickly as possible.