Dog wants to study

Tonight was a cool and peaceful night for me, but Robert didn’t find it so. Look at him, he was laying on the ground next to my lounge - not only an unhappy face but also an upset face.

“What's the problem, Robert?” I asked.

Robert blew a loud breath before he answered me, “In the afternoon, I got scolded by crow.”

“She scolded you?”

“Yes.” Robert nodded head. “I talked about the Buddha’s precepts and I said that she was bad because she stole food from humans. She asked me about the precepts. After I told her, she said she stole the meat from the humans, but the meat was dead, and that meat was animal’s, the human killed a living animal then took the flesh. She asked me - what about humans who killed that living animal?”

“So which part did she scold you?”

Hearing my question, Robert raised up his head and looked at me. I looked at him, quietly waiting for his answer. Still he could not reply to my question though several seconds passed.

“Well Robert,” I spoke, “I know you are a straight-mouth guy, but a straight mouth doesn’t mean good.”

“Why?”

“Because you just said what you want to say and the things that you want to say are not always right.”

“Do you mean I am wrong?”

“I said you are not always right, but I didn’t say you are wrong.”

“I don’t understand. Complicated!”

“Yes, it is complicated. You are not right, it does not mean you are wrong. You are right, it does not mean you are correct. You say something correct, it does mean what you say is real. And the real thing you are saying does not mean it is true.”

“Oh my,” Robert said, covering his head, “I’ve got a headache.”

I chuckled when I saw his action.

“I really don’t understand what you said,” Robert removed his hands from head, “but I want to understand it. How can I understand it?”

“There is only one way, study.”

“Study! But I am a dog.”

“No matter if you are a dog or even a worm, you are free to study. Like me, I am a pig, but I study.”

“How do you study?”

“At first, my ex-master taught me, then I learned by myself from everyone and everything around me.”

“You are great, I want to. Please teach me.”

“Well, I don’t study associated with teaching methods, I don’t know how to teach you; but if you are willing and committed to study, let’s find out a way. Tell me what you like to hear about.”

“I’m not sure, but I like to hear everything. When I stayed with my ex-master, he usually told me stories and I liked it.”

“I see.” I wagged my head. “I think we can use this method - at night, we will have a meeting here. I will tell you a story. Also if you have any questions or want to know something, you ask me. But I have to tell you in advance that I will answer only the things I know clearly.”

Robert smiled and wagged his head in a row, “Okay.”

Crow protests that she is not the bad bird

Caw, caw…

“Hello crow,” Robert said. “Pig and I just talked about you recently.”

“Oh,” the crow was surprised, “what was that?”

“He said he likes you because you are a hard working bird.”

The crow stayed silent.

“But I still have a question.”

“Well.”

“I believe you work hard to find food by yourself, but you steal the food. Stealing is not good. According to the precepts in Buddhism, you are wrong.”

“What are the precepts?”

“They are not killing, not stealing, not sexually misconducting, not lying and not drinking alcohol.”

“The three precepts are not with me because I am a bird. But I want to ask you about the first and the second. Can you explain it to me?”

“The first one is about not killing any living things and the second is about not taking things from the owner without their permission, and you are wrong because you take the food from the human without their consent. You are bad.”

“Well, well, well, I confess I steal food from humans.” The crow wagged her head. “I steal from them not only the fruits but also the meat. However, talking about the meat. It’s the animal’s flesh. The animal is alive. The human kills it then takes the flesh from it to eat. When I see it, I fly to take it. However it is a dead thing. If I am bad because I steal it, what about the human? They kill it!”

Mouth of Robert was blocked after hearing it. And before I got out, the crow had already left.

Pig doesn’t want to be famous

“Pig,” Robert called, “what is that in your water fountain?”

I went to see. “Oh, it’s a firefly larva,” I told him.

“Why does it come to stay here?”

“Fireflies need a moisturized place to lay eggs. The bush has no water, so they come to lay eggs here.”

“Wow, you are knowledgeable. If you are a writer, I think you will be famous.”

“I am a writer, but I don’t want to be famous.”

“Why?”

“I tell you a tale. Once upon a time, there were two males who were best friends. They swore to not be apart from each other, so after they died, they reincarnated as a bird with one body but two heads. One day, the bird was caught by the king. The king wanted them to be apart but the bird refused. Even though the king provided many valuable things or even food, the bird still didn’t agree. So the king said to his subordinates that if anyone could make this bird apart from each other, he would give a reward. Then his advisor came out and told he could do it. That advisor went to a head then acted like he was whispering something into his ear. When he went away, the second head asked his friend what the advisor told him and the first head said the advisor didn’t say anything. However, the second head didn’t believe and said his friend was not loyal to him. Then the advisor came again and did the same acting into the ear of the second head. When he was away, the first head asked the same question and the second head said the advisor didn’t say anything. The first head was upset and said he didn’t believe his friend. The second head said why he didn’t believe him and the first head said because when he told him the first time that the advisor didn’t say anything, he didn’t not believe him. The two heads argued with each other, stronger and stronger, then they decided to separate their body in order to go their own ways. They tore their body into two and both of them died at last.”

Robert shrank his eyes, “What is the relationship between this tale and your writer job?”

“What I want to tell you is that if I became a famous writer, there would be some people, like the advisor, who would use my writing to cause troubles such as break other people’s relation - to gain advantage for their own self.”

Robert wagged his head, “I see.”

Genius pig

In the afternoon, cow came to my house.

“If you want garlic chives, you have to ask Robert,” I told.

“I’m not hungry,” cow said.

“Good.” I grinned.

“I’m thirsty.”

I smiled, as well, but this time my smile was not sincere from my heart.

“Do you have coconut juice?”

“Okay.” I walked to bring a coconut and a straw for him.

“Thank you,” Cow said, then drank it. “My master gave me food,” he told, “ but he forgot to give me water.”

“Did he forget?”

“Yes, because he is upset with his daughter.”

“What did his daughter do to him?”

“His daughter got married and has a child. Today she brought her child to visit my master and my master said she should have more kids; when they grow up, they would help each other. But his daughter said she wants only one kid because she isn't sure she will be able to love them equally.”

“I think she isn't wrong.”

“She isn't wrong but she said it before her husband.”

“I don't follow.”

“Well, my master has four children. The one who said that was the eldest daughter. She usually doesn’t go along with my master because he always takes the side of the sons.”

“I see.” I wagged my head. “Your master is upset because what her daughter said made him think she wants only a child because of his bad conduct as her sample, and because she said it in front of her husband, he felt ashamed and was afraid his son-in-law would think anything not good about him.”

“Completely correct. I heard my master talked on the phone with his friend. He said exactly the same as you just said.”

Pig prefers a crow than the animals in the farm

“Pig, I want to ask you a question,” Robert said.

“Yes,” I said.

“Between your animal farm friends and the crow, which one do you prefer?”

“I choose the crow.”

“Why?”“This is an assignment I give you.”

Robert nodded, “Okay.”

After a few days, he came to me and said, “I finished the assignment.”

“Can you tell me?”

“You prefer the crow over the cow, duck and twin piggies because the crow is a hard working bird. I don’t want to talk about the job, I want to talk about in general. Daily the crow tries to find the food, while your four friends spend most of their time talking bad about others.”

“You are getting wiser,” I said with a large smile.

Pig likes beauty pageants but stops follow up them

It was a cool and pretty night. There was the moon and there were stars in the sky.

While I was relaxing in the lounge and enjoying fireflies in the bushes before, there were sounds coming from the farms around my house.

“What’s that?” Robert said.

“I think they are cheering for the Miss competition,” I said.

“You know about it, don’t you?”

I nodded.

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s a competition between women from countries around the world. It happens once a year. My ex master watched it and I usually accompanied him. There are three or four of them with different names but have the same concept - as a pretty women contest.”

“Is it good?”

“I don’t know since I stopped following those programs.”

“Why?”

“Those competitions are full of pretty women. I love pretty women. During previous years, the winner would go around the world to promote human activity. I didn't remember when they started to, mostly, focus on promoting products or businesses.”

“Don’t you like them?” 

“I never hate the beauty pageants or the organizers. The reason I stop watching these programs is because they have different visions and I want different things.”

Pig tells about a bad partner of human

After the escape, I didn't go anywhere . It has been a few days already, but I still stayed inside my gate. 

My four friends came to visit me. They seemed to not be scared of Robert anymore, but they weren't friendly with him much since he didn't talk with them.
It could be considered a kind of them to care about me after they heard my story but they made me feel they came to find a place to eat and drink for free. However I had to welcome them.

“Did you hear about the daughter of the farmer next to my farm?” Twin piggies said.

“We heard about her.” Cow and duck nodded. “She got divorce after two weeks of marriage.”

“Do you know why?”

Cow and duck shook their heads.

“Her husband talked bad about her when he was with his family and his friends.”

“Oh my gosh!” Cow and duck unlocked their mouths big. “How could he do that? He is not a good man.”

“Well,” I jumped into the chat, “Did they know each other before marriage?”

“I heard they stayed together for three years,” piggies said.

“How can she not know about his behavior?”

“She knew it. He talked to her about his family's members, his friends, his colleagues and everyone he knew. All were not good stories. But she didn't think that he would do that to her.”

“It's called love is blind. When a person who likes to talk bad about others to us, they will talk bad about us to others too.”

All of them showed upset faces. “Women are pitiful,” they said.

“Man is pitiful as well if he stays with a woman who likes to talk bad about others because she will talk bad about him even though he is her husband.”

“What should they do?” All of them asked.

“They can't do anything besides choosing wisely no matter if they are women, men or gay. A wrong partner, sometimes, causes their lives not only to fall apart but also break into pieces.”

All of them wagged their heads.

Pig uses dog’s game to escape from wolf

I delivered the vegetables to the merchants. When I was walking back home, the wolf jumped from the bush to stand before me in the middle of the road. His face showed a glee and his smile revealed his sharp teeth. 

“It's the end of you, fat pig,” he said, then he stepped one by one towards me. His face was full of happiness. 

“No, no,” I made my voice trembling, made my face pale, and made my feet quake to tell him I was scared. But I was not scared at all. When I saw him thinking he could get me, I opened my eyes and said, “Robert!”  

Hearing the name, the wolf turned his face to look at his behind. Like a flash, I escaped behind him and when he returned his face as he saw no one, I quickly ran on the ahead road. This method surprised the wolf and it made him late for a few seconds before he rotated his body and started chasing me. Since the wolf was a good hunter, I couldn't win over him by running straight on the road. I had to run once to the left and once to the right. There were bushes and there were rocks, luckily I trained running for the stick and jumped over the rocks with Robert, I could pass them easily. It surprised the wolf big, and it caused him to chase me more late. Not long after, I ran out of the jungle. The sun was shining, adding the pressure on the wolf making him slower his speed. Differently, I added my gear till I saw the gate of my house. 

I yelled, “Robert.” 

Hearing my voice, Robert came out of the house. When he saw the wolf was behind me, he ran at full speed and barked like thunder. The wolf paused his feed when he saw Robert, then he ran back to the forest.