The King of Cows

By Wang Zu

The second day after I arrived at the ranch in Xinjiang, a herdsman invited me to watch the migration of cattle and sheep from Hemu Village in the early morning. I asked him what was so special about their cattle. He smiled mysteriously, “You will know when you see them.”

I followed him to the mountain pass and saw a large herd of cattle and sheep walking through. A large number of cattle and sheep were raised here. When the sheep passed us, he pointed to the cattle and said, “Look at that cow.” I looked to where he pointed and was amazed by a huge cow, which was almost one head taller than the other cows. With a pair of horns held high towards the sky, it walked steadily with its strong hoofs. The big body seemed very heavy, but it managed to maintain its balance. Its strong hoofs shook the land.

“This is the king of the cows,” The herdsman explained. I asked whether there were any other cows that big in Altay Prefecture. He grinned and said, “Maybe, but haven’t been born yet.” Later, he told me that this cow was related to many amazing stories. It once lost its way and didn’t come home for weeks. On a snowy day, when its owner was out searching, it came back and rushed towards his owner. The cow was gasping heavily when it stopped in front of the owner. On his back there was a wolf with green eyes. The panicked wolf jumped off from its back and tried to escape from the ranch. The herdsmen cornered the wolf and killed it. It turned out that the cow met a pack of wolves on its way back to the ranch, and one wolf jumped on its back and tried to bite its neck. Terrified by the attack, the cow ran wildly. It ran so quickly that the wolf couldn’t jump off, and could only grab its back. That’s how it took the wolf back to the ranch.

All the herdsmen were amazed by the story and wanted to attribute the killing of the wolf to the cow. It is stated in the national regulation that whoever kills a wolf in a ranch will be rewarded with a sheep. But what award should be given to the cow? Finally, they decided to tie a scarf around its neck as a symbol of its heroic behavior. However, the cow didn’t like the scarf and took it off by rubbing a tree. The herdsmen tried to tie it again, but it ran away immediately. Since then, nobody has been able to come close to the cow again.

(FromThe Garden of God, Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House. Translation: Li Li)

我到牧场的第二天，一位牧民一大早就来找我，对我说，走，看牛去，有禾木村的牛羊转场正经过这里呢。我问他，他们的牛有什么特别的吗？他笑一笑说，你去了就知道了。

我随他到了山口，果然见一大群牛羊正经过山谷，禾木村的牛多，几乎和羊群不相上下。等羊群走过去后，他突然用手一指后面的牛群说，看，那头牛。我顺着他所指的方向一看，好家伙，牛群中有一头牛整整比别的牛高出一个头，长长的角高扬着，似乎要伸上天去。它行走的姿势更是和别的牛不一样，四蹄迈得很稳健，庞大的身躯似有些沉重，却不失重心。它的蹄子一下一下稳稳地踩下，似乎把大地踩得在颤抖。

它是牛王。那位牧民感叹一声。我问他，阿尔泰还有没有像这样大的牛？他嘿嘿一笑说，有，但还在它妈妈的肚子里。后来，他告诉我，这头牛留下了很多好听的故事。有一次，它在外面十几天未回，天突然下雪了，主人正要去找它，却见它飞奔着跑了回来。它并不到牛群中去，而是直接跑到主人跟前。主人见它跑得气喘吁吁，再往它背上一看，有一双绿绿的眼睛——啊，狼！它背上驮着一只狼。狼惊恐地从牛背上跳下，试图逃出牧场，但牧场上人多，很快就把狼围住打死了。原来，这头牛在返回牧场的途中遇到一群狼，一只狼跳上它的背试图咬它的脖子，它撒开四蹄就跑，狼在它快速的奔跑中既不敢跳下，也咬不着它的脖子，只好紧紧趴在它背上，它就把狼一直驮到了牧区。

牧民们觉得它真厉害，把一只狼驮到了丧命之地。人们将消灭了一只狼的功劳归于那头牛。国家有规定，在牧区打死一只狼可奖励一只羊，但给牛奖励什么呢？后来人们想了一个办法，把一块布绑到它脖子上去，谁见了便都会知道，它是一头有功的牛。但它不喜欢那块布，跑到一棵树跟前使劲把布蹭了下去。人们又去给它挂，它一见就跑，人们再也没有办法接近。

（摘自《神的自留地》百花洲文艺出版社）