The Superpickle's Ninth Lesson: Pickle and the Dog
The reason why the pickle wanted to learn from the dog as a master is because the dog has an extremely sensitive sense of smell, even more sensitive than that of a pregnant woman. Animals that cannot detect certain odors, dogs can. Without seeing or touching, they can perceive unusual things. Even if something just passes by, they can smell it. This ability is especially useful at night. Because of this superpower, humans and dogs became the best friends. Animals all know that humans are smart because they can use other animals' specialties to serve themselves. For example, they let elephants carry heavy things because of their good temper, they use cows for farming because of their obedience, they ride horses for traveling because of their speed, they use donkeys for grinding because they don't get dizzy easily, and they let chickens lay eggs continuously because they get pregnant easily. The only animal that doesn't have any specialty is the pig. They are lazy and gluttonous, so people kill them and eat them to relieve their anger. Other animals like wolves, tigers, and foxes also have their own specialties, but since humans cannot control them, they stay away from them and ignore them.
Humans and dogs became friends. While humans were utilizing the dog's strengths, they were also saying bad things about dogs. Any phrase related to dogs was not pleasant, such as "dogfly," "dog stuff," "dog leg," "dog skin plaster," "dogs can't help eating poop," "puppy," "nonsense," "patching up," "desperate measures," "ranting," "meddling," "bullying" etc., there were countless phrases. Many animals couldn't understand whether humans and dogs were good friends or enemies.
The pickle wanted to learn the sense of smell from the dog, but the dog didn't want to take him as a disciple. So, the pickle stood in front of the dog's den for three days and nights, regardless of wind or rain. As a result, he made a pit in front of the dog's den. Once, during a snowfall, the pickle almost froze to death. The dog was deeply moved and said to the pickle: "Pickle, it's not that I don't want to teach you, but I'm afraid you can't endure the hardship. Do you know how we dogs developed our sense of smell? We ate poop, especially children's runny poop. Can you endure that?" Hearing this, the pickle felt nauseated and was about to say he couldn't endure it, but thinking of the rose, the words that came out of his mouth were: "I can."
Although he said that, the dog had accepted him as a disciple. But when it came to really eating poop, the pickle would vomit at the sight of it. He asked the dog: "Why do I have to eat poop? Can't I eat something else?" The dog replied: "Only when eating poop does the nose become stimulated and develop a better sense of smell. Even if you don't eat poop, you still need to eat something as smelly as poop. However, other smelly things are hard to find. Poop is economical and practical, so it's better to eat poop." Hearing this, the pickle wanted to back out. The dog, moved by the pickle's sincerity in seeking a teacher, taught him: "When heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it must first make his mind suffer, make his muscles and bones work... You need to change your attitude towards eating poop, not the poop itself. Don't think of poop as poop. When you eat it, imagine it as meat. The taste will be different. For example, no matter whether it's tiger meat or rat meat, they are all meat and are all fragrant. People distinguish and imagine them differently, so the feeling when eating is very different. If you want to be a superhero, you must surpass ordinary people in thought first, then you can become a superhero in action." The pickle tried the dog's method and found that the taste was indeed different. After eating for a while, he went from rejection to acceptance, and then from acceptance to liking it, until he was like the dog, competing to eat poop. After eating for some time, he could smell unusual scents from afar like the dog. Only his nose became wet and sticky like the dog's, which troubled him. Although he had learned the dog's skills, he worried that Rose might not like it if his nose was always like this. Thinking about Rose's reaction, the pickle was quite troubled.