The Superpickle's Ninth Lesson: Pickle and the Dog
Column: Fairy Tales Added Time: February 8, 2011 14:02:07 Source: Admin Clicks: 2195
Pickle wanted to learn from the dog as a master because the dog has an extremely sensitive sense of smell, even more so than that of a pregnant woman. Other animals cannot detect odors that dogs can perceive. Without seeing or touching, dogs can notice unusual things, even if those things just pass by once. This is especially useful at night. Due to this superpower, humans and dogs became best friends. Animals all know that humans are clever because they can use the special skills of other animals to serve themselves. For example, they let elephants carry heavy objects because elephants have good temperaments; they use cows for plowing fields and pulling plows because cows are obedient and hardworking; they ride horses to travel because horses run fast; they use donkeys to grind because donkeys don't get dizzy when turning in circles; they let chickens lay eggs continuously because chickens get pregnant easily. Pigs, on the other hand, have no particular talent, being lazy and greedy eaters. Humans hate how pigs affect the enthusiasm of other animals to serve them, so they kill and eat pigs to relieve their anger. As for other animals like wolves, tigers, and foxes, each has its own specialty, but since humans cannot control them, they keep their distance and ignore these animals.
Humans and dogs became friends. While humans utilized the dog's specialties, they also constantly spoke ill of dogs. Whenever there was talk involving dogs, such as "dogfly," there wasn't a single nice word. Examples include phrases like "dog-and-fly business," "dog stuff," "dog leg," "dog skin plaster," "dogs can't help eating shit," "puppy," "nonsense," "adding a dog tail to a fox fur," "a dog climbing over a wall," "spraying dog blood," "a dog catching mice," "a dog relying on human power" and so on, too many to count. Many animals couldn't understand whether humans and dogs were good friends or enemies.
Pickle wanted to learn the sense of smell from the dog. The dog didn't want to take him as a disciple, so Pickle stood in front of the doghouse day and night for three days, regardless of wind or rain. In the end, he created a pit in front of the doghouse. Once, during a snowstorm, Pickle almost froze to death. Deeply moved, the dog said to 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 develop our sense of smell? We do it by eating shit, especially children's diarrhea. Can you handle that?" After hearing this, Pickle felt nauseous and was about to say he couldn't endure it. But thinking of Rose, he said: "I can."
Although he said so, the dog accepted him as a disciple. However, when it came time for him to eat shit, Pickle would vomit at the sight of it and couldn't swallow it down. He asked the dog: "Why must I eat shit? Can't I eat something else?" The dog replied: "Only when eating shit does the nose become stimulated, enhancing the sense of smell. Even if you don't eat shit, you still need to consume foul-smelling things. However, other foul-smelling things are hard to find, while shit is economical and practical, so eating shit is better." Hearing this, Pickle wanted to back out. Touched by Pickle's sincerity in seeking a teacher, the dog taught him: "When heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it must first make his mind suffer and strain his muscles... You need to change your attitude towards eating shit, not the shit itself. Think of Japanese geishas and mixed bathing. Don't think of shit as shit. Imagine it as meat when you eat it, and the taste will be different. For example, whether it's tiger meat or rat meat, it's all meat, all fragrant. They distinguish and imagine, so the feeling when eating is very different. If you want to become a superhero, you must first surpass ordinary people in thought, and only then can you act like a superhero." Following the dog's method, Pickle tried it, and indeed, the taste was different. After eating for a period, he went from rejecting to accepting, and then from accepting to liking it. Eventually, he became like the dog, fighting over shit whenever he saw it. After eating for some time, he could smell unusual scents from afar, just like the dog. However, his nose also became wet and sticky like a dog's nose, which troubled him somewhat. Although he had learned the dog's skills, he worried whether Rose would dislike his always wet and sticky nose. Thinking about Rose's reaction, Pickle felt quite distressed.
The Superpickle's Tenth Lesson: Pickle and the Fish