by Forman Skidsdon

Created on: October 04, 2008   Last Updated: January 09, 2009

I CHANG (PART II)

"THE PROPHESY"

"Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven".....The Bible.

You may, indeed, have perceived by now, that I finished drinking my coconut milk, just as surely as I had "drunk deeply" from the "Pierian spring."

Yang and Chang conversed for awhile in private, a verbal exchange that went on for two or three minutes which I found somewhat frustrating, but politely endured.

They could have been speaking in any one of many languages: Mandarin (Standard Chinese) known as Putonghua, Yue or Cantonese, Wu or Shanghaise, Minbei, Fuzhou, or any one of their dialects, Minnan, Xiang, Gan, or Hakka, or a mixture thereof!

What did I know?

The Chinese have perfected the art of conversation yet I wonder at times how they understand each other. I relied solely on Yang's expert linguistic talents as he continued to translate Chang's story for me, with renewed fervor.

As it turned out, the hot fish dinner that Xie had shared with his grandson on the eve of Chang's departure proved to be the last time they would see each other. Sadly, Xie died a week later but Chang did not learn of this unfortunate event until he returned home.

Of course, he was then very deeply distressed, for he loved his wise, old grandfather dearly and he was grateful for the many happy moments and valuable lessons of life Xie had given him over the years.

Now, however, Chang had to prepare for his excursion to the foothills of the Changbai Mountains.

His 15 head of the rare Zebu cattle were corralled and ready. He owned one old steer, 6 yearlings, two cows already delivered of their calves, and four others, from which he was expecting more heifers later that spring.

Chang told us he had some recurring work-related problems that had begun as far back as the late 1800s, when poachers began to strip the Changbai mountain range of its trees, and relentlessly hunted down its wild animals.

"This, of course, changed the natural order of things," he said.

He knew that hungry tigers normally avoid humans and cattle unless they have been wounded or weakened in some way. They will then seek out and attack man or domestic animals because they are easier prey.

"That's why I had to get my herd across the Songhua river quickly, as my grandfather had reminded me. If I could just make it to the eastern lowlands, I'd be in safe territory," he said. "Unfortunately

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