The Sentient World of Animals

A Little Angel
Follows His Master’s Example

By Brother A Sen, Formosa (Originally in Chinese)

 
Pingping licks Shunzi's face
like a dear friend.

Mr. and Mrs. Wang run a teahouse by the Centipede Cliff that descends from a mountain slope in central Formosa. About two years ago, Mr. Wang heard the loud cries of a dog coming from the bottom of the cliff. He followed the sound, found a little white male puppy, which he brought home. Shunzi the dog was only a few months old then and was injured, but he recovered very quickly.

Shunzi loves running around the bottom of the cliff. Perhaps affected by the painful experience of waiting for help while injured, he brought home two puppies from his favorite haunt six months ago. Unfortunately both were dead by the time Wang saw them. When he brought a third puppy home, Wang noticed a long stab wound on the stomach of the little black dog and rushed him to a veterinary clinic.

The veterinarian thought there was little chance that the puppy would survive. However, with meticulous care, it made an amazing recovery. The couple, wishing a secure and peaceful life for the dog, named him “Pingping” (which means “living in peace and security” in Chinese). In the beginning, Pingping was afraid of Shunzi and trembled at his bark. Soon afterwards, his fear was gone. Every time Pingping saw Shunzi, he would jump over, hug Shunzi tightly, and lick him. It seemed that he was expressing his gratitude to Shunzi for saving his life. Shunzi always responded with a passionate hug. How touching it was to see the two dogs hugging each other!