Chapter 10 Chapter Two: "To Die" or "To Live"

Pigeon breeders at that time had a self-made net, called chao net, which was pressed into a circle with bamboo slices, and loosely covered with wire netting. It was the size of a pot lid, and it was specially used for catching pigeons. I grew up with my grandmother and five aunts. Just think about how much this combination pampered me.So it didn't take long for the pigeons to be raised from the ground to the ground, and the pigeon nest was moved back home in a grand manner, and it developed on a large scale.Grandma even cleared out half of the kitchen to make a pigeon loft for me. At most, the pigeon flock grew to more than 30 pigeons.I remember that when I had just raised them for less than a month, the newly purchased pigeons could not be released, so I could only tie up their wings and squat in the house every day.Squatting in the house is the process of letting the pigeons observe the terrain, get familiar with the environment, and recognize their homes on the house.This bundle of arms is also a technical job. To prevent the pigeons from flying far away, they can only barely fly up to the roof, and the scale must be just right.

One day at around four o'clock in the afternoon, I was sitting in the yard admiring my pigeons, thinking that it would not be long before I could open my arms and fly. Suddenly, a white pigeon passed across the yard from south to north , On the way, I saw a group of companions in the room basking in the sun leisurely, the heart of the group was born, and one circled and landed on the highest eaves deftly.Its mouth is slightly open, its crop is shaking, and its eyes are full of strangeness and defense. It looks like it has lost its way, thirsty and hungry, eager to go home but lost its way, and is ready to make a stop here and continue on the road.

Experts commented that people stand on the ground and look at the pigeons on the eaves. This angle is the best viewing angle, and the beauty of the pigeons can be seen the most.This pigeon has an abacus head, wide eye rounds, thin white eyelids, purple eyes, white purse-shaped phoenix, a short white jade-like beak that is wide and thick, and its snow-white feathers and two black wings form a clear contrast. Coupled with the purple-red legs, the standing posture is tall and straight, heroic and agile, it is obviously a super-looking iron-winged white. At that time, I had basically mastered the skills of catching pigeons, and I had seen others operate it many times, but I lacked practical experience.I walked into the kitchen slowly, took out the pigeon food, and while grunting, sprinkled handfuls of pigeon food on the ground, pretending to be nonchalant and calling my pigeons to come down to eat.The pigeons saw the food coming down one after another, so I adjusted the range of activities of the pigeon flock by using the location where the food was sprinkled, and slowly led the pigeon flock into the kitchen.If the little guy's vigilance is a little relaxed, or the hunger is unbearable, he will fly out of the house and eat with the pigeons. At that time, as long as the pigeons are slowly introduced into the house and the door is closed, this little guy is mine. up.But this iron-winged white was too vigilant, looked left and right, and carefully observed the pigeons eating. Seeing that the pigeons had entered the house, it stood on the house, stretched its neck and turned its head to stare into the house. Even though his eyes were filled with anticipation, he just waited and watched, not even moving to get down.

I directed the group of pigeons to go up and down the house, come out and go in, repeated many times, but it was unmoved.If one trick fails, try another trick.After repeated temptations, the little guy has slowly moved from the roof to the edge of the eaves. Seeing this, I sprinkled a few handfuls of pigeon food so that the pigeons can stay in the yard for a long time to attract its attention .Then I slipped quietly to the eaves, picked up the netting under the window sill, and stood on a stool. At this time, my height was more than a foot from the eaves, and the pigeon could not see me, nor could I see it, but I know it is on top of my head, because I have already remembered which row of roof tiles it is standing on.I found a good position to hold the copying net with both hands, and buckled it upwards with my backhand. The little guy didn't expect that a piece of copying net would suddenly flip up from under the eaves. Before I could react, I was covered under the net-I succeeded!

The process is tense, but the result is exciting.I took this iron-winged white in my hand and looked at it carefully for a long time - what a good pigeon!In fact, for many people, the quality of the pigeons will not affect the interest in catching pigeons at that time, because what makes you obsessed is the process and the sense of accomplishment when you get the pigeons in your hands. I am such a person .After the excitement, it was followed by worry, because I had no interest in taking advantage of it.Besides, I was still young at that time, and I was very afraid that this matter would cause trouble.

At that time, there was a saying among people who raised pigeons that they "live" and "live". "Live life" means that two people have a good relationship, as long as you catch each other's pigeons, you can come and get them, or I can send them over, without hurting feelings, you can make friends with pigeons.And "over-death" means that the two may have had a feud before, and gradually formed a kind of secret energy. When they catch the other's pigeons, they don't raise them themselves, and they fall to death on the spot.And the other party also knew in his heart that when he saw the pigeon landed in his house, he would not ask for it, and he would give up automatically. When I catch your pigeon, I will not be relentless.And I am a student, I just like pigeons, and I never want to get involved in right and wrong, so I admired its beauty, let it eat and drink, threw it into the air, and watched it play in the small courtyard. Turned half a circle in the sky and flew directly to the north.

In fact, I can also understand the saying of "living" and "living", because people who play with pigeons are very "independent".The "independence" I mentioned is not a derogatory term. After all, everyone is willing to develop their own characteristics and have things that others do not have.This is simple to say, but in reality it is the culmination of several generations of breeders' painstaking efforts. Through survival of the fittest and directional training, the unique genetic characteristics of their own pigeons are formed.The old Beijing pigeon breeders commonly called it "Wo Fen'er". In a big way, it is the concept of genetic engineering.A pigeon that has been bred through hard work, even if its appearance is extremely poor, is still its own old "brother", and its genes have certain advantages of its own pigeon group, which must not be leaked out.Therefore, at that time, many people selected and selected the young pigeons they had bred, and only kept the top grade pigeons, and killed the rest.Although the thinking was narrow and the practice was very cruel, it was also a means of protecting one's intellectual property rights at the time.

Of course, those who raise pigeons will not do this.Among pigeon breeders in Beijing, there are many big names. Sun Yat-sen’s wife, Ms. Soong Ching Ling, has loved pigeons all her life, especially the purple aconitum variety.There is a lawn in her yard, which is the activity area for pigeons, and it is spread outside the window of her bedroom so that they can watch it at any time.Before she died, she asked someone to help her to sit up to watch the pigeons, and the pigeons happened to go back to the shed. The husband said regretfully, it seems that I may really die, and even the pigeons don’t come to see me...

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to get to know Mr. Zheng, an old man who raised pigeons for Ms. Soong Ching Ling for more than half a lifetime. I heard the old man recall the past, vividly, as if I had seen it personally; Pigeons do not hesitate to spend a lot of money; the old man Wang Shixiang, a big player in the capital, worked hard to write "Qing Palace Pigeon Spectrum", and at the age of 93, he is still running to save Chinese ornamental pigeons; the one who wants to say a few more words is Mei Lanfang, a master of Peking Opera Sir, Mr. Mei is also a fan of ornamental pigeons.When I was in middle school, I once read an article about Mr. Mei's love for pigeons, saying that watching pigeons fly during the flying process can make your eyes more flexible and energetic, and thus play a role in practicing kung fu.After reading it, I was amused, both feeling ridiculous and expressing my understanding.Those who raised pigeons in those days said it sounded good, but they were not doing their job properly, and if they said it badly, they would be labeled as hooligans and bums. Therefore, there must be a high-sounding reason for raising pigeons.Now think about it, what kind of eyes can pigeons practice?If there is no hobby as the basis, what can't you practice with eyes?Why!That ridiculous era.

What I'm talking about is the late 1970s, when I heard my parents talk about the "Cultural Revolution", when raising pigeons was risking your life.Once discovered, they will be accused of capitalism, black five categories and other crimes, or fought, or beaten severely, and the light ones will be injured, and the serious ones will die.Even so, pigeon lovers still can't bear to part with them. They dig cellars in their houses and hide their pigeons in them; .They go to work and earn money during the day, and let the pigeons come out late at night to eat and do activities. Whenever there is a sign of trouble, they will be on tenterhooks, or hide, or move.I admire these people from the bottom of my heart. In the old Beijing saying, it is called "there is such a tired mouth". After careful consideration, this is really called Kuaiai. It is because of this kind of love that the Beijing pigeon culture has been passed down to this day.