Chapter 26 Twenty-sixth Royal Kennels

One morning, we were all ready, and when we were about to go out with the queen mother for the morning court, suddenly a eunuch rushed in angrily, with a very serious attitude on his face, as if he was afraid that he might miss something important The general hastily brought a report. "Lafayette!" He was as excited as a monkey, knelt on the ground and shouted: "This servant just saw that Hei Baoyu had given birth to four puppies, so he rushed to report." When the queen mother heard it, a light of joy flashed in her eyes immediately.The "black treasure jade" mentioned here is the name of a dog; the dog is the queen mother's favorite thing, or at least it can be said to be one of the many things the queen mother loves.Since Yi loves dogs, he naturally wants to keep dogs, but Yi's dog raising is quite different from ordinary people: Yi takes this matter very seriously, and some people don't take it lightly. Yi specially taught people to collect a lot of lectures on how to choose dogs Yi can read and research books on breeds, how to distribute feed, and how to train puppies, etc., so that Yi can read and study in her spare time. Therefore, it can be said that all of Yi's dogs are good breeds with clear pedigrees and long-standing reputations.

The queen mother also asked me if I had any interest in dogs as a beast. I told Yi that I also love dogs just like Yi. This is the truth. I still like dogs very much!And the dogs I saw at the Empress Dowager's place that day were especially rare and cute. Most of them were real Pekingese dogs with short heads and noses, but their hair pieces were not uniform, and they came in all kinds of colors. . Now let's say that when the Queen Mother heard the news that Hei Baoyu had given birth to a puppy, she immediately said happily: "Wait a while after we go to court, we must first go to the kennel and take a look at the four newly born puppies."

No matter what it is, no matter how big or small it is, as long as the queen mother is interested in it and wants to do it seriously, it will always be achievable!So I think it was unfortunate that in the early morning of this day, those ministers would not pay attention to any major events related to the rise and fall of the country; unless it was said that some foreign army had arrived outside Wangjing City and was about to enter the palace immediately In this way, Yi might still pay attention, otherwise Yi would never be able to divert Yi's attention from those four new puppies.To tell the truth, my heart was completely surrounded by many dog ​​shadows at that time, I just hoped that the morning would be over soon, so that I could visit the royal dog stable as soon as possible.Because before this day, although I have been in the palace for a long time, I have never been to the Queen Mother's kennel.At that time, I had developed a habit, that is, every day I longed to be able to accompany the Queen Mother to visit new places that I had never set foot in; Many interesting things were said to me, which made me feel very satisfied.

Although we were all standing in the hall, we watched the many princes and ministers below Danchi come one by one one by one, singing their own names while respectfully looking up and prostrating like every day. All the official uniforms are as beautiful as a cluster of flowers and brocade.I would never tire of seeing this kind of scene, but today I didn't arouse any interest. Instead, I felt that their actions were too slow, and they missed our big event of going to see the dogs, so I wished I could urge them loudly.I sneaked another look at the Empress Dowager, and I saw that Yi Ye seemed very anxious, and spoke much faster than usual. The court did not read all the memorials, and only taught the eunuchs to put them away before speaking.

However, this early court should not be too hasty after all, and it still takes a considerable time to end.After we were done, we went back to the inner palace with the Empress Dowager. First, Yi hurriedly changed into a set of lighter clothes for walking. The queen mother walked around a corner of Longevity Hill and went straight to the imperial dog stables.The position of this royal dog stable is just to the left of the workshops of the craftsmen of various trades that I mentioned in the last chapter. It is very close to the silk workshop, but there is a distance of one or two hundred steps. Lie!As we went, Her Majesty told me a great deal about the dogs we were now going to visit.

"Ah! Don't underestimate them!" This is the Queen Mother's catchphrase, as if it is Yi's things, everything is too big to hand over. "They also have a long history: at first they came from outside the customs like us, and their original name was called lap dog, which is the native name of the Manchurians, and few people mention it now Because these dogs are small in stature, they can never watch the night or do other work. They can only be held in the arms of people, or held in the hands, as a small plaything Play. After we entered the customs, almost all Manchurians kept this kind of dog in their homes, and we all lived in Beijing, so when people outside saw this kind of dog, they all called it Peking dog, and now they are famous. .”

What is this Royal Kennel like?Of course it is not a deep palace; but their scale is always far different than the dog house of ordinary people.Its format is also modeled after a palace, only several times smaller.Its house materials are not wood or stone, but bamboo chips.There are also four eunuchs who manage these dogs, one is the leader in charge, and the other three are his assistants.They also don't ask other things in the palace all year round, they only keep company with those puppies.Although they manage these dogs according to the order, they can't be said to be "management", but can only be said to be "serving". Where they dare to beat and scold them easily, they can only serve them cautiously.

When our group was about to approach the kennel, an eunuch who was serving as a dog servant there saw it and shouted loudly: "Lafayette is here!" He yelled very loudly and very slowly, almost word for word. Immediately after the shout, there was a great commotion, and the dogs in the kennel quickly rushed out.Wang... woof... woof... barked wildly, and at the same time they wagged their very short tails desperately, obviously indicating that they were welcoming the Queen Mother.When the Queen Mother saw her, she couldn't help smiling, she was happier than having received the visit from Yi's ministers.Among this group, the queen mother's favorite one named Hailong—that is, the one that followed us to Fengtian—was also among them; this time, I got to know its specialty for the first time. .When it saw us, it stood up straight, retracted its front legs, and made a gesture of bowing.It means as if to say:

"Look! Who else here can be so dexterous? If I don't have such a special ability that makes other dogs look inferior, how can the queen dote on me so much?" However, it can't be kept upright like this for a long time. It only lasted about four or five minutes, and then it fell down. According to my opinion, it is indeed very laborious to stand upright like that, so the beast can't last long. up. We gradually approached the kennels, so the eunuch who was on duty began to check the dogs that had gone out of the house, and when he saw any dogs that were left behind and hadn't been alarmed, he loudly shouted; and so they ran out together.

"Walk in a circle!" All the dogs came out, and he shouted again; when the dogs heard this, they all started running in the open space in front of them, barking non-stop, and shouting at them. The bright red dog tongue spit out and contracted suddenly.Some of the larger dogs turned somersaults on the spot, as if they were naughty elementary school students messing around on the playground.It looks so innocent and cute!Then, the eunuch shouted again: "Stop!" His shout was actually as effective as an order in the army.The dogs immediately calmed down when they heard this, and they lined up in a neat row in an orderly manner, just to form a confrontation with the line of attendants lined up behind the Empress Dowager. Maybe they stood more neatly than us!Their eyes are very round and protrude beyond the eye sockets, like the sunspots on two chess pieces; at this moment, they are all staring at the queen mother together, without blinking; fully showing that they are a kind of trained Breeding wits come.However, if we only take a rough look, it is not easy to see their eyes, because the tuft of top hair on their heads is so long that it covers the eyes, only when the sun shines directly on their eyes Only when it was on his forehead could he see those two lights, like small electric lights, flickering in the darkness.As for whether they see things by themselves, whether there is any obstacle, then I don't know.

When all the dogs were lined up and stood firm, they stopped jumping;—even their barking stopped, because their barking was not excessive, so the eunuch in charge of the dogs stopped. You can bark if you want them to, and don't bark if you want them not. ——The third password was shouted from the eunuch's mouth again: "Stand upright!" This is to imitate what the sea dragon did just now, stand upright, use their buttocks as the center of gravity, and look like a person sitting on the ground; but their red tongue is still there. Stretching and stretching.Of course, not all of these dogs can stand upright quickly and gracefully. There are quite a few puppies that have not been trained for a long time. The rest of the dogs stood equally neatly; when all the dogs had stood upright, the eunuch began to call out the last password: "Bye to Lafayette!" The effect of this password is really not what I dared to predict!Those dogs barked at the same time, folded their two front legs together, and shook them up and down, as if they were bowing to the queen mother; this scene was really wonderful, and I never saw it anywhere else There was never a dog taught to be so tame.However, this made me doubt the special favor received by the sea dragon; besides being able to move like other dogs, it has no other ingenuity to show. How about pampering it alone?This is another extremely inexplicable strange thing!Or it can be said that it is because there are many golden bells tied around its neck, which can make sounds from time to time, so the Empress Dowager pays special attention to it; but this is not a sufficient reason.In my opinion, it is a buffoon in the palace, and it can easily make the Queen Mother laugh. Sometimes the Queen Mother would stay in the imperial kennel for a long time; apart from letting those lap dogs perform to Yi as usual, Yi had to designate a dog at random for inspection.Of course, Elder Yi would never kneel down and bow down to them. The eunuch in charge of dogs had to pick up the dog designated by Yi and hold it in front of her for him to examine carefully; Always say: "Its eyes are too dirty, don't you care about it? You have to pay attention to it in the future!" Or say: "This dog's hind legs are too long or too short, not suitable for medium size! " Or say: "This dog's body is too long, too ugly!" No matter which dog has passed the above two comments,—especially a newborn puppy—it is equivalent to being sent to exile. It can no longer be allowed to live in the palace safely.Must be exiled immediately.Because the hind legs are too long or too short, and the body is too long, there is no way to correct the problems, so I have to invite them out.But those eunuchs in charge of dogs often kill the dogs that are exiled by order to avoid trouble. Fortunately, the Queen Mother will not investigate; but when the exiled dogs are puppies, they are unwilling Killed.They will take them out of the palace without any hesitation, and sell them to people they know well. The price is often very considerable, because people know that dogs from the palace are very rare, and they are willing to pay a little more money. This time, we came here to see the four puppies that "Hei Baoyu" gave birth to; so the eunuch in charge of the dogs was busy putting them in a bamboo basket and presenting them.The queen mother looked at it carefully, then pointed to me and said: "Look at this one! Compared with the four heads, only it is the most complete! Its hair film has both the specialties of its parents." The four heads The puppies' mother is the so-called "Hei Baoyu", an all-black dog; their father's name is "Wu Yun Gai Xue", they are all black, with only four white legs, which is also one of the best breeds. "It's not easy! The remaining three heads are too ugly: the body of this one is too thin and too long; the hind legs of this one should not be shorter than the front legs, which is also bad; the tail of this one Curling backward without curling forward is even more unacceptable!" So the fate of these four newborn puppies was decided from then on!Only the best one can live with its parents in the palace, and the remaining three must be exiled.I took this opportunity and told Mr. Yi that I was very happy with one of the three heads. Of course Yi didn't have much to say, so he gave it to me immediately. The one left by Yi himself is a male, all black, with only a white patch on the neck of the head; the empress dowager named it "Banyu" immediately. "After seven or eight days," said Her Majesty again, "the dog's eyes cannot be opened until after three or four days, and we shall have to cut off a section of its tail." Why cut off a section of the puppy's tail?It is said that it is also a habit of keeping dogs.They firmly believe that if a newborn puppy's tail is cut off at the tip, then its tail will actually curl forward, otherwise it will curl backward or hang down like a horse's tail; With such a tail, a dog can never be classified as a deluxe product. Don't the two ears of a bulldog hang down softly like the eyes of fallen leaves?This is also caused by manpower. When a puppy is born, it has to use a kind of sticky glue to stick the tips of its two ears to a small stone or a few coins: because the stone It is very heavy to make money, so its ears were hung down. After half a month or twenty days of hanging like this, it was removed, and then its ears would no longer stand up. "The most important point is that people who raise lap dogs must know that a dog's body is good or bad, all in it; this is the problem of feed." The Queen Mother continued to explain to me: "When a lap dog grows up, firstly, don't give it a lot of water. If you drink too much water, its body will grow too thin and too long; secondly, don't give it more beef or pork. Otherwise, its body will become too thick and too short, and it will be unattractive. Therefore, their feed must be very suitable, and inexperienced people should not try it rashly!" None of the dogs kept in the imperial kennel has no name. Who is it that gives them names?Of course it was the Queen Mother herself!Yi can not only come up with different names for them, but also remembers them very clearly. No matter which dog she meets, she can call out its name.I remember that Yi had four dogs with black and gray coats, and gray and purple; this kind of dog is commonly known as the turtle dog shell, and it is also a kind of lap dog.Their bodies and hairs are imaginative, and it is difficult to distinguish them, but the queen mother has already given them four names: one is Qiuye, one is amber, one is Ziyan, and one is frost persimmon. Matching, whoever sees it doesn't need to think about it. Elder Yi also has a group of rare puppies, also four of them; they are so small that they can be held in the palm of a person's hand, even if they have grown for many years, they will not be too big The size, from the big sleeves of the clothes worn by the ancients, can be hidden as much as possible, so it is called "sleeve dog".In fact, it is also a kind of lap dog.It is said that as long as a considerable amount of effort is spent on the feed, the dog breeder can teach a puppy how big it grows or what color of fur it grows according to its own wishes.The Empress Dowager also told me a little bit about it, but it was too complicated and all of them were of a specialized nature. How do I remember them now?The four sleeve dogs of the queen mother are all extremely beautiful. One is as white as snow, so it is called "Snowball"; The other end is light gray, and it moves very lively, so it got the name "wind"; the other end has the most beautiful color, pure silver gray, so it is called "moonlight".Among the four heads, I love the naughty and flexible "wind" the most. The dogs stored here must have at least two similar ends, and they are always one female and one male, whichever means they can pass on the same species.But now there is a dog that stands alone, like a low-class outsider.Although its stature is not very tall, it is very majestic, and its spirit is quite different from other dogs; its fur is dark yellow and brown and black, which resembles tiger skin, so the queen mother called it "Little Tiger". .The Empress Dowager also instructed many people to try to find a female dog with the same coat color as her to mate with her. Unfortunately, she hadn't achieved her goal until I left the Qing Palace. I have to say this. It was Elder Yi's failure, but failure is a rare thing for the Queen Mother after all! The beauty of the lap dog lies in its petite stature and soft and long fur.Like the "sleeve dogs" mentioned above, their hair is almost flat and much longer than their legs.When they crouched on the table, their bodies, legs, eyes, and tails were all covered by long hairs. Seen from a distance, they looked like a ball of wool.If it weren't for its red tongue that is constantly sticking out, who would know that it is a living thing?As their coats are so long and graceful, special attention is paid to them, and besides being washed from time to time, they are combed several times a day with a fine wooden comb; Girls who love to dress up comb their hair, I'm afraid they are not so diligent! Every time the queen mother walked by the Longevity Hill, she always had to stop by to see Yi's pet dog.In fact, Yi not only loves Hailong, but all the dogs, Yi generally cherishes them very much. When Yi is sitting alone and bored, she will often name a few dogs and teach people to bring them in.In Yi's mind, these twenty or thirty dogs can't be regarded as Yi's lucky ministers! As I write this, I can't help feeling nostalgic. I don't know how far the Queen Mother's descendants who love dogs have fallen.