Jackal and Wolf

by Shen Shixi

  ‘Yowwwl!’ whined Dazzle, a soft, tender whine, a nice tone, pleasant on the ear. Blacktail couldn’t help himself; he span round and rushed to take in the scent. Flame turned her head and watched. Sure enough, Dazzle was giving him a sideways glance, a knowing, seductive look from the corner of her eye. So outrageous was her flirting that you could easily imagine Blacktail stepping over the scent line and being whisked away. You could imagine her teasing him, toying with him, half-heartedly pushing him away, then drawing him deftly into her burrow in the tree roots.

  Blacktail looked up at Dazzle, then turned to look at Flame. He stepped back from the scent line, then whizzed round like a top, chasing his tail. He had a lot of contradictions in his head. After two or three minutes, he gave a flick of his tail, as though he’d made a final, albeit painful, decision to stay this side of the scent line, to stay with Flame, and help her deal with that crafty mouse hiding deep in its burrow.

  It felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from Flame. At least this proved that she was important to Blacktail, that other jackals wouldn’t find it too easy to lure him away and that while being good-looking he wasn’t a philanderer. Flame had gone to a lot of trouble, and taken a huge risk, to prove this. But it put her mind at rest about an important part of this relationship. The next time he faced temptation, at least he would be cautious, would weigh things up, and would think twice before doing anything he shouldn’t.

  Flame eventually left the mouse hole and walked away from the hillside covered in rhododendrons. Blacktail caught up with her, and they walked together, shoulder to shoulder.

  ‘Yooowl!’ came Dazzle’s plaintive cry from behind him, a long trailing cry, full of disappointment, regret and injustice, a sound that would tug at the heartstrings of any jackal. Flame glanced over; Dazzle had already moved from the hole in the winding tree roots to the scent line, and was howling after Blacktail, urging him to stay. Flame stole a look at Blacktail. He was standing beside her, and when he heard Dazzle’s wail of reproach a shiver ran through him, his steps became awkward shuffles, his ears drooped, and he looked anxious. But he did not stop, and he did not look back.

  Blacktail had looked, but not touched. He had lusted after another jackal, but had hesitated and pulled back. He had been aroused but had not dared to proceed. For an adult jackal, this was no mean feat.

  Blacktail had passed stage one of the loyalty test – the trial of temptation – albeit with some reluctance.

  Flame was demanding such high standards in an adult male jackal that perhaps only one in ten thousand would come up to scratch. Natural instincts and hormones can cause havoc, and there was nothing she could do about it. She would have to adjust her requirements, and settle for slightly lower standards.

  It was time for stage two of the loyalty test. The location for this trial would be the stretch of rocky sand near the snowline. That afternoon, Flame and Blacktail were out chasing a red deer. It was a fast runner and seemed to fly along the ground. Flame raced after her as fast as she could. This side of the mountain had been covered in snow and, as the snow melted, it flushed down rocks of all different shapes and sizes. Flame stepped on to a round stone covered in moss, but appeared to miss her footing, hitting the ground a couple of metres away. She howled in pain. Blacktail instantly gave up the hunt and ran to her side.

  Flame lay on the rocks, howling and choking on the cold air as though in great pain. She tried a few times to stand up, but appeared to struggle. Her front leg was sticking out at an angle, and she would not put her paw on the ground. There was no way she could walk. She tried a couple of higgledy-piggledy movements, but then had to lie down again.

  Of course, the fall had been intentional and the front leg was just a little hurt. You could tell by looking that it was not too serious, that it would heal itself naturally. She had chosen this place and planned this injury here to test whether Blacktail would be able to sustain his love for her while she was pregnant and raising pups. It was an extremely convincing act. There was a visible scratch mark on the mossy stone and there had been nothing suspicious about the way she hit the ground. There was mud all over her coat, her face was grubby, her body was dirty, and her front leg was sticking out and trembling. It certainly looked as though she had had a bad fall.

  The location was also important. It was near the snowline, where the weather is harsh. Right now it was springtime. Further down, the grasslands were already bathed in the gentle warmth of the sun, and at night it was comfortable to sleep under the stars. But it was different up here where it was still as cold as winter. There was ice and snow as far as the eye could see, and the harsh winds howled, especially at night. Flame had considered this test carefully. This location was the closest scenario she could imagine to the hard times ahead when she would be giving birth to pups.

  When the time came for Flame to deliver her pups, she would spend a day or two, at least, lying in the cave, unable to move about, weak and in considerable pain. Not only would she need her mate by her side for warmth and comfort, and to ease the pain, she would also need him to go hunting and bring back fresh food for her. It is a really hard time for the mate too. It is not easy to see a loved one in intolerable pain, to hear those ear-piercing cries. And at the same time as trying to comfort her, he would have to steel himself to go out and hunt for food. If the weather was bad, that would mean braving the wind and the rain and the ground covered in ice. Many jackals cannot stand such hardship, and it quite often happens while the mother of his pups is lying there unable to move that a male jackal will pretend to go out to hunt, but never return. He simply walks away, leaving her all on her alone at this difficult time. Flame would never let a lily-livered jackal into Buddha Belly Cave, not one who was afraid of hardship, who would run away from danger. Her plan was to use these harsh weather conditions as a trial, to see for herself whether Blacktail had a decent sense of responsibility. The bleak location, the harsh weather conditions, the isolation – these compared well with the difficult time of giving birth.

  Her injury needed to seem serious enough to be part of a real trial. She couldn’t just say, ‘My leg hurts a bit,’ and pretend to limp as she walked. She couldn’t just say, ‘I’ll have a quick lie down and be back to normal in half-an-hour.’ The aim of the trial was to see how Blacktail would respond to a serious injury in a remote location. If he tried to brush it off by saying something like, ‘Let’s try walking slowly for a while, get your leg working again and you’ll be racing away in no time,’ she would know he was one of those jackals who run from responsibility, who slip away at the slightest provocation.

  But her injury couldn’t look too serious either. If the bones really were broken, and her front leg stuck out like a half-snapped stick, then it would take forever to heal. She would walk with a one-two-three-limp rhythm, and her life would change completely. She could not look like a jackal unable to bring up pups. The feigned injury must not be too major or too minor; the trial just had to reflect the difficult time she would face at childbirth.

  Although Flame’s injury had been intentional she really was struggling to walk on it and she really did have to lie down. But she knew it was not life-threatening and that she would recover. If she lay down for a day or two, and rested for a couple of weeks she would soon be able to run around and hunt again. She certainly wouldn’t be stuck out here like this forever. It was a temporary difficulty, a temporary darkness. As long as you have patience and trust, you can get through the hard times, to brighter days ahead. The reason why most male jackals will stay with the mother during this difficult period of childbirth is largely because they are looking forward to a beautiful future. They see it as an investment. After all, what are a few days of hardship and a fortnight of wind and rain? If they can grit their teeth and bear it, life will soon return to normal, the mother will be appreciative and grateful, their bond will be strengthened, their trust will be deepened, and life will be even more beautiful and wonderful. Flame’s trials were designe
d to predict life in the future.

  She lay on the rocky shore, her face screwed up in pain, and looked at Blacktail.

  ‘Oh, I’m so unlucky, having an accident like this. I’m so scared. Don’t leave me.’

  Blacktail circled around her, and gently licked her cheeks. He was very considerate. There was no indication that he was thinking of leaving. Time dripped slowly by. The sun began to slip slowly down behind the mountains. The purple haze of evening seeped out of the forest halfway up the mountain and rose swiftly.

  Gradually the bright sky darkened to a leaden grey. Dusk was falling. Flame’s strength was fading. Although she was lying there, not moving, it was a long time since she had last eaten, and her stomach was rumbling. She looked at Blacktail, licked her muzzle, and made a few swallowing motions, to let him know that she wanted to eat something. Blacktail was an intelligent jackal. He got the message immediately and darted off down the mountain like an arrow. As the sky darkened, the outline of the forest halfway up the mountain disappeared in the blackness of night. The last flock of crows of the evening flew back to their nests. But there was still no sign of Blacktail. Flame could not help feeling anxious. When jackals desert their mates, it is usually with the excuse of going to look for food. Off they go, never to return. A hero’s farewell. Could Blacktail have seen this as his chance to leave her? She couldn’t help jumping to her feet to take a good look down the mountain. But the light was too dim, and beyond ten metres everything was a blur. She stared until her eyes were sore, but there was no sign of movement. Just then, she heard the crashing of stones hurtling down the mountainside. Flame lay down as quickly as she could. A black shadow shot up the mountain. She recognised the scent. Blacktail had returned! If she had not reacted so swiftly, her pretend-injury would have been exposed.

  Blacktail ran up to her. He was panting heavily – in out in out – like a squeezebox. There could be no doubt at all. Blacktail had caught something, had thought of her worrying while she waited, and had sped back to her without delay, tearing up the mountain as if it were a 100-metre sprint. That was why he was so out-of-breath. Such sweet thoughts delighted Flame, and tasted better than any prey. Blacktail gasped and panted for a while, then pushed his muzzle forward and dropped a mouse into Flame’s mouth. He’d left at dusk, when time was of the essence, when visibility was poor, when even a mouse is not easy to find. But it didn’t matter what kind of food it was, the important thing was his sincerity. Flame chewed casually and swallowed, then looked at him carefully. His belly was empty. There were old shreds of meat stuck between his teeth, but nothing recent. It was important to Flame that he hadn’t eaten behind her back.

  Jackals are diurnal creatures, they are active during the day and sleep at night. They are not like owls and lynxes and other wild animals that have excellent night vision. Jackals have sharp vision only in daylight; it is difficult for them to catch prey at night. Blacktail would have known that this mouse, caught in the night mist at dusk, was the last supper of the day. He would not be able to catch a second mouse, or find anything else to eat. Like Flame, it was hours since he had last eaten, and his stomach was rumbling, but he would not think of swallowing down the only thing they had to eat. He had brought it for her!

  Yes, she could imagine Blacktail in the future: when giving birth she could depend on him to go hunting alone; when food was short he would think of her first. Yes, he was a good jackal! And he had excellent survival skills, which would make family life so much easier. But it was his thoughtfulness, his virtue, that Flame treasured more than anything else. This was the most precious thing of all. Her sorrow turned to joy. She had struck gold with this black-tailed jackal!

  But there was an even harder task lying ahead. Night had fallen and the sky was completely black. They were not far from a mountain pass and they were lying downwind. When the wind picked up, it was much harsher than you might expect on a summer night. It would not be an exaggeration to compare its shrillness to the wailing of a ghost or the howling of a wolf. The mad wind shovels up the snow, flings it to the sky, whirls it around in the air, and blows it into your face. The temperature plummets, taking you back to the ice and cold of midwinter.

  On this stretch of barren rock there were no trees to break the wind, no crevices or caves in which to shelter. Jackals that live in the foothills of the snowy mountains have to adapt to these conditions, and the hair on their body changes with the seasons. In autumn, the coarser body hair fills out, and the softer hair thickens, in preparation for the coming winter. In spring the coarser hair thins down, and the soft hair is gradually shed as they adapt to the summer heat. Just as humans have winter clothes and summer clothes, jackals’ hair thickens and insulates, or thins and cools, according to the temperature.

  As it was spring, the jackals had already shed much of their thicker winter hair, and did not have their winter resilience to the cold. The frenzied snow dust soaked their coats, the wind blew through the mountains. They were shivering in the cold, almost frozen to the bone. Flame lay on the rock, that ice-cold slab, curled up in a tight ball, moaning, and looking plaintively at Blacktail. ‘There’s no shelter here,’ she whined. ‘The wind is cutting me like a knife. I’m going numb. I’m going to freeze to death.’

  Blacktail came and lay beside her. He put his two front legs over her body as though covering her with a warm blanket. He moved his soft warm belly close to her injured leg. It was such a kind and thoughtful thing to do, thought Flame. It touched her heart. The mountain wind raged on, driving snow dust all over the place. The temperature continued to fall, but Flame felt so much warmer now.

  But with Blacktail covering her, the razor-sharp wind now slashed at him, and the icy snow dust drifted on to his body. She buried her face under Blacktail’s chin, and could feel his whole body shivering. As the heat of his body melted the snow dust, the water dripped on to Flame.

  ‘Aachoo!’ Blacktail sneezed. A terrible thought flew into Flame’s mind: what if Blacktail froze to death? The test would have been in vain. She was just wondering whether or not to call it off, when Blacktail pulled away from her and stood up. He yowled a couple of times, then charged off into the black night scrabbling over the rocky shore.

  There was a big question mark in Flame’s mind. Was he running off, abandoning her, because he couldn’t take any more? Surely not?

  She looked around in the dark and spotted him running round in circles on the stony sand. He was leaping about. She had no idea what he was up to. Then he ran back and lay beside her again, half-covering her as before. Flame could feel the heat of his body. His heart was beating faster, moving the blood through his body. His body temperature had risen. Blacktail hadn’t been thinking about leaving her at all! He’d been so unbearably cold, with his legs going numb, that he’d gone to run about, do some vigorous physical exercise, to warm himself up and ward off the bone-piercing cold.

  Flame knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she would be well-looked after by this jackal. If something dreadful happened while their pups were suckling, or she was too ill to get up, or too weak to go hunting, she knew he would be there for them.

  She decided to bring the trial to a close. Blacktail had proved himself. He had excellent credentials. Although he’d struggled on one of the tasks, he scored highly overall, and met the standards she was looking for in a mate. She would have to stage her recovery. She let him know that she wanted to turn over, then, supporting herself on three legs, she managed to stand up. She moved her crooked injured leg about in the air, and feigning surprise, bent it as if it had miraculously healed. She brought it to the ground, put a tiny bit of weight on it and limped about. Flame began to make her way down the mountain in the dark. She had to be careful not to go too fast; after all, recovery takes time! By the time she got to the foothills, her leg was more agile, and she could trot.

  Dawn was breaking, the sunlight shooting through the clouds like golden arrows, the birds chirping away in the treetops. It was the start of a n
ew day. Blacktail was her knight in shining armour, her prince riding a white horse, the jackal of her dreams. She could find no fault with him! So strong! So fit! So intelligent! So wise! She wanted to take him back to Buddha Belly Cave, open her heart to him, and share the rest of her life with him.

  Chapter 8

  The milky white mist of dawn hung over the entrance to Buddha Belly Cave like a silky gauze curtain. Flame found a grassy patch with a wealth of wild flowers, and leapt into it. She rolled over and over, washing away the mud and dirt in the dew, tidying herself up. She wanted to be clean and fresh for her new life. She rubbed her face, neck, chest and crotch against the rich colours of the petals, and let the fragrance of the flowers infuse her body. A jackal’s nose does not only relish the rich smell of blood and flesh, it also appreciates the perfume of fresh flowers. Just like a wedding in the human world, many animals have a kind of celebration, a mating ritual. And, just as a human bride dresses up, Flame was preparing herself for this special occasion in the way that jackals do.

  Flame invited Blacktail into Buddha Belly Cave. He could not have imagined a more perfect wedding suite. The trials were over, and here he was! He was so happy he could feel joy in the tips of his eyebrows. He wagged his black tail in delight and followed her eagerly into the cave. It was a dream come true.

  But the moment he stepped foot inside the cave, there was an almighty commotion. He leapt back as though he’d had an electric shock, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. His face was stricken with terror, as though he’d just seen a ghost.