CHINA, BEIJING, FEATURE, The Girl Who Cries for Cats, Cries For Humans
By Li Jing
On the campus of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), some wild cats live in the garden at the back of the English Department building and the one in front of it. They share the air under people's knees and live silently around the corner of people's eyes. Taking it for granted, students seldom notice them or care about them, except one.
Mary Li, 20, a BFSU sophomore student from Beijing, majors in Hungarian but often appears around the English Department building, for the cats.
"I've been noticing them for a long time," Mary said. "They look for food in this garden and the meadow beside the dining hall. If lucky, they can feed themselves, but things don't always go so well, especially in winter. If baby cats are born in winter, they are very likely to die of hunger."
She has touched these cats for a time much longer than her years studying in the university. Her family lives on campus, and they all love cats. Years ago, when they first noticed the cats, out of passion and curiosity, they went to look at them. Then, out of sympathy, they began to feed them homemade food. Homemade but luxurious for cats: little shrimp, fish, meat and vegetable mixed with sauce.
"Mom and I tried a lot of ways before we could get the cats to accept the food. They were scared and distrustful at the beginning, but luckily they finally realized our goodwill." Consequently, the cats would come and play with them when they saw them coming. Now, she and her family have a sense of responsibility to take care of the cats. "I will feel uncomfortable if I can't see them for a while," Mary said. "They are like kids, afraid of losing love and care. Especially the 'big white.'"
She first met the "big white" several months ago. Eyes filled with melancholy and fear, it was timid and "unconfident" -- Mary insisted on using this word as if she could see through it. And gradually I believe she did. In Mary's eyes, the "big white" was the gentlest one but the one who had been hurt the most. It was big but dirty, fur sticky and missing in spots, with wounds showing on its body. She and her family paid special attention to it, applying medicine on its wounds and dripping drops into its eyes.
Proudly, she said that under their careful minding, the "big white" became more and more outgoing and agreeable. It would welcome her when she came, sit in front of her when she was going to leave, or follow her a while on her way back. For her, this cat became a special one, causing her to sympathize and sometimes heartache for it.
Once she went to see the cat. Two girls passed by. When seeing the “big white,” they snapped out, "Look, what an ugly cat!" with expressions on their faces that usually appear when choking . Fortunately, the "big white" couldn't understand the words, and in the cat's world, a curse is the least hurt a human can inflict upon it. "I cried, when it ran to me, and a new wound on its face came into my view."
"Some weeks later, it disappeared." Mary hopes that it left for a better place with kinder people or a place without people.
She always believes that animals should live a better life than humans because it is they who piously abide by the Law of Nature, while humans always break it.
Undoubtedly, humans do, and SARS is an example. Eager to hunt animals that are new for their table, people acted as conquerors but forgot how far they had been left behind by the evolution of nature, and that their bodies could not tolerate the new things nature created. SARS tells us that nature revenges; a harmonious world is the destination. To share the harmony is not only for the weaker animals to live better in the world of humans, but also for the weaker humans to live safer in the world of nature.
Happily, Mary is not alone. More and more people are calling for the rights of animals. In China, a woman scientist changed the way her laboratory drew blood from little white mice to alleviate their pain. It is not only in the elite academic field, but normal people are also paying more attention to these creatures living at our feet. On Google, the numerous website links of nongovernmental, non profitable organizations for animal protection show us that goodwill and kind human hearts still remain. But that over a million homeless animals wander just in Beijing tells us there is still a long way to go.
Mary has a dream: to build a fund for animal protection. But animal protection is not simply a matter of money. It needs everyone's effort, and effort begins with understanding.
On the campus of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), some wild cats live in the garden at the back of the English Department building and the one in front of it. They share the air under people's knees and live silently around the corner of people's eyes. Taking it for granted, students seldom notice them or care about them, except one.
Mary Li, 20, a BFSU sophomore student from Beijing, majors in Hungarian but often appears around the English Department building, for the cats.
"I've been noticing them for a long time," Mary said. "They look for food in this garden and the meadow beside the dining hall. If lucky, they can feed themselves, but things don't always go so well, especially in winter. If baby cats are born in winter, they are very likely to die of hunger."
She has touched these cats for a time much longer than her years studying in the university. Her family lives on campus, and they all love cats. Years ago, when they first noticed the cats, out of passion and curiosity, they went to look at them. Then, out of sympathy, they began to feed them homemade food. Homemade but luxurious for cats: little shrimp, fish, meat and vegetable mixed with sauce.
"Mom and I tried a lot of ways before we could get the cats to accept the food. They were scared and distrustful at the beginning, but luckily they finally realized our goodwill." Consequently, the cats would come and play with them when they saw them coming. Now, she and her family have a sense of responsibility to take care of the cats. "I will feel uncomfortable if I can't see them for a while," Mary said. "They are like kids, afraid of losing love and care. Especially the 'big white.'"
She first met the "big white" several months ago. Eyes filled with melancholy and fear, it was timid and "unconfident" -- Mary insisted on using this word as if she could see through it. And gradually I believe she did. In Mary's eyes, the "big white" was the gentlest one but the one who had been hurt the most. It was big but dirty, fur sticky and missing in spots, with wounds showing on its body. She and her family paid special attention to it, applying medicine on its wounds and dripping drops into its eyes.
Proudly, she said that under their careful minding, the "big white" became more and more outgoing and agreeable. It would welcome her when she came, sit in front of her when she was going to leave, or follow her a while on her way back. For her, this cat became a special one, causing her to sympathize and sometimes heartache for it.
Once she went to see the cat. Two girls passed by. When seeing the “big white,” they snapped out, "Look, what an ugly cat!" with expressions on their faces that usually appear when choking . Fortunately, the "big white" couldn't understand the words, and in the cat's world, a curse is the least hurt a human can inflict upon it. "I cried, when it ran to me, and a new wound on its face came into my view."
"Some weeks later, it disappeared." Mary hopes that it left for a better place with kinder people or a place without people.
She always believes that animals should live a better life than humans because it is they who piously abide by the Law of Nature, while humans always break it.
Undoubtedly, humans do, and SARS is an example. Eager to hunt animals that are new for their table, people acted as conquerors but forgot how far they had been left behind by the evolution of nature, and that their bodies could not tolerate the new things nature created. SARS tells us that nature revenges; a harmonious world is the destination. To share the harmony is not only for the weaker animals to live better in the world of humans, but also for the weaker humans to live safer in the world of nature.
Happily, Mary is not alone. More and more people are calling for the rights of animals. In China, a woman scientist changed the way her laboratory drew blood from little white mice to alleviate their pain. It is not only in the elite academic field, but normal people are also paying more attention to these creatures living at our feet. On Google, the numerous website links of nongovernmental, non profitable organizations for animal protection show us that goodwill and kind human hearts still remain. But that over a million homeless animals wander just in Beijing tells us there is still a long way to go.
Mary has a dream: to build a fund for animal protection. But animal protection is not simply a matter of money. It needs everyone's effort, and effort begins with understanding.
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