Pig
In the Year of the Pig, Farmer Enyi collected spit from his four hogs and
poured it into his son's tea. Since his wife had died, Enyi needed more help
on the farm, but Bunsang was too skinny to work in the fields or even to
haul bales of hay. The farmer thought the hogs' essence would make his son
eat more and grow strong.
But Bunsang grew sick instead, and spent five long nights staining his
sheets with sweat from his feverish body. When he finally recovered, he was
thinner than ever, only now he had a pig's keen nose and could smell the
eggs cooking in the neighbor's house, even though the neighbors were a
day's walk away.
Farmer Enyi was glad his son had not died, but frustrated that his plan
hadn't worked. He slaughtered one of his pigs and soaked an old towel in its
blood. When Bunsang came out of his bath the next morning, the Farmer
wrapped his son in the bloody rag.
Once again, Bunsang became sick. His fever burned hotter this time,
and he stayed in bed for all of ten days. When he awoke, he sniffed the air
and declared that it would rain in two days, that the Empress had spilled
perfume on her shoes, and that the chicken grilling over the pits in the
distant City was not yet thoroughly cooked.
Bunsang stayed inside all day, sniffing the air and making his
proclamations. Someone had dropped a crate of green tea into the river. To
the east, a kitten had killed and eaten its first mouse. Over the mountain, his
