Endurance
Duanmu Hongliang

The pigeon flies high. Peopletie a whistle to its leg so that they can enjoy the sweet sound coming from theair.

Whenthe pigeon circles in the clear blue sky with a speck or two of white cloud,the rises and falls of the whistling sound are indicative of the aerialsomersaults performed by the bird.

Pigeonsfly in flocks. They hover over the ancient castles in Rome. In fact, they havebeen hovering over them ever since Dante first met Beatrice.

Theywheel over Tian'anmen Square. In fact, they have been wheeling over it eversince the birth of the City of Beijing.

Somepigeons have a head shaped like that of a phoenix. Their wings are eitherblack, white, or speckled, and invariably strong and vigorous.

Theireyes glisten with love. They use their mouths to pass food to their nestlings.It is said that when the pigeon grows old, it will be fed in the same manner bythe adult pigeons it has hatched and reared.

Thepigeon's wings are shorter than those of the seagull, smaller than those of thesparrow hawk and less capable of gliding in the air than those of the eagle,but, nevertheless, stronger than all...

Thepigeon is a social bird, but it also flies by itself. It often covers enormousdistances on its own.

Ithas practically nothing to eat or drink while flying long distances non-stopday and night. While in flight over the sea, it finds nothing edible ordrinkable, nor a place for taking a rest until a rocky spot is in sight, whichmeans it is nearing the other side of the sea...

Thecamel conquers the desert while the pigeon conquers the air.

Thecamel cannot run as fast as the horse, the pigeon cannot fly with as muchagility as the petrel. But both camel and pigeon are hardy. Their endurance issuch as to put to shame both the raging sandstorm and the violent typhoon.

Theirgreat endurance enables them to get to any place they want to. Almost no camelsuccumbs to difficulties in the midst of a desert and almost no pigeon fallsdead while halfway over the sea.

Bothcamel and pigeon are very gentle, with eyes always twinkling timidly. But theynever cringe from a blinding dust storm or a furious tempest...

Thecamel's hump symbolizes an arch bridge linking up the cultures of East andWest. Armed with a jingling bell, it is a most reliable courier delivering mostexciting message...

Thepigeon is a most trustworthy messenger. It does the work of delivering secretintelligence to military commander with unerring accuracy.

Thepigeon whistle is ringing again overhead. To me, however, the whole firmamentseems to pale into insignificance in comparison with the small sound.