Another Animal Story !

I was one day relating to my sister a curious incident I saw near my house some years back. On the route to my office I had to pass a house where they reared poultry. The hens, the rooster and the chicks would scamper on the footpath, pecking away at tiny morsels of food. One day as I was passing by this house, I noticed a crow that lay on the road being mercilessly pecked by three or four other crows. I was surprised to find the rooster that was some distance away rushing into the scene of the battle and scaring away the violent crows and liberating the victim. So I was relating to my sister how, even in the animal kingdom, there seems to be a recognition of a subtle moral order, and recognition of the concept of justice, and the responsibility to get involved! I was expressing my surprise to my sister when she told me this story that happened in rural Pennsylvania and was covered by television channels in the U.S.

The story is that there was a woman living in a farmhouse. She had a rolly-polly pig as a pet. One night as she was returning from fetching a bottle of water from the refrigerator, she suffered a violent massive heart-attack and fell flat on the carpet. The pet pig at first tried to nudge her, and when it realized there was something seriously wrong that needed help, it is reported to have proceeded into the freeway in the darkness of the night and lay sprawled to draw the attention of any vehicle that might happen to pass by. In a few minutes, a vehicle did appear, and the driver luckily happened to notice the pig in the nick of time. He disembarked from the vehicle and tried to drive the pig away from the road. The pig is supposed to have headed towards the house, but when the driver attempted to enter the car and drive away, it rapidly rushed back to the road and lay down in front of the car. The driver is supposed to have dismounted and tried again, and later realized that the pig was, in fact, trying to lead him somewhere. He followed the pig to where it was leading him and finally entered the house to see the woman lying prone on the ground. Thus it happened that the woman received timely medical attention by having been rushed to the hospital. The pig was photographed and shown on the television with its owner fondly hugging and kissing it!

LIKELY CONTINUATION OF THE STORY (from human values seen around)…

It was in a way unfortunate that the woman was living alone at the time of the incident as her husband was away traveling in California visiting a daughter who was living there. The other daughter was a writer and lived in Stockholm and was married to a banker. The son was a mathematician teaching in Zurich. The family was hence scattered in various parts of the world and rarely got a chance to meet. The next Christmas, after the woman had a heart attack, the family had decided in unison to assemble at the farmhouse in Pennsylvania. Close to Christmas day the weather had turned bad and on the day of Christmas there was a heavy snow-fall that blocked all the roads and prevented the family from visiting the market which was a few miles away. That evening, the family was desirous of a hearty meal and there did not seem to be much meat in the larder. Efforts were made to procure some substantial meat, but as the weather was bad, nothing could really be done. However, they were lucky to notice the pig sleeping by itself in the corner. They thanked their stars and God for providing when there was an urgent need. A raging fire was kindled and the sleeping pig fetched from the corner. The skewer (or whatever it is called) was driven through its rectum, and the pig was suspended over the fire, and turned slowly over and over, till it was well done and roasted to the right degree. The family had a delicious Christmas dinner and offered grateful thanks to God for His kindness.

xxx