【1200 words [heart] reading tips】 "Although our horse gang is not very conspicuous, there is still a very beautifully dressed lead mule, which has a small copper drum and bell around its neck and a small mirror on its forehead; This noble little animal, aware of its great responsibility, is full of pride. As we walked through those small villages, we felt very handsome. —From "Horse Gang Travel/Edgar Snow"
"Sipu District "Salt Tea Horse Road" Anecdote" horse gang travel, majestic (9)
On the pack frame of the head mule, mainly the cover of the horse pot head, felt, cooking utensils and cigarette pipes and other "bubble goods", at the intersection of the pack frame, two small triangular tooth flags with red edges on a yellow background are obliquely inserted, and the tooth flag is embroidered with the surname of the gang owner, the font is like a bucket, eye-catching and abnormal, so that passers-by and the little thieves in the mountains and forests who spy on their belongings can know at a glance which gang leader it is.
The head mule walking on the street is extremely human, with the touch of the saddle, the color pendant, she will raise the horse's head, the whole body will shrug, shake the head and shake the tail, at this time, the large and small string of bells also "snort bell warehouse" into a piece, swaggering, extremely brilliant. It was followed by the second mule. The neck of the two mules hangs a small one-size-sized Burmese carved binaural "erzhao" and a string of bells. The "two bells" jingle and the string of bells break, which echoes with the large bronze bells transmitted by the head mule, synthesizing homophony.
Along the way, the whole mule and horse brigade heard the symphony of these two bells, and their hearts were more steady, and they walked more freely, and at the end of the horse gang, there was a strong and powerful mule horse hall, and the horse herders called her chasing mules or "tail mules". Chasing mules can not only closely follow the brigade, but also suppress the position, so that the horse gang team that stretches for several miles or more than ten miles can form a line of unity without chaotic formation.
The costume of the chasing mule is basically the same as that of the second mule, generally not carrying goods, mainly for containment or emergency use, and there are two more triangular tooth flags on the donkey, which are written such as "heaven and earth people", "wealth is prosperous", or "the road leads to the sky", "each side walks" and other auspicious and rich words. The main task of chasing mules is not to allow those horses and horses to eat the tender grass on the side of the road, urge the horses not to deviate from the stagecoach road and fall behind, and strictly maintain the rhythm and spacing of the horse gang's march, so as to ensure that the whole brigade of horses and horses are hugging and smooth.
Strictly speaking, in a mule and horse brigade, the mule, the second mule, and the chasing mule must be carefully selected by the gang leader and the head of the horse pot, and then the head of the horse pot will be carefully trained for many years, and finally can act as the leader of the road. Generally speaking, the head mule and the second mule try to choose a smooth coat color, so that "the head mule runs, the second mule follows", so that all the horses can be brought into a line on the rugged mountain road.
"The head mule two mules one majestic, the broken chasing mule presses the position", in this way, you can see a special team on the salt tea horse road formed a long domineering spirit - the head mule's one-eared white copper big bell "Knock Throat Knock Throat", the carved two-eared two mule "Dingling Cang", the goose topaz chasing wind chime chasing the mule "Sigh Mile La", red dust rolling, overwhelming, the horse pot head also came all the way, the horses all grew spirit, and some horse chasers would never be able to doze off while walking...
In addition, the big horse gang also has "tamed horses", which are a few "stunned blues" who have never seen the world on the road on empty donkeys. During the long journey, if a pack horse with a broken foot in the horse team is encountered, the pony pot head will ask a few horse handlers to carry down the real donkey, and let the tamer who learns with the gang replace it for a while, so as to train its physical strength, endurance and ear strength, and gradually help it adjust its weight-bearing pace and foot strength pedaling accuracy.
Edgar Snow continued in his "Horse Gang Travels": "The horse gangs in Yunnan can probably be regarded as the only means of transportation that is the least hurried, the most inexplicable, and the most fond of delaying time", and they are forever leisurely moving forward on the long, narrow and endless salt tea horse road.
Excerpt from "Sipu District "Salt Tea Horse Road" Anecdote / Peng Huan"
Originally published: Pu'er City Federation of Literature and Culture "Sun River" No. 3, 2016
To be continued: "Sipu District "Salt Tea Horse Road" Anecdote" (10)
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