Text | Bermuda Science Popularization Institute
Editor | Bermuda Science Popularization Institute
Can wolves also have dystocia? The woman passed through the woods late at night and risked her life to deliver the baby to a wild wolf. Unexpectedly, she continued to eat meat and finally saved the lives of her whole family.
In the late Song Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, there was a very skilled midwife in Lincheng County. Her surname is no longer known. She was called Zhao because her husband's surname was Zhao. She started helping people deliver babies when she was young. No matter how difficult the situation of the pregnant woman was at that time, as long as she took action, the lives of adults and children could be saved.
And she is not only very skilled in delivering babies, she is also very kind-hearted. Since she relies on a good craft to make money, Zhao's life is quite comfortable, so she often helps her fellow villagers and young students from poor families in the village. Not only would she deliver babies for free, but she would even spend her own money to help them get through the difficult times. She also earned the reputation of "Aunt Zhao" for this reason.
Such a superb technology requires the summary of a large amount of practical experience. Naturally, it is not something that a fledgling young person can sum up on his own, but learned it from her mother. Aniang Zhao's mother was a well-known midwife from all over the country. Naturally, she taught her daughter all these housekeeping skills. Aniang Zhao's "good marriage" also came from her mother's good craftsmanship.
When Zhao Aniang's mother-in-law was pregnant, she originally wanted to find Zhao Aniang's mother to help her deliver the baby. However, Zhao Aniang's mother was also pregnant at the time, so she had no choice but to find someone else. Unexpectedly, before the delivery, Zhao Aniang's mother was also pregnant. But it was difficult to give birth at that time, and the child could not be born for a long time.
Seeing that Zhao’s mother was getting weaker and weaker, and everyone didn’t know what to do, a servant suddenly thought of Zhao’s mother and asked whether she should invite this “grandma from a neighboring village” to come and deliver the baby.
After hearing that there was a feasible solution, Zhao's father didn't care about anything else and immediately sent his servants to ask for someone. At this time, grandma had been pregnant for more than eight months. Not to mention her body was very heavy, and she really couldn't bear the mental exertion. However, after hearing the Zhao family's entreaty, she still didn't say anything and dragged her heavy body in a hurry. The Zhao family rushed over, fearing that they would be a step too late and see the tragedy of one dead and two dead. Grandma followed the servants hurriedly and slowly, and it only took nearly half the time to arrive at the Zhao Mansion in less than half the time as usual.
After seeing Zhao’s mother’s situation, grandma immediately ordered her servants to do things. The servants performed their duties and immediately got busy. In the busy and orderly atmosphere of silence of the servants, a moment would pass. After a few minutes, the baby's cry broke the dull and oppressive atmosphere. As the midwife said, "Mother and child are safe," the atmosphere in the Zhao family immediately became much more relaxed. Father Zhao's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally Put it in the stomach, and grandma was already so tired that she was sweating profusely and collapsed on the ground.
When Father Zhao had prepared the money and was about to thank Grandma, he noticed that Grandma was in a mess, and he felt even more grateful. He then proposed to Grandma that if Grandma’s child was a daughter, the two families would When married, if the child is a boy, he is regarded as an adopted son. Grandma saw that the Zhao family was wealthy and her master was kind and grateful, so she had no reason not to agree. So Zhao's father immediately made a written statement to settle the matter.
Fifteen days after my grandma helped Zhao’s mother deliver the baby, she gave birth to her lovely and well-behaved daughter, and taught her daughter everything she could while she was growing up. When Zhao Aniang was 17 years old, Zhao Aniang She has grown into a slim girl, and because she is engaged in midwifery, she is full of reverence for life, and she is already a well-known midwife in the nearby village. The Zhao family is also a trustworthy person, and they fulfilled their promise to marry her into the family and became the wife of Zhao Sheng, the son of the Zhao family.
Because the Zhao family lived a prosperous life and did not need their daughter-in-law to work hard, and they did not want their daughter-in-law to appear in public, Zhao Aniang did not go out to deliver babies in two years.
Although the couple loved each other and lived a harmonious life, Zhao Aniang never became pregnant in two years. Many people thought it was because she had seen too much of the harsh world during the delivery. God did not want her to experience this, so she was deprived of it. her right to be a mother. When more people said it, everyone took it as the truth. From then on, Zhao Aniang no longer cared about what others said, and returned to her "old profession" and continued to deliver babies, thinking that she was "accumulating blessings" for herself.
One day ten years later, the local county magistrate’s sixth concubine had a difficult delivery. In desperation, he invited Aniang Zhao to help deliver the baby. After five hours of busy work, both mother and baby were safe, and she also Therefore, he became famous in the county.
Later, she was invited to the county town to deliver a baby. It was already late at night when everything was settled. In order to rush back to prepare miscarriage medicine for her neighbor, she declined the offer of the mother’s family to stay and hurried home on foot, thinking that Wanting to go home as soon as possible so that her family would not miss her, and the moonlight that night was very bright, Zhao Aniang took a shortcut through the forest, but when she was halfway there, she saw a wild wolf staring at her.
When her scalp was numb with fright, her first reaction was to turn around and run away, but her legs were so frightened that she couldn't move at all. After staying in a stalemate for a while, Zhao Aniang discovered The wild wolf had no intention of harming her, but kept walking back and forth around her, as if he wanted to lead her somewhere.
The wolf's behavior made Zhao Aniang bolder. She followed the wolf tentatively for a few steps and found that the wolf was indeed leading the way. He would look back at her from time to time, as if to confirm that she was there. Didn't keep up.
Not long after walking, she entered a cave under the leadership of the wild wolf. In the cave, she saw a round-bellied female wolf lying on the ground, with blood flowing down the female wolf's hind legs. Only then did Zhao Aniang realize that the wild wolf blocking the road wanted her to deliver the baby for its mate.
Although I was still "fearful" of wild wolves, I couldn't bear to see the female wolf in pain, so I had the courage to go and deliver the baby to the female wolf. With her help, the female wolf gave birth to 6 lovely wolf cubs safely when it was getting dark. Zhao Aniang sat on the ground to rest, and the male wolf placed the rabbit he had caught next to her. Understanding that this was a thank you gift from the male wolf, Zhao Aniang did not refuse. After recovering her strength, the male wolf escorted her back to the road. Seeing her figure slowly disappearing, he turned around and returned to the forest.
Only when Zhao Aniang returned home did she find that the servants in the Zhao family were in a mess. After careful questioning, she found out that it was her husband Zhao Sheng who saw that it was already late but still did not see her coming home, so he ordered her to go home. The servants in the mansion went looking for him, but no one was found all night long.
When she told her family that she had delivered a baby to a wild wolf at night, everyone didn’t believe it at first. It wasn’t until Zhao Aniang took out the rabbit as a thank you gift from the male wolf that they were doubtful. This incident After the incident spread, Zhao Aniang got another title of "Wolf Mother".
In the following months, some prey such as hares and pheasants were often placed at the door of her house. They were obviously directly bitten to death by some animals. Everyone speculated that it was the two wolves that had killed them. The mother-in-law gave a thank-you gift to the wolf, and the family was convinced that she had delivered the baby to the wild wolf.
Out of worry, when she went out to deliver babies, someone was always with her, and she never encountered such a thing again. As time goes by, although the title "Wolf Mother" is still mentioned by everyone from time to time, the impact of the incident has gradually weakened, and few people "talk about it" anymore. Zhao Aniang is still working as a midwife, but she no longer goes out alone.
During the rainy season five years later, it was like a big hole had been opened in the sky. The heavy rain had been falling for five days and five nights, with no sign of stopping. The pond in front of Zhao's courtyard was filled with water. Overflowed.
When the Zhao Mansion was built, it was far away from where the villagers lived. It was built near mountains and rivers. It was originally a place with excellent Feng Shui, but in such weather, it always makes people feel sad. I was a little uneasy, but looking at the solid courtyard walls, my uneasiness gradually dissipated.
One night not long after, when everyone was resting, they suddenly heard the dogs in the yard roaring, and then they heard the servants yelling in panic that a wolf was coming, and the servants hurried He stood up and confronted the wolf with weapons, but no one dared to act rashly.
Zhao Sheng and Zhao Aniang heard the noise and got up and went out to check. As soon as they appeared, they saw the six wolves that were standing there motionless and began to circle in circles.
Seeing the slightly familiar movements, Zhao Aniang suddenly remembered the six wolf cubs she had delivered. Just as she was still carefully identifying them, everyone in shock saw one of them suddenly moving toward two sides. A master was running towards him, and the servants were about to stop him, but were stopped by Zhao Aniang. She saw the wolf holding her clothes in its mouth and walking forward, thinking that this group of wolves needed help.
After discussing with her husband, the two of them followed the six wolves forward together. The other people in the house were worried about the safety of the two of them and followed them cautiously, just as everyone left. After getting on the main road, not long after leaving the Zhao Mansion, the mountain behind the Zhao Mansion suddenly erupted into a mudslide, burying the entire Zhao Mansion.
Just when the entire Zhao family was rejoicing that they had survived the disaster, the six wild wolves turned around and ran into the nearby woods, and soon disappeared. Only then did everyone understand that the wild wolves He sensed that there might be a mudslide and was worried about his benefactor's safety, so he came here to help them escape this disaster.
Although the house was buried by the sand, fortunately everyone was still alive. The people in the Zhao Mansion were extremely grateful to the wild wolf who came to repay their kindness, and they were also extremely grateful to Aunt Zhao. After the people in the village learned about this, they couldn't help but be shocked. They felt that these wolves were very spiritual, so they all decided not to harm the wolves in the forest unless it was absolutely necessary.
Since Aniang Zhao helped many villagers on weekdays, the villagers also came spontaneously to help Zhao Mansion rebuild the mansion, and everyone's life quickly recovered.
Later, accompanied by her husband and servants, the wolf mother went to the mountains and forests to look for the group of wild wolves. She also went up the mountains to look for them by herself. She wanted to thank them for their life-saving grace, but But no trace of them was ever found.
The villagers said that the wild wolves felt that the life-saving grace had been repaid, and the two did not owe each other. Their lives were very different from humans, and the best way was not to disturb each other. , some villagers also believe that the wolves may not have really disappeared. Otherwise, the wolf mother-in-law went up the mountain alone and encountered no danger at all. There must be a wolf protecting her behind, but she just didn’t want to show up. That’s all. Aunt Zhao heard what the villagers said, and felt that she should respect the wild wolf's thoughts. A life without disturbing each other might be the best state. She never went to the wild wolf again, but kept her gratitude in her heart.
Do you think the wild wolves are hiding and don’t want to show up? Is it best to live a life without disturbing each other? If a wild wolf appeared in front of you, would you dare to approach it?