Our conversations were fascinating. He told me stories from the Greek legends and fables from the Bible. His topics ranged from the ancient world to the modern, from China to the West. His imagination was boundless. It was a pleasure to spend my evenings with him. A few days before we witnessed the gang rape that took place on the streets below us, I asked him what changes dogs would make if they were placed in control of this town. He said: ‘First and foremost, we would eliminate the dog extermination brigade. Dogs are not to blame for rabies — we are just the innocent carriers of the virus. The dogs of this town would be granted the same privileges that dogs in foreign countries enjoy: they would be issued with dog collars made of real leather, and warm woollen dog coats. We would encourage humans to follow our example and restrict themselves to mating seasons, so as to improve the quality of their species. We would protect your borders, allow you freedom to travel, and freedom to set up opposition parties.’
His drooping ears flapped contentedly, and he continued: ‘Our dog government will send your politicians and generals to the countryside to produce high quality meat for us. Their salaries and status will be second only to ours. If I were the mayor of this town, I’d ban all political meetings and study sessions, and I’d urge people to walk on all fours, as modestly and unassumingly as us. I would also scrap the practice of blasting exercise music through the town every morning, so that people could have a lie-in if they wanted to.’
‘And what will our duties be in the new society?’
‘To serve the dogs,’ he said. ‘You will simply have to change your motto from “Serve the People” to “Serve the Dogs”. Your main responsibility will be to provide us with food and drink. As long as you don’t start wasting your time with useless political meetings, we will cause you no harm. Remember — a dog is a man’s best friend, and a man is a dog’s best partner.’
A few days later, as we looked down on the girl being raped in the streets below, the dog went back to this conversation and said, ‘But there’s one thing we’ll insist on when we come to power: we will ban all cars, trucks and bicycles from the town, to ensure that dogs are free to cross the roads when they wish.’
That day, the traffic in the streets below was blocked solid. At the intersection, a group of young men had pinned a girl to the ground and were raping her again and again. They had ripped all the clothes from her body and flung them in the air.
(‘Gang rapes are becoming a common sight in the cities and towns of China,’ the blood donor tells his friend. ‘In Shanghai last year, there was a gang rape that lasted two hours. The traffic in Nanjing Road came to a standstill. The crowd of spectators was so thick, the police were unable to reach the scene of the crime. When the girl managed to break free at last, she clambered up to the traffic warden’s watchtower and begged for help, but the warden refused to open his door for her. The boys then pulled her down and began to rape her all over again. I read that the girl later suffered a nervous breakdown. After the rapists were finally arrested, the ringleader was driven to a sports stadium and executed by a firing squad.’)
The girl below us finally managed to break free. She climbed up to the traffic warden’s watchtower to beg for help, but the warden refused to open his door. He said he was only responsible for the traffic. Before she had time to argue, one of her attackers pulled her down again and pressed her to the ground. From the terrace, he looked like a mechanical toy as he thrust himself in and out of her body. His partners stood around him in a circle, pushing the onlookers back.
‘They’ve brought the traffic to a stop,’ the survivor said. ‘When dogs mate, our friends don’t stand about gaping at us like that.’
‘This shouldn’t be happening!’ I shouted. ‘It’s a disgrace!’
A large crowd had gathered on the streets. People stared out from the windows of the surrounding apartment blocks. A mob stormed onto the pedestrian flyover above the intersection even though it hadn’t yet been officially opened to the public. In the scrum, a few people were squeezed over the edge and fell onto the crowd below. Time and again, the girl’s white bra could be seen flying into the air, then floating gently to the ground. Her red knickers were flung so high, they became caught on one of the lamps on the flyover. Two young men challenged each other to bring them down. As they climbed the flyover’s cement legs, the crowd burst into applause. The thinner of the two made it to the top first. He grabbed hold of the knickers, kissed them, then hurled them back down into the crowd. A man below caught them and tossed them into the air again. For a minute or so, they hovered above the crowd like a dove, before falling once more to the ground.
‘Humans have powerful herding instincts. It’s no wonder you need to be controlled. You’d be much better off living together like ants, antelopes and moths, rather than shutting yourselves up in separate rooms.’
‘I don’t understand those people,’ I said. ‘They must have lost their minds.’
‘Perhaps other animals are equally indifferent to the suffering of their own kind, but I doubt any of them could find as many ways to inflict pain as men have. It seems to me that man is the lowest beast of the lot.’
By that time, the dog had already lived on the terrace for nearly two years.
‘Look at the secret glee on the faces of the crowd,’ he said. ‘Everyone can see what’s happening, but no one is prepared to put a stop to it. Now you know the evil that lies hidden behind the blank faces you pass every day on the streets. Wherever a street lamp goes out at night, a woman is sure to be raped. Look at all those men down there. It usually takes a lot to make them blush, but they’re so excited now, their faces are bright red. I can smell the blood rushing to their genitals.’
‘This is nothing!’ I cried. ‘When Chairman Mao came out to greet the Red Guards in Tiananmen Square, the crowds were far more excited than this.’
‘What was so exciting about seeing your Chairman?’
‘Just imagine it. We grew up seeing his image plastered over every wall, book, newspaper and film. He was the only thing people ever talked about. So it was only natural that when we were able to see him at last with our own eyes, the emotion would send us into a frenzy.’
‘But when it comes down to it, Chairman Mao was just a human being like any other,’ the dog said.
‘If it weren’t for me, there would be no you. If it weren’t for Chairman Mao, there would be no today,’ I countered. His reactionary ideas were beginning to anger me.
‘And what’s so good about today?’ He puckered his lips and pointed them to the scene unfolding below. The girl had been pushed down again, and was being groped by a sea of hands. Her voice had died, and the tears that drenched her hair had run dry. A gang of youths climbed onto the roof of a stationary bus to get a better view. The men nearest the naked girl pressed her legs down, and kicked each other back as they fought to climb on top of her.