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everyone was bathed in the glorious, peaceful rays of the sun. He’d like a drink of water, if that was possible. But if not, so be it. A little water meant nothing to someone who had come out of the mountains alive.
    Barking dogs announced his approach; he ignored them. But the eyes of the village women and children made him uncomfortable. He must have looked like a very strange camel herder. Why else would they be gawking at him that way? He was deeply embarrassed. To the soldiers he’d been less than human, and to the people here in the village he was a freak. He didn’t know what to do. Size and strength had always been a source of self-esteem and pride for him, but recently he had become a victim of injustice and privation through no fault of his own. As he looked over the roof of one of the houses, he saw the sun, with its promise, but now it didn’t seem so lovely.
    Worried that the camels could slip and fall in the foul-smelling puddles of toxic water mixed with pig and horse urine on a street that ran through the village, Xiangzi felt like resting. He spotted a relatively lavish house to the north of the street with a tiled building behind it. The gate and gatehouse were missing; only a slat door remained. Xiangzi knew what that was: a tiled building—a rich man; a slat door and no gate—a camel dealer! All right, this was the place to take a rest and see if there might be a chance to say good-bye to his camels.
    “ Seh! Seh! Seh! ” Xiangzi commanded the camels to kneel. It was the only camel command he knew, and he proudly put it to use. Now the villagers would see that he knew what he was doing. The camels knelt and he coolly went over and sat beneath a young willow. People were watching him, and he was watching them. That, he knew, was the only way to lessen their suspicions.
    He had been sitting there awhile when an old man came out. Wearing a blue jacket, open in front, he had a face that glowed, and one look told Xiangzi that this was one of the village’s wealthy men. He made a quick decision.
    “Have you got some water, old-timer? I could use a glass.”
    “Ah!” The old man rubbed caked mud from his chest and gave Xiangzi a long look. Then he eyed the three camels. “I’ve got water. Where are you from?”
    “Out west.” Xiangzi couldn’t give a name because he wasn’t sure.
    “Aren’t there soldiers out that way?” The old man was staring at Xiangzi’s army pants.
    “They grabbed me. I just got away.”
    “I see. No problem getting the camels through the western pass?”
    “The soldiers went into the mountains. The roads are safe.”
    “Uh-huh.” The old man nodded slowly. “Wait here, I’ll get you some water.”
    Xiangzi followed him into the yard, where he spotted four camels.
    “Why don’t I leave these three with you, sir? You can put together a camel train.”
    “Hah! A train? Thirty years ago I owned three trains. Things have changed. Who can afford to feed camels these days?”
    The old man stopped to stare at his four camels. “I was thinking about getting all the neighborhood camels together and letting them go out beyond the pass to graze,” he said after a moment. “But I didn’t dare, since there’s fighting in the east and in the west. I hate keeping them penned up here. Just look at all the flies. It’ll be even hotter soon, and that will bring the mosquitoes. I can’t stand watching these fine animals suffer, I tell you!”
    “So why don’t I leave my three with you? That way you can take a train out to graze? Animals need to be on the move, and if you keep them here all summer, the flies and mosquitoes will eat them alive!” Xiangzi was nearly pleading.
    “Who has the money to buy them? These are bad times to raise camels.”
    “I’ll leave them with you and you can give me what you think is fair. That way I can say good-bye to them and go into the city to make a living.”
    The old man sized Xiangzi up. He didn’t seem like a bandit or