Bali is not a big place, but there are a lot of tour guides. There are local and foreign.
There are more Chinese tourists, and more Chinese tour guides will follow.
A small group of Chinese tour guides are keen to gossip about some curious anecdotes. Although they deviate from the truth, they can liven up the atmosphere and make the guests very happy. So I don’t know if I want to praise them for their dedication, or denounce them for their nonsense.
There is always a market for sensational things. The Chinese tourists were very curious when they heard it. When they met a local Balinese, they asked, “You Balinese men can marry four wives!” The tone of voice was a little surprised, as if a little envious.
This question has been asked more than once by my poor brother Putu, who is a Balinese and works as a charter driver on the island.
At first he had to sincerely and patiently explain that the law in Bali is also monogamous.
“Then is there any?” the tourist asked with big eyes that love science.
“Very little, very little.”
“Oh, that’s still there, it’s not over!” The tourist slumped back on the seat back in satisfaction, choking Putu speechless.
Many people asked, so he simply replied “Yes” directly.
“More than four!” Sometimes he simply gave up treatment.
There is also a very common saying, which is also spread from the mouths of Chinese tour guides, and is widely circulated among Chinese tourists: Balinese men are lazy, do not do housework or go out to work, and leave all complicated affairs to women. Just do three things:
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Worship, cockfight, daze.
Putu is very unhappy with this statement – we Balinese men are not like that, and if there is, it is very, very, very few.
I said, “What others have said is right. As a devout Hindu, don’t you just worship ancestors and gods every day?”
“You talked to me about cockfighting, and you enjoyed it so much. Isn’t it an experience that you have only participated in?”
“When you are waiting for guests in the car, besides playing with your mobile phone, aren’t you just bored and in a daze?”
Thanks to Putu’s tolerance, the boat of friendship did not capsize.
Speaking of which, although Putu has talked to me many times about cockfighting in Bali, I have never seen one. I said to Putu, “I want to take part in a cockfight, is it possible?”
Putu said: To participate in a cockfight, either be a player and bring the chicken into battle; or be a spectator and bet off the court. How would you like to play?
I said: I want to be a player! Putu said yes, tomorrow I will take you to choose chickens.
Go pick the cockfight!
The next day, Putu took me to a chicken farm he was familiar with to choose the right fighting chicken.
As soon as he entered the chicken farm, the roosters croaked loudly and his eardrums shattered. There were people working inside, the ground was clean, there was no chicken droppings or feathers all over the floor, and there was no odor in the air.
These specially independent chicken cages are filled with non-local chickens, some shipped from Lombok, and some foreign chickens imported from Europe.
They walked restlessly around the chicken coop, screeching loudly as they croaked. I think of Jane Zhang and Mariah Carey.
Asked about the price, there are also 1,000 yuan, 2,000 yuan, and even tens of thousands of dollars. The price is high and low, but there is really no difference in appearance.
“What’s the cheapest chicken here?” I was shabby, holding 200 yuan worth of Indonesian rupiah in my hand, sweating a little on my forehead.
The chicken farm owner pointed to a flock of chicks. These chicks, who will grow into fighters in the future, cost 700 yuan each, and must be carefully fed for at least eight months before they can go into battle.
My embarrassment was quickly noticed. The owner of the chicken farm kindly told me that the owner of the canteen outside the door raised a chicken. Although it is not a professional cockfighting, it is quite fierce. It is sold for 100 yuan. Let’s go and see it!
Compared with the professional cockfighting that costs thousands of dollars, this chicken is so cheap that I have to pay for it in a hurry.
Putu said: “Hold on! Let’s try it first and see if it has the will to fight.”
| Go try the cockfight!
“How to try?” I was stunned.
“I’ll try it, you can just watch it,” Putu said.
Just as he was talking, the chicken coop was already rattling with swords, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.
Hu-headed children came to persuade him to fight.
Putu tied the 100-yuan chicken to a tree trunk and led the black chicken to fight.
The Hundred-Yuan Chicken was tied to one foot and looked very unhappy. At this time, the black chicken took advantage of it and attacked, and the two chickens started fighting.
For a time, the sand and stones flew away, and the world changed color. I was stunned. I never knew that cockfighting could explode like this, and the soul of the second in my heart began to burn.
I exclaimed excitedly: “Okay, that’s it, buy it! Buy it!”
Putu said calmly, “No, this chicken will definitely lose in the fight.”
The layman was splashed with cold water, and the fist he had just clenched immediately loosened. I said angrily: “Then we have no other choice… You see it’s getting dark, we’re all going to miss the last cockfight…”
Putu said: “Let’s try it with my rooster! My dad and I both think it has the potential to be a cockfighting cock, and I will charge you 100 yuan.”
I just remembered that Putu’s hometown does raise a few big roosters, and the crowing woke me up before six o’clock in the morning. I once wanted to make them into Hainanese chicken rice.
When I came to Putu’s house, it was already dark. Putu and his dad put what they thought was a cock-fighting rooster into a woven bag.
In my opinion, this chicken is not as brave as the one hundred yuan chicken in the daytime, and I can’t help but murmur in my heart.
I’m a layman after all, and I don’t dare to be more aggressive. I just ask, “How much can I make if it wins? What happens when it loses?”
“If you win, according to everyone’s bets, you can get at least two hundred, and if it is more, four or five hundred is also possible.”
“If you lose, you will lose your money and money. You will lose your chicken and your money. Are you willing to suffer such a loss?”
Of course I don’t want to. But I really want to participate once, what a rare opportunity to experience it!
| Go for a cockfight!
There was only a small cockfighting ground open at night in the local area, with not many participants, and there were not thirty people in the staff.
Cigarette-dipping staff took my dick out for inspection.
The pushy uncle rushed to my camera several times to pose.
The staff ties each chicken with a pitch iron (the English name is cockspur, which is a sharp blade tied to the chicken’s feet).
Ji Tie’s blade glowed with a cold light, and it looked very sharp. It would be unbelievable for a person to be slashed, not to mention chicken.
The staff began to count the bets. Everyone bet who won and how much. There was no need to keep an account. I really admire this business ability.
A flower basket in the corner of the cockfighting ring. In Bali, religion permeates all aspects of life. If you come to Bali, you must have seen this kind of blessing flower basket on the street corner.
The staff will put together chickens that look comparable. Whoever your chicken fights with requires the consent of the owner of the chicken.
The first game started. No one was willing to fight my cock at this time.
The chicken fighting spirit in the second game was not strong. The referee put the two chickens in the same coop to stimulate them to peck each other.
At this time, no one wants to fight my cock.
Generally speaking, the chickens that lose are either dead or crippled. After the chicken was slashed by the opponent, it was killed on the spot, and the referee put a flower basket to overrun.
The chicken lost, but did not die, dying.
According to custom, the losing chickens will be executed or even dismembered on the spot even if they do not die. In other words: if you lose, you must die, which is a bit cruel to think about.
But at this time, I was no longer worried about whether my chicken would win or lose. I was afraid that no one would fight my chicken from the beginning to the end. I must not take the chicken home in a dreadful end.
Finally someone offered to fight me! That kind of mood is like an abandoned orphan who has found his adoptive parents and is happy!
The staff helped me tie the distance iron to my dick, and I was nagging next to me, “Tie it up a little, make sure it’s strong”, forgetting that they didn’t understand Chinese.
To tell the truth, my chickens have been wilting like a plague chicken ever since they came to the cockfighting ring. But the following scene revived my expectations –
It’s tiptoe, ready to go, makes me think there might be a scene! So I temporarily raised another $100.
The staff praised me for choosing chicken well. In fact, he didn’t know, I didn’t do anything at all…
In the end, I invested 200 yuan and finally got 600 yuan. I tried my best to maintain the restraint of a foreign guest and forbear the desire to laugh wildly.
As is customary, the chicken that loses goes to the winner. Putu’s mother learned the good news through her mobile phone at home, and boiled hot water in advance to prepare the chicken soup.
In the end, I kept 100 of the 600 yuan and gave the rest to the Putu family as a thank you.
