Water Buffalo Days

Water Buffalo Days is a fond reminiscence of the author's childhood in the central mountains of Vietnam. Opening when he is only six years old,the author remembers traveling with his father to pick out the remarkable water buffalo calf  that became a loyal and beloved family pet.

Every family had a herd of water buffaloes in central Vietnam and to have the leader of the village herd was a great honor and responsibility. Tigers, panthers, wild boars, crocodiles, anacondas, and other bulls sometimes attacked without provocation. An ideal bull would be gentle and calm with the family and particularly territorial and aggressive with the many wild animals that threatened the village herd. It was possible to find this combination if you could find a bull calf that had a gentle mother from the lowlands and a fierce father from the highlands. Together with intelligence, this was the best indicator of a future herd leader. 

Children often began work early in life by taking the herd of water buffaloes to pasture when they were only six years old. Nhuong's job was to accompany his family's herd to the rice fields and make sure they didn't nibble the tender rice plants. The calf, named Tank, grew and learned quickly and began to carry a rider on his back. Nhuong rode him through the fields, catching fish, crabs, crickets, and birds' eggs from his vantage place on Tank's back. Sometimes the trips were so long and tiring, that Nhuong would lie down on Tank's back and go to sleep while Tank continued homeward. A strong bond was established between boy and beast that lasted the rest of Tank's life.

Tank grew incredibly large, and yet remained docile with the family. One day when Tank was three years old, he challenged the dominant leader of the village herd. There was a tremendous fight and a gruesome injury resulted in the death of the older male and Tank took his place. Still he was perfectly gentle with the author and the other village children and made himself invaluable to the safety of the village.

One day, his stamping and huffing alerted them to an impending earthquake. The villagers fled as rocks rained down and broke the trees and village huts. Once, Tank alerted the village children to the presence of a crocodile as they were fording the river. On another occasion, Tank met the charge of a wild boar head on and then continued to attack him until he was dead. Tank even defended the village herd from a tiger attack, that resulted in him lifting the tiger with a sweep of his horns and throwing her through the air. The tiger slunk away into the jungle but is later tracked and found dead due to her injuries.

Tank proved his worth every day of his life and was loved and admired by all of the villagers but was sadly killed when a stray bullet found him during an intense battle of the Vietnam War.

This memoir was much more focused than the first and not as rambling.

Although still not recommended for the faint of heart, the recollections are more cheerful and the bond between animal and human are expounded on in a more enjoyable way. Tank's many extraordinary qualities make us love him almost as much as Nhuong does and as the story closes we mourn with him the effects of a senseless war that takes away almost everything a family has, the author's dreams, and a gentle giant too.

I reviewed the author's earlier memoir, The Land I Lost, here.

CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS:

VIOLENCE: There is the description of the bull fight, in the middle of which the older male gets his horns stuck in the dike and wrenches the horns still attached to the top of his skull from his head with his own strength.

Another bull fight results in an older bull disemboweling a younger bull with his horns.

There is a fight between Tank and a wild boar that results in the boar breaking his back and finally impaling himself on one of Tank's horns.

Tank protects the herd from a tiger attack. The tiger slinks off but a village dog is injured during the attack as well.

Crickets are trained and pitted against each other in one-on-one fights that result in the ripping off of appendages, and the death of one or both crickets.

SPIRITUAL: The claws and teeth of the dead tiger are used to make charms that will “ward off the devils that make children sick.”

The author burns incense on Tank's grave.