Frog Story, Taishan, in the 1970s
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Friends,
If you experience Taishan in the 1970s, as a kid, in the outdoor, this story is for you and me.
Frogs in Taishan,/Taishen, in my memories, there are two distinct breeds. One breed is the bull-frog, they grow only in the rich rice fields. They make very deep, calming noise (***ually arousing to frogs) late in the nights to attract ***ual partners. This breed of fogs is meaty, easy to catch, and delicious. You see them most often on the magazines. Again, they are easy to catch, and delicious…Yummy…, I want to eat the frog dish as I write this sentence…
The other breed of frog, you have to be patient, to let me capture the full spirits, and its delicacies. This breed of frog, in Taishanese, has a reserved name for it, deserving so. I think it is called Gupb Gai. (The bull frog mentioned earlier, is called Hien Gai -rice field frog). Gupb Gai, immediately gives me a notion of lean, agile, evanescent. Taste wise, they are the mother of all frogs, I prefer Gupb Gai, over any other frogs, without hesitation, then, and now. Gupb Gai does not have much meat, but every ounce of its body, has the full flavor of the beautiful nature captured in its essence. A couple Gupb Gai, are sufficient to make a relish diner; you need no other side dishes. They are that good…taste wise. I can not dwell on this further…my appetite is wet…
How to catch Gupb Gai, is the guts of this posting. Where should I begin, my father once give my sister a nickname, calling her Gupb Gai girl, for being agile, lean, alert to her surroundings, and be aware of the predators (yes, put yourself in a female frog state of mind, when it comes to boys and girls…then and perhaps now…I may be stretching a bit, oh well.).
My first time to catch a frog, it was in a village of our classmate. He took me out after class. He sets the agenda. First thing we did, was to catch grasshoppers. Easy, grasshoppers are easy to see, easy to catch, we got plenty of them. Next, he told me to use the grasshoppers like the fishing bait, tied it to the fishing pole string. Next, he told me, let’s start catch Gupb Gai…
I cursed him, something like, what the **** are you talking about, we are in the middle of nowhere, we were infested by insects, catching Gupb Gai? I see no Gupb Gai, I smell no Gupb Gai. All I see is the patch of grassland, where I just catch the grasshoppers. Our surrounding itself, is naked with not much life.
He ignored me, and goes on his innate skill. He started his catching Gupb Gai routine. He raised his fishing pole, and maneuvers the grasshopper bait, just as if the grasshopper is alive. I saw the Gupb Gais, came out from no where (I still don’t know where they hide, or, come from). The Gupb Gais headed straight to his fishing pole, the grasshopper bait…As the Gupb Gai swallowed half way with the bait (grasshopper), he lift the Gupb Gai in to the air, the Gupb Gai obvious would not give up his/her delicious meal…in any case the Gupb Gai is landed/captured the net/scoop of my classmates left hand, the catching hand.
I repeated what I observed from him. It works! I catch Gupb Gais that way…
10+ years later, I tried the same tricks in ffice:smarttags" />Boston, near a reservoir, no life at the site, at front of me, but just a fishing pole, and a grasshopper at the string…I tossed the bait/grasshopper the same way, and one by one, the frogs come out, and I still don’t know where they come from…Then, I realized, how subtle, and special the skills it is…
Fishing, and how to catch fish, is a major industry in the Western world. Go to any major sporting goods store, you will see major sections on fishing equipments, and supplies. White Devils, to these days, still don’t get it, how to catch Gupb Gais…If the Taishan technique mentioned in this posting, become a popular hobby by the White Devils, then this story would end. Friends, can you keep this as a secret, It is one of the few Tahishan secrete has to offer to humanity…the undiscovered Taishanness to the Western world…
I love frogs, however you cut it, frogs are the most environmentally sensitive species. When there is no frog, our environment is totally ****-up. There are so many other romantic stories in humanity, with analogy to frog behavior. For example, do you know the notion of the bull frog, who wants to be the king of all frogs in the Garden of Eden; his gene is the only gene to be passing on. How about the female frog in the pond, fantasized the mesmerized by the bull frog, both eventually become calcified, just like the frog decorations in your garden… I don’t want to live in the days when there are no frogs…How about you...
