Juhua asked with a smile, "Father, how can these oxen be so sensible?"
Zhang Dashuan said proudly, "Of course they are. I talk to these oxen every day. When it's time to go out and work, and when it's time to come home, I call them by their names and tell them. They've gotten used to listening to me. Whenever I call, they naturally come running back."
He said, "Oxen are very sensible. Even ducks know to come home when it gets dark, and oxen also want to come home as soon as night falls. Those cattle thieves dragged them toward the woods late at night—how could they be expected to listen? The poor black ox had its nose torn. How are we going to thread a rope through it from now on? I soaked a lot of beans to feed it for a while and help it recover. It just so happens that we need to add more forage for them during the spring plowing anyway."
