The Mosquitoes on Campus
by Couch
I was
astounded when I realized that the mosquitoes on campus were much smarter
than those in my remote rural area. I was born in a small village in South
China, so I was familiar with the mosquitoes there. They were easy to deal
with. Of course, they liked to sting and suck blood. But they lacked the
intelligence to overcome the barriers when people used mosquito nets to
isolate them. I was sure my safety was guaranteed all night when I had a
net.
Years later when I grew up, I left my hometown and
went far away to a college in a metropolis. The very first night there, I
hung up my mosquito net, and checked it carefully. After I had made sure
that I had left no chance for those nuisances, I turned off the light and
fell asleep. At midnight, I was woken up by an acute itching. I turned on
the light and found a series of bulging buttons swelling on my back.
“The disgusting mosquitoes!” I said to myself, “You
sucked my blood; I want you to pay for it with your life.” I swore and
searched all over the ceiling and walls of my mosquito net, but couldn’t
found a single mosquito there. If it was in a rural area, the mosquitoes
would stand in a conspicuous place with their stomach filled with
transparent carmine blood, elegantly lolling and enjoying their success,
waiting stilly for a judgment from my huge hand slapping. But now my
enemies had escaped successfully before I could give them a fatal blow.
I got frustrated and then lay back down helplessly. But
I jumped up again not before long because I heard a light but very harsh
noise of mosquito’s flying swiftly near my ears. My Dear! They had not yet
gone. They were waiting for their second dinner! I turned on the light
again and searched more carefully. However, I failed once again. This time
I fetched a torch to search. Oh, my God! They hid themselves on the mat in
a corner where it was difficult to find them. When I placed the light beam
on them, they flew away swiftly and re-hid themselves. They were aware of
imminent danger.
“If you can dig a cave for shelter, I will bury you
there in the cave,” I swore, slapping every inch on the mat with my pillow
until blood shedding was found.
The next night, I made my bed like a fort and made sure
no mosquito could break into before I slept. However, my safety guarantee
failed again. At midnight my arm swelled with a string of buttons with
stinging concaves. I scouted everywhere scrupulously and made sure not a
single mosquito had broken into my net.
Finally, the secret was revealed-- outside on my net, a
team of mosquitoes was standing quietly and elegantly swing their
antennas. They must have taken advantage when I unconsciously laid my arm
against the net while I was sleeping. I told a friend about the mosquitoes
on campus; he teased me ironically, “You attend college to learn knowledge
and get cleverer, right? You know that a lot of intelligent elite dwell
around the campus. Before you came here, the ancestor mosquitoes had been
there for decades and had freely enjoyed the advantage of a high education
generation after generation, so they have learned to be very smart.” I was
flabbergasted by his weird theory.
However, he did tell me an authentic fact—the mosquitoes
on campus are much smarter than those which live out away from urban
areas.
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