Pig teaches Robert first step to be a blogger (5)

“How often do you plan to publish your article?”

Hearing this question, Robert made a sour face. “I have no clue about this,” he said.

“It’s important,” I claimed.

“What is your suggestion?”

“No matter if you are a blogger or a vlogger, you have to have products in your hand before you make a website or a video channel. Based on my experience, the number of products you should have is more than one hundred.”

“More than one hundred?”

“Yes.” I nodded my head. “When you create your website, you should post one hundred articles. If it is less than one hundred, you will make the readers feel you are not ready and it can make them feel not impressed about your site.”

“I see.” Robert wagged his head. “Like we open a fruit store, for example. We have to have fruits in our store. When the customer comes, they will go around and see what we have. If we have little, the customer will leave.”

I nodded my head with a smile.

“But why do we need more than one hundred contents?”

“If we own a store on the land, to make people know that our store is opening, we open the door - everyday. But own a website, an online store, the only way to tell the customers that it is opening is to post everyday or regularly. So, besides the one hundred published articles, you have to publish a new article - which you can choose between posting it one daily, two daily, one in a week, two in a week etc.”

“Oh god! It’s not easy.”

“Like I told you already, it is very very very very very hard. And it will be harder while you are operating your site. You will understand when you work with it yourself.”

Robert dropped his shoulders as he heard me.

“Now, summary what I have told you.”

“To make a website,” Robert narrated, “find a domain and a niche. The domain should be no longer than four syllables, it should be easy to say, to type and to remember, it should be a word that a lot of people know about it and it should not be too specific. As for the niche or the topic, it should be a thing that is useful for the readers or what the readers need. Then think about channel and language. If I choose Blogspot, I should write in English; if I choose Wordpress, I can write in any language. To make the website work, I should build my fame. So, besides creating a website, I should create a video channel as well - and I should link them together. Before I make a website or a video channel, I should prepare the contents in advance more than one hundred. When I start my website, there should be one hundred contents published on the site, then I should post regularly to make my website go on.”

“Perfect,” I said with a smile.

Pig teaches Robert first step to be a blogger (4)

I continued, “When I changed yayaidea to be Wordpress org’s site, I also changed its topic from balcony garden to television commercial script. My mind thought and hoped that this would be successful to pull readers to read, still it failed.”

“Why?” Robert said.

“First reason is we are new, second reason is no one knows about us, third reason is it doesn’t give any benefit to the readers.”

“Um,” Robert wagged his head slightly, “I seem to feel about what you said.”

I smiled when I heard it.

“What’s about your chantchhaya? You said it is written in Khmer. How can it get views?” 

“It’s because I link it with youtube.”

Robert shrank his eyes as he heard what I said.

“Besides writing blog, I have also used youtube - in 2011 or 2012 I think. At that time, I just wanted to learn using social media. In 2018, when youtube became famous, Cambodian users including me tried to get our channel monetized. I made many types of content but it didn’t work. One day, I tried an administration video and it went viral, so I decided to choose administration teaching as a niche for my youtube channel. At first, it went very well; then youtube closed the advertisement in Cambodia, it was the down period of all Cambodian users in Cambodia. Because of that led me to become a real blogger, and I decided to buy the domains - which two are failures and one is walking.”

“It is written in Khmer, so your youtube channel is in Khmer as well, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is in Khmer.”

“How can your site work by just linking to youtube?”

“Good question.” I grinned. “For instance, I made a video teaching how to write a meeting report uploaded on youtube, then I uploaded the sample of report as PDF file in chantchhaya for the viewers to download it.”

“Ah,” Robert wagged his head in a row, “I see.”

“It’s called a strategy,” I stated. “The same as very happy piglet and yayaidea, chantchhaya didn’t get views by just posting articles. Instead, people go to it because they want the free download document.”

“I’ve got it. You want to tell me that I should build my name if I want to walk on a path of online career. I should not create only a website, but also a video channel and link them together. And to make my website successful, there should be something beneficial that the readers can take from it.”

“Correct.” I nodded my head. “It’s a business. When we do business, we give a product or service to customers and we take product or service costs from them. If our business doesn’t have a product or a service that customers need, no one will come to us. So, you have to think carefully and deeply before you create your site. Not only the website career but also other businesses.”

Robert wagged his head in a row, “I see. Anything else?

“Yes…”

Pig teaches Robert first step to be a blogger (3)

“So, if we choose the correct domain or website name, will it be successful?” Robert asked.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “There are other aspects.”

“What are they?”

“Let’s talk about my three websites as examples. The site very happy piglet wrote about general articles, and yayaidea wrote about balcony gardens. Both failed. Then I changed very happy piglet to be written about whatever I want; I stop caring if it gets views or not. As for yayaidea, I decided to try something new by changing it to be Wordpress. When I did it, I thought it would become Wordpress’s site, but then I realized I was wrong. Before yayaidea is 'https' meaning it was under protection of Blogspot. Now it is 'http', no 's', meaning it is not under the protection of Blogspot anymore - because I pulled it out of Blogspot. In addition, Wordpress just took it to be in Wordpress organization, not Wordpress dot com, so now, yayaidea is cloud in the sky. That’s why I asked you about the channel. You have to be clear and sure which one you want for your works to put on. It is like you are setting up a store. You have to think carefully, because it is not easy to change or to move - the same as the store on the land.”

Robert wagged his head, “I see. Is there more?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Language is one aspect as well. Both very happy piglet and yayaidea are written in English. I made it in English because Google adsense doesn't allow monetization if the website is written in Khmer. However, there aren’t any viewers. But for chantchhaya, I wrote it in Khmer; it seems to be more successful than the English sites. With this experience, I have to remind you besides thinking of a domain, channel, you must think about the language of your work as well. Sure, English websites are good because a lot of people know English, but it doesn’t guarantee that they will come to read our site. On the other hand, Khmer is not a worldwide language, but it turns out my Khmer website gains readers much more than. Hence, you have to think and choose wisely.”

“Okay.” Robert nodded his head. “If I choose Blogspot, I should write in English. If I choose Wordpress, I can write in any language. That’s all?”

“Not yet all…”

Pig teaches Robert first step to be a blogger (2)

 

It has been a few days already. Robert told me that he could not think of a niche for his website.

“Can you help me?” He said.

“I want to, but it is your site, you must do it yourself,” I said.

“Then, can you tell me your experiences? Perhaps it will help me to find out.”

“Well,” I thought for a moment, “I have been writing a blog since 2011. At that time, I used Wordpress. Then in 2018, I started Blogspot. Because I love writing stories, I decided to write short stories on my site. I chose very happy piglet as my domain since I thought I am a pig and I want to be a happy pig. After that, I published one story a day, till I got 500 views, I applied for monetization. The adsense refused; it said my website didn’t have uniqueness and it didn’t give any benefit to the readers. I had to change from a short story site to a general article site. Though it had views, it didn’t go well. There are plenty of sites that have the same type of articles as mine. I could not attract the readers. Then I decided to build another website - yayaidea, by writing about my plants that I grew in my balcony. I really expected it could attract the readers, especially the people who like gardening. Furthermore, there is no website talking about garden on balcony; I was really hopeful that my site was the first kind and the best. In the end, everything failed. Still I didn’t want to give up, in 2023 I decided to upgrade my Wordpress blog to be a website with the domain - chantchhaya. It worked, but not very well at all. Even though I felt I didn’t lose for nothing. At least, through the experiences, I understood that choosing a website name or a domain is very important. It should be one or two words with no more than four syllables; that word should be easy to remember, easy to type; it should be the words that a lot of people know. Between the three websites, very happy piglet and yayaidea are good because they are used easy words, but very happy piglet is long, yayaidea is better. As for chantchhaya, though it has three syllables, it is Cambodian word that is hard to remember and it is not a well known word. Even Cambodians, there are not many people who know about this word. Furthermore, it is hard to type. When people cannot remember it, they cannot type it correctly, then it can’t be ranked in Google search and this leads my site to be not successful.”

After hearing it, Robert popped up his eyes, “Just a domain is hard. What about other things?”

“It is not hard, but it is very very very very very very very hard…” I laughed.

Pig teaches Robert first step to be a blogger

It was a cool night. Robert walked to lay near my chair.

“Pig, I heard that being a blogger needs to know how to write and love writing, isn’t it?” He said.

“Being a blogger is a kind of career dealing with writing more than other jobs, but I don’t think we have to love writing in order to be a blogger,” I said.

“Like I, I can write, but I can’t write long articles, I can be a blogger, can’t I?”

“I think you can.”

“If so, please teach me. I want to be a blogger. I want to earn money.”

“Being a blogger doesn’t mean we can earn money.”

“I know; however, at least it can help.”

I nodded my head, “Yes, it can help us - sometimes.”

“Teach me.”

“Well, I have experience with Blogspot and Wordpress. Which one do you want to choose to be your channel?”

“What is the difference between them?”

“If you choose Blogspot, you will spend about $20 a year but your site is under control of Google. If you choose Wordpress, you will have more freedom, but you need to buy a plan - the low price plan with a monetization option is about $120 a year.”

“Can I choose both?”

“Of course, you can.”

“Okay, I choose both of them. What’s next?”

“You need to find a niche for your website. I mean a topic. Then you have to find your domain.”

“Can you give advice on these points?”

“I can give you advice related to the domain. You should select a domain which is easy to say, to remember, and it should not so specific because if you want to change topic of your site, you can change it; if your domain is so specific, you might be have to change your domain, and it will affect your site and also your readers.”

“What’s about the niche?”

“It is about your own preference. I can’t give a comment.”

Robert wagged in a row.

“Think about these two things. After you find them, we can talk about it more.”

Robert nodded his head, “Okay.”

Because of a woman, Robert is working hard

It was early morning. Crow told that she got well, so she would go back to her home. Before she flew, she thanked us for taking care of her these few days.

After the crow left, Robert and I went to the garden.

“It was a long time. You don’t deliver the vegetables to your customer,” Robert said.

“This is a hot season. There is little rain, so the vegetables are not growing well. We have to wait for about one or two more months,” I said.

“Where can we get money while waiting for the vegetables?”

“I told you before that I am not earning from only vegetables but from being a blogger too.”

“Well, can you teach me how to be a blogger?”

I looked at him, “You are learning how to do business with me. Now you want to learn how to be a blogger. Why?”

“I think I should study multiple majors at the same time.”

“What is the cause?”

Robert didn’t reply, just made his face low and showed a shy behavior.

“I got it.” I nodded my head in a row. “You work hard because of that female human.”

Robert did shoulders shimmy, then he expanded his right hand to touch my arm within a manner of shyness, but because he used much strength, the touch turned to be a push and as a result I laid my face in wet soil.

“Oh sorry Pig. I didn’t mean it.” He hurriedly came to help me out.  

True friend

I did not go into a friend group for several days.

Tonight, I was online. My friends in the group were chatting, but I didn’t join, I just read their chat.

‘I attended Rani’s funeral. Also, her 7 day funeral.’

‘I attended only her 7 day funeral.’

‘I did not see you.’

‘I went in the evening. I took time after I left the office. I felt pity for her.’

‘Yes, I pitied her. She is our friend. She passed away at a young age. So pitiful.’

‘Very sorry about her.’

‘I read her chats in our group. I miss her.’

‘I offered $ 100 to her family.’

‘Yes, I miss her.’

I scanned their photos. I wondered, they were at the funeral, but they smiled when they took photos.

They continued their chatting.

‘I did not see Sopie at the funeral.’

Sopie was my name. They talked about me.  Though I did not chat, I was online. They should see, but because they did not pay attention, they didn’t notice my presence.

‘It is not appropriate. At least, she should go to see friend for the last time.’

‘She did not go to the 7 day funeral too.’

‘Cold heart woman.’

‘We should ask her. Maybe she went but we did not see her.’

‘If she attended, she should have a photo. I did not see her posted photos of the funeral nor in the group. It means she did not attend. I didn’t feel good about her.’

‘Yes, right. She should not call herself a friend of Rani.’

Suddenly, a message appeared in our group. It was from Rani.

I opened my eyes big. How could she write a message to our group? She died already.

I bet my friends were surprised too. They all saw her message. She wrote a long text.

'Dear Sopie,

I write this message for you.

I know you did not attend my funeral and you will not for sure.

Even though I am not angry or upset with you because you are my real friend.

I was sick for months. Only my family knew. I did not tell any friend even you. I felt depressed when I realized my days were numbered. I was scared. I posted many posts. Friends just clicked like or love. Only you, you sent a private message to me, asked me how I was, and chatted with me. 

When I posted a message to the group – that I was not happy – no friend replied to me. Only you. You replied to me, you chatted with me, also you called me and spoke all night. Moreover, you took me out. 

I remember you took me to the Royal Palace because you knew I wanted to see the emerald Buddha statue. It was the greatest day I ever had. 

Then days later, you took me to visit the national museum. You were my guide. I listened to your telling about the museum and statue that you knew; it was very great telling. 

I remember when you took me to have lunch at a restaurant along the river side, near Varin pagoda. We had lunch there and stayed on a hammock, getting fresh air from the river until 4pm then we came back to Phnom Penh. 

I was very glad when you accompanied me to see animation and comedy movies at the cinema. I laughed. I forgot my pain at those moments. 

Every time you came to take me out, you spent. Car petrol, meals and even cinema tickets. I spent less. You spent time with me, cared about me, when I was alive, while other friends think of me when I’m already gone. 

I feel it’s useless when they pray to me and talk with me through the incense. I don’t hear them. I wanted to hear them, to see them when my ears and my eyes were opened, but they did not show up. They did not even take a look or chat with me in group. I don’t feel they are my friends although they attend my funeral or 7 day funeral or offer much money to my funeral. Because I don’t know or hear anything anymore.

Sopie, I want to take this chance to make my last announcement to the group and to our friends that only you are friends with me. And I have no regret knowing you. Also, I leave in peace and rest in peace. You are my friend forever and I believe I am your friend in your heart forever too.

Good bye, Sopie. 

Love you.

From Rani,'

My lips smiled when I read this message and two drops of tear fell down my face. 

Yes, I did not attend her funeral because I felt I have already done enough for her as her friend. I did not want to see her sleeping and cold because I wanted to keep her beautiful smiling and active image, when we had fun together, forever in my mind. I felt peaceful as I learnt she left in peace and I was glad to see her saying she rested in peace.

Rani’s messages were seen by all friends in the group. They were silent. 

Then another message from Rani showed up.

'Hello everyone,

I am the younger sister of Rani. She gave this message, before she died, and asked me to send it to the group on the night of the 7 day funeral.

Perhaps this message scares you. I am so sorry.

My sister told everything about sister Sopie.

My parents and I would like to express great thank to sister Sopie what she had helped my sister while she was in hard time. We really thank you for your kindness and true friendship to our sister.'

After that, Rani’s name was removed – by her sister – from our group.

Pig is writing a short romantic fiction

Crow was still staying in my house; however, she was much better.

After dinner, three of us gathered at the table in my front yard. Robert and crow were playing a ball and I was sitting in a chair and typing.

When they were tired, they came to the table. As Robert saw me typing, he asked, “What are you writing?”

“I am writing fiction.”

“Oh,” he unlocked his eyes, “what’s it about?”

“It’s a romance between a bird and a fish.”

“Do you take inspiration from my romance?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I planned this story a few years ago. I had the story's plot and frame already. I just kept it. After I heard your love story, I remembered this story; so I took it out and decided to write it.”

“Wow, you are good. Can you tell me how you make a bird and a fish love each other? How do you make it start?”

“Well,” I turned to the crow, “Can you tell me what you think when you see a fish?”

“My institution tells me to eat it,” the crow said.

I turned to Robert, “It’s how the story starts.”

“I don’t understand.” Robert shook his head.

“Neither do I.” Crow wagged her head.

I chuckled, “If it is easy to understand, it can't be called a romance.”

Both Robert and crow raised their thumbs up.

 

Can Robert make a female human love him?

The sun was shining. Robert and I were doing a job in the garden. Then…

“Pig,” Robert said in a low pitch.

“Why did you whisper?” I said.

“I want to ask you something.”

“Say it a little bit louder.”

“Well,” he thought for a few seconds, “I want to ask for your advice on what I should do in order to persuade that woman to love me.”

With a blank brain for about five seconds, I stood and looked at him. After that, I opened my mouth, “In general, people who love apples will go to a community of people who love apples. If she is a person who loves a dog, she will love you. However, it is not romance. It is rare for a human to fall in a romantic relationship with a dog unless you are a dog who is good or better than humans.”

“So, what should I do?”

“Only one thing you can try.”

“What is it?”

“Develop yourself - knowledge, competence, ideas etc. If you are a dog but you can take care of her better than a male human can, you might have a chance to win over her heart and make her fall in love with you without caring what other people look at or think about both of you.”

 

Crow is not healed

The hotpot was finished.

“Thanks for dinner,” the crow said. “I am flying back home.” As she finished speaking, she opened her wings and flew.

Bang.

She fell on the ground. Robert and I ran to carry her, “Are you okay?”

“What’s happened?” She asked.

“You flew in the wrong direction. It’s the door to my house.” I pointed to the door.

“Oh,” the crow looked at the door and looked in the opposite direction and wagged her head. “I'm confused.” She got up. “Bye bye, good night.” She opened her wings and flew.

Bang again.

Robert and I ran to stand by the fence and asked, “Are you fine?” 

“I’m fine, but what’s that?”

“It’s a tree. You hit the tree,” I told.

“What’s happened to me?” The crow covered her wings on her head.

“I think you are not yet well. You better stay here.”

“Well,” she thought for a few seconds then she nodded, “okay.”

“I have free space in the house. You can sleep there.”

“I can sleep on the tree’s branch,” the crow said.

“It’s dangerous.”

The crow giggled, “I am crow. Only a wolf, fox or tiger will be able to hurt me. However, there is Robert. They don’t dare to come.”

“Yes, you are right; but it is double safe if you stay inside the house.”

Robert nodded his head, “Pig is right.”

Knowing that she could not refuse, the crow agreed to stay inside my house.

Golden fur heron

written by Chakriya PHOU

There was a heron living by a pond. It had magical golden fur which could double the amount of things. The heron usually gave its golden fur to lion, rat and ant. Each got one fur per day.

One day, the heron fell sick. Golden fur became normal fur; moreover, the fur fell off of the heron’s body.

Three animals heard about the poor heron.

Ant thought, “I am a small animal. I cannot help. So, I better help myself.”

And the lion thought, “I am kind enough to let it live.”

Only rat brought food to feed the heron. It did everyday without complaint until the heron got well. 

After the body was free from illness, golden fur came back. Heron decided to fly away. Before it moved, it gave lots of golden fur to the rat to pay for its kindness.

Lion and ant heard that the heron had golden fur again; hence, they quickly came to ask for golden fur but they could not meet even a shadow of the heron. The two went back home sadly.

As for rat, it lived happily with full food forever.

 

Hotpot night

In the front yard, I sat on a chair, Robert sat on a chair and crow sat on the table. We were having soup.

“Thanks Robert,” crow said.

“Why did you thank him?” I asked.

“Because of him, I can join the two of you tonight.”

I looked at Robert. He didn’t say a word and pretended to focus on taking beef from the soup pot.

“I am who invited you to this dinner and I am the one who prepared all of these. Why didn’t you thank me?”

“Because you were the one who caused me this,” the crow said and pointed to her forehead that was wrapped.

“Why me?” I asked.

“At that time, I was flying back home then I saw Robert was arrested, so I hurriedly flew to tell you but you didn’t wake up. You know I knocked on your door for more than ten minutes, but you were so lazy. Because I was frustrated, I decided to hit the door on purpose to break it into to wake you up. And it caused me this.” She pointed to her forehead again.

I looked at Robert, “You see? It’s the cons of being in love. I am innocent, but now I turn out to be a bad guy.”

Robert showed me a grin, “This is your favorite meatball.” Then he put it in my bowl.

What could I say? Nothing besides, “Let's forget it.”

Robert is arrested

In the early morning, I heard bang bang on my house's door. When I opened it, I saw the crow was laying on the ground.

“What’s happened?” I asked.

The crow covered her wing on her forehead and said, “Your dog was arrested. I came to inform you.”

I was surprised to hear that, “What was  going on?” 

“I don’t know. Go to ask him yourself. He is in the police station in the village.”

Quickly, I ran to the police station. When I arrived, I asked for the cause of arrest. After I heard the story, I was mind boggling. 

It started before the sun rose. An owner of a farm heard his chicken crying, so he went to check and saw Robert was inside the pile of dry hay in front of the chicken cage. The owner of the farm thought Robert wanted to steal his chicken, so he called for police to arrest him. 

When I asked Robert, he said that he ran following a car, but because last night, there was rain, the road was muddy. As he was running, he slipped and went to hit the pile of dry hay in that farm. He tried to explain, but the owner of the farm didn’t believe him, so he called the police and he got arrested.

Though the misunderstanding was solved, I had to pay the bail.

Along the way home, I asked Robert, “Why did you chase that car?”

Robert dropped his face down and stayed silent for a few seconds. Then he raised up his eyes and said in a tone of shy, “She was inside that car. I heard she would go back to her hometown, so I ran after her on purpose to tell her about my heart.”

I cocked my head and unlocked my mouth big, “Because of a female?”

Robert expanded his lips in a manner of shyness.

“Robert, I don’t mind if you love someone, but that one is human, not a dog.”

“I know. I don’t want anything from her. I just wanted to tell her how I feel about her.”

“Oh god.” I looked up at the sky and shook my head. “Love is strong. It can make not only humans but also dogs become a blind and a dumb.”

Robert asked what content which can get one million views

I looked at Robert who was laying on earth but his lips grinned ear to ear.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Uh huh,” he said, then he continued smiling.

“Don’t you have any questions?”

“Well,” he raised his face, “I am afraid that you can’t answer, that’s why I don’t ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know what content can get one million views?”

“I am searching for it as well.”

“When you find it, share it with me.” He returned to lay on earth and smiled his lips.

 

Robert loves a human

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Shh…” Robert did this to me, then he pointed to the two women who were standing about three meters from our fence. I walked to stand next to Robert and listened to the human’s talking.

“Here are photos of the two men who are chasing me.”

“Okay.”

“I think both of them are good, but I feel it is hard to make a decision. If you were me, which one would you choose?”

“I can’t say it because I am not you.”

“I know, I just want to hear your opinion; however, I will make a decision by myself.”

“It’s best for you to make a decision by yourself.”

“I told you already. I just wanted to hear your ideas.”

“I won’t express my idea because it’s not good action. You must think and consider and make decisions by yourself. If I show my ideas, it will be able to distract your decision. It might impact you without your consent. So, I urge you to make a decision by yourself - because it’s your own life and happiness.”

“Pig,” Robert whispered, “I love her. The one who tells her friend to make decision by herself.”

Hearing it, I opened my mouth big.

 

Pig works hard to survive herself

“Pig,” Robert walked to me, “are you still typing?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“What are you writing?”

“Skills that sellers should learn and train themselves.”

“What is it about?”

“It’s about the people who are in the selling role. Most of them like to sell because they think they are a seller; they don’t care about capacity development; and I am showing them that they should upgrade themselves though they are a seller and why they have to do it.”

“Can I read it?”

“Sure, you can, but you have to click on it because I posted it on another website.”

“Why do you make yourself busy like this?”

“You  can see that I don’t have any family to help me, I don’t have any friends who I can trust and rely on, and I don’t think I need anyone to depend on. I want to depend on myself, rely on myself, and help myself. So, I have to work harder and harder at this time to live easily when I get old.”

Why pig deletes Instagram account

When the sun set, there was a small rain. When it stopped, I came out to sit in my lounge in my front yard. Robert came to join me. It was a cool night and it was good.

“Tonight, you don’t update your social media, do you?” Robert said.

“If you want to talk about Instagram account, no I don’t. I deleted it already,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because it is harder to use than before. It demands that I have a Facebook account; if I use email to sign up, I need to verify with my face. It gives me a headache.”

“But how did you sign up for your account?”

“I used a Facebook account. However I didn’t feel it was secure and I felt annoyed since I usually got a notification asking me to pay to advertise my account to get views. Hence I decided to delete it.”

“Why do they have to make it complicated like this?”

“We can’t put blame on them. Many users have created fake accounts to scam other users and to cause trouble to the society so Facebook or Instagram companies need to be careful and protect. Furthermore, they are doing business, they need money to run the company, and the source of money to continue running their company is advertising, so they have to go for it. They are not wrong.”

“I understand.” Robert nodded his head.

The sky was dark blue and the wind became cooler. Over the bush before my house, there were a lot of lights, like tiny bulbs, and once they were bright once they were weak.

“Beautiful,” I said with a smile.

Robert is still Robert

In the evening, while I was gardening, I heard Robert talking with the crow.

“This morning, where did you go? I came but I saw the door and the gate were locked,” the crow said.

“I went with Pig to deliver the vegetables to the client. I wanted to be a business dog so I asked her to teach me to do business,” Robert said.

After hearing it, I didn’t say a word even when he came back to do gardening with me.

Robert was a dog; loyalty and honesty are his identity. Also dogs usually trust others easily and carelessly. It was the reason Robert didn’t lie and he always said everything even when he was not asked to say. It was not bad but it was not good as well. He could tell the crow that he went with me - to do some personal stuff. He should not tell her frankly that he went with me to meet with the client and he should not say about his wish to be a business dog and he asked me to teach him. However I wouldn’t instruct him to say or not to say because I knew exactly that he wouldn’t listen to me. I let him learn from his own lesson; it was the best way to teach someone to help or survive by their own selves.

First day of learning

The sun rose. I organized the vegetables with help from Robert. Afterwards, we left by locking the door and gate properly.

On the way, I saw Robert was having a delightful facial expression. It has been many months since he lived in my house. He didn’t go anywhere further; today was the first day. 

We didn’t talk much, but I tried to tell him a few things along the way till we arrived at the destination.

Normally Robert liked to talk, but he turned to keep quiet especially while I was meeting with the client. He stood by me and I saw he was focusing his eyes and ears on our conversation. 

When we returned, he changed to be himself.

“Can we play?” He said.

“Play?”

“Yes, we can do running competitions.”

“I think we cannot.”

“Why? It is a long way. We should have fun.”

“Because it’s a long way, that’s why we should not have fun.”

“Why not?”

“Because along this way, there are many troubles such as wolf, tiger, lion, hunter’s trap etc. If we have fun, we might lose caution and this will give an opportunity to those who want to harm us to be successful. Moreover, if we have fun, we will waste our energy. If a wolf or tiger appears, we will not be able to even run. So, along this way, we should maintain our caution both when we go and when we come back.”

Robert wagged his head, “I see.”