The Other Side
Ryan Tjiang, Group 3: Fiction, St. Joseph’s College
eigh!”, “Neigh!”, “Neigh!”…horses, horses, horses- the sound and the images that have been
flashing in my mind, no matter day or night. For me, it is very annoying. But, when you are
extremely tired, you will think that it is like your mum singing to you, telling you to sleep, yet
it recalls my old story. It happened years ago, when I was still in the Army…
I was very tired; I wanted to sleep. I couldn’t. It’s too noisy. The horses are too noisy. It
was a windy night, though actually it was not very gusty. It was just the perception in my mind as I was going to
climb over the Great Wall tomorrow. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep. I really wanted to see what it was
like on the other side of the Wall.
I could remember asking my teacher questions many times, but every time I got laughed at all over,
because his reply was always ‘I don’t know, I Don’t Know’… My name is Medekhgüi, which means ‘I don’t
know’ literally in Mongol. So now you know why they laughed.
I really don’t know why my name is like that, but my grandfather once said to me that my name could
distract the evil spirits from hurting me. My grandfather used to be a soldier, and he liked describing the scenes
on the other side of the Wall to me. ‘They live in big things called “houses”, which are made up of pure gold
and they have no need to migrate for food and water. They are also very rich, as they often throw money into
wells, ponds, and alike for nothing.’ He repeated that many times. It was because of fantastic pictures that I went
to join the army when I was 16, and I ended up there.
* * * * *
I lay on the bed, trying to get some sleep. I couldn’t. I still couldn’t because of the excitement and the noise
outside. It was then I heard some groaning sounds coming from another tent. I approached it.
‘
Kame min… (Come in)’ I nearly fainted when I saw who was inside. It was Khünbish, my very best friend! I
was not alone in the army. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in a very good mood. He had just lost an arrow with his
name on it, passed from his great grandfather, a great warrior to remember.
* * * * *
I had just slept for about an hour before I heard some really loud drumming sounds. Oh! I had nearly
forgotten that the announcer had said that we were going to climb over the Wall early in the morning. But I
didn’t expect it to be THAT early. Well, an army’s an army and you have to obey everything. Anyway, I packed
everything and hurried out to meet my squad leader.
About two hours later, we were at the foot of the Great Wall. Oh, how I admired it! It’s the most beautiful
thing I have ever seen. Since then I have come into understanding why we, Mongols, always want to cross it; it
makes you jealous. Actually, I don’t like fighting very much; I only want to see what it is like on the other side,
but NOT fighting with people who haven’t done you any harm.
My feet were killing me. I was not used to walking such a long distance. We used to ride on horses; we are
cavalrymen, which mean we fight on horseback, not on foot. We started climbing after we heard a cry of
‘
CLIMB’. It was not easy climbing through loosened mud and rock, but we made it finally. Dawn was just
breaking. I stood on the Wall, overlooking the other side- houses, the wells, the ponds, everything. I was amazed,
yet amazed by the lies.
I could not visualize the real picture until now, standing on the wall. Nothing was true except the architecture.
Yes, the people really lived in houses, instead of tents, but what I saw was not gold, but blood.
Some of the more adventurous and curious Mongols climbed down the Wall. A few moments later, I saw
some arrows flying out from behind the houses. It killed the ones who went down. Suddenly, I realized that I
was in a battle. There was nothing I could do except to fight. The first thing our archers did was to shoot the
people down there.
We didn’t know that our opponents were hiding behind the houses. I could hear two generals arguing whether
to burn us using fire rocks or not.
‘
If you burn them, you will burn down the Great Wall!’ said one.
‘
If you don’t burn them, they will escape!’ said another.
‘
If you burn down the Great Wall, you will be killed by the Emperor!’
‘
If you let the Xiongnu escape, you will have the same ending!’
Our army began the strike. We climbed down and started the fight. Everyone seemed to be thrilled about the
fighting, but I wasn’t. I just wasn’t the sort of fighting man. Like I said before, I joined the Army just for seeing
what it was like on the other side of the Wall; I did not expect myself to get in a REAL battle. But it was no use
“
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