In praise of pigs and Chinese bean curd (Winston Churchill and Qu Qiubai)

I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

  -- Winston Churchill

 

A death which in its odd and different way .............was that of Qu Qiubai. He could not depart on the Long March because at 36 he was dying of tuberculosis. Captured by the Kuomintang, before his execution he composed a testament, called ''Some Superfluous Words,'' for which the orthodox have not forgiven him. Although expressing envy of the young who manned the barricades, he ended on a sardonic note, praising flowers, moonlight and factory chimneys, recommending ''Anna Karenina'' and ''The Dream of the Red Chamber,'' and stating, last of all, that ''the Chinese bean curd is the most delicious food in the whole world. Goodbye and farewell!''