The hunting of the truffle
Truffles, like mushrooms, are a kind of fungus. But unlike mushrooms,
truffles grow underground. That makes them hard to find. Truffles are so
tasty that people often spend many hours hunting for them. Some people
even train animals to help them hunt for truffles. And some of the best
truffle hunters are pigs.
Prdtend that you’re going on a truffle hunt. First, you must go out into
the woods where truffles grow. It’s a long walk, and if your pig had to
walk all the way, it might be too tired to hunt. So you have to carry
the pig in your arms. Or, maybe you pull it in a wagon.
When you get to where you think the truffles are,
you tie a rope around the pig’s neck. Then you hold on to the other end
of the rope and follow the pig as it starts to hunt. It sniffles and
snuffles in search of the truffles. When it smells one, it begins to
dig.
Pigs like truffles just as much as people do. To keep your pig from
eating the truffles, you must quickly drag it away. But you have to give
the pig a reward for finding the truffles, or it may stop hunting. So
you give it an acorn. Then you tie the pig to a tree and dig up the
truffles. They won’t look like much—just little, wrinkled, brown balls
with warts on them. But people who like the taste of truffles will pay
lots of money for them.
truffles
Truffles grow underground. They are good to eat, so people hunt for
them.
