Sunshine beat upon the cobbles, and a lazy summer wind raised yellow
dust which trailed in clouds down the avenue. Clattering trucks moved
with indistinctness through it. The child stood dreamily gazing.
After a time, a little dark-brown dog came trotting with an intent air
down the sidewalk. A short rope was dragging from his neck. Occasionally
he trod upon the end of it and stumbled.
He stopped opposite the child, and the two regarded each other. The dog
hesitated for a moment, but presently he made some little advances with
his tail. The child put out his hand and called him. In an apologetic
manner the dog came close, and the two had an interchange of friendly
pattings and waggles. The dog became more enthusiastic with each moment
of the interview, until with his gleeful caperings he threatened to
overturn the child. Whereupon the child lifted his hand and struck the
dog a blow upon the head.
At last the child grew weary of this amusement and turned toward home.
The dog was praying at the time. He lay on his back and turned his eyes
upon the retreating form.
The child beat his pursuer with a small stick he had found. The dog lay
down and prayed until the child had finished, and resumed his journey.
Then he scrambled erect and took up the pursuit again.
On the way to his home the child turned many times and beat the dog,
proclaiming with childish gestures that he held him in contempt as an
unimportant dog, with no value save for a moment. For being this quality
of animal the dog apologized and eloquently expressed regret, but he
continued stealthily to follow the child. His manner grew so very guilty
that he slunk like an assassin.
When the child reached his door-step, the dog was industriously ambling a
few yards in the rear. He became so agitated with shame when he again
confronted the child that he forgot the dragging rope. He tripped upon
it and fell forward.
The
child sat down on the step and the two had another interview. During it
the dog greatly exerted himself to please the child. He performed a few
gambols with such abandon that the child suddenly saw him to be a
valuable thing. He made a swift, avaricious charge and seized the rope.
But when the child was present, these scenes did not occur. It came to
be recognized that if the dog was molested, the child would burst into
sobs, and as the child, when started, was very riotous and practically
unquenchable, the dog had therein a safeguard.
However, the child could not always be near. At night, when he was
asleep, his dark-brown friend would raise from some black corner a wild,
wailful cry, a song of infinite lowliness and despair, that would go
shuddering and sobbing among the buildings of the block and cause people
to swear. At these times the singer would often be chased all over the
kitchen and hit with a great variety of articles.
Sometimes, too, the child himself used to beat the dog, although it is
not known that he ever had what could be truly called a just cause. The
dog always accepted these thrashings with an air of admitted guilt. He
was too much of a dog to try to look to be a martyr or to plot revenge.
He received the blows with deep humility, and furthermore he forgave his
friend the moment the child had finished, and was ready to caress the
child's hand with his little red tongue.
When misfortune came upon the child, and his troubles overwhelmed him,
he would often crawl under the table and lay his small distressed head
on the dog's back. The dog was ever sympathetic. It is not to be
supposed that at such times he took occasion to refer to the unjust
beatings his friend, when provoked, had administered to him.
He did not achieve any notable degree of intimacy with the other members
of the family. He had no confidence in them, and the fear that he would
express at their casual approach often exasperated them exceedingly.
They used to gain a certain satisfaction in underfeeding him, but
finally his friend the child grew to watch the matter with some care,
and when he forgot it, the dog was often successful in secret for
himself.
So the dog prospered. He developed a large bark, which came wondrously
from such a small rug of a dog. He ceased to howl persistently at night.
Sometimes, indeed, in his sleep, he would utter little yells, as from
pain, but that occurred, no doubt, when in his dreams he encountered
huge flaming dogs who threatened him direfully.
His devotion to the child grew until it was a sublime thing. He wagged
at his approach; he sank down in despair at his departure. He could
detect the sound of the child's step among all the noises of the
neighborhood. It was like a calling voice to him.
The scene of their companionship was a kingdom governed by this terrible
potentate, the child; but neither criticism nor rebellion ever lived
for an instant in the heart of the one subject. Down in the mystic,
hidden fields of his little dog-soul bloomed flowers of love and
fidelity and perfect faith.
The child was in the habit of going on many expeditions to observe
strange things in the vicinity. On these occasions his friend usually
jogged aimfully along behind. Perhaps, though, he went ahead. This
necessitated his turning around every quarter-minute to make sure the
child was coming. He was filled with a large idea of the importance of
these journeys. He would carry himself with such an air! He was proud to
be the retainer of so great a monarch.
One day, however, the father of the family got quite exceptionally
drunk. He came home and held carnival with the cooking utensils, the
furniture and his wife. He was in the midst of this recreation when the
child, followed by the dark-brown dog, entered the room. They were
returning from their voyages.
The soaring dog created a surprise in the block. A woman watering plants
in an opposite window gave an involuntary shout and dropped a
flower-pot. A man in another window leaned perilously out to watch the
flight of the dog. A woman, who had been hanging out clothes in a yard,
began to caper wildly. Her mouth was filled with clothes-pins, but her
arms gave vent to a sort of exclamation. In appearance she was like a
gagged prisoner. Children ran whooping.
The dark-brown body crashed in a heap on the roof of a shed five stories
below. From thence it rolled to the pavement of an alleyway.
The child in the room far above burst into a long, dirgelike cry, and
toddled hastily out of the room. It took him a long time to reach the
alley, because his size compelled him to go downstairs backward, one
step at a time, and holding with both hands to the step above.
When they came for him later, they found him seated by the body of his dark-brown friend.
moral value:
- do not hurt the animal or other creatures.
- we have to care about what happen around us.
- we have to help each other
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