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Tribute to a Dog
I have always loved dogs and when I was in elementary school
I tried to keep a boxer and a collie which would follow me home. My
mother never would let me keep either one simply because each had one
of those little tags around its neck. I got my first dog in the 60's
when one of my students asked me one day if I wanted a dog. It was a
beautiful German Shepherd, you know - one of those "vicious" breeds.
Christy though did not know she was supposed to be vicious; she thought
she was a lap dog. She endured one of my little nephews trying to paint
her green and later the other nephew trimming her fur around her neck
with my electric scissors.
This selection which is in a book of children's stories which I
have had since my childhood describes the nature of a dog better than
anything I have read.
This piece is attributed to Senator George Graham Vest from the
Burden v. Hornsby court case in Warrensburg, Missouri in 1870. Vest won the
case for his client Burden whose dog had wandered onto a neighbor's land.
Hornsby, the neighbor, shot the dog as he had promised to do to any dog
that came onto his property.
The best friend a man has in this world may turn against
him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with
loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest
to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name,
may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may
lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's
reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The
people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success
is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure
settles its clouds upon our heads.
The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this
world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves
ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in
prosperity and poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on
the cold ground, when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives
fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss
the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and
sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world.
He guards the sleep of his pauper master, as if he were a prince.
When all other friends desert, he remains.When riches take wings
and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as
the sun in its journey through the heavens.
If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world,
friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege
than that of accompanying him to guard against danger to fight his
enemies; and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the
master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground,
no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside
will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad,
but open in watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.
The Story of Grayfriars Bobby
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