Once Upon a Time

Wolf and Dog is my retelling of a Ukrainian Folk Tale

gleaned from a film by Eduard Nazarov

And so, Dearest One of All, Once upon a Time in the endless dark forest of Old Mother Russia there lived a Wolf.

This Wolf lived all by himself and his life was good enough, but he was annoyed sometimes by a Dog who lived in a nearby village. 

This Dog would come snooping around, barking and raising a fuss and the Wolf would have to leave his cozy nest in the trees, run a bit through the snowy forest--make a big circle and after a while-- when the Dog got tired of the chase and went home, Wolf would return to his cozy nest. 

So life went on for many years and all was well with Wolf and Dog.

But, Dearest One of All, as it must be with all living things, as the years passed, these two animals became old.

For Wolf it was not too bad for there were always plenty of unwary young rabbits to eat, running water to drink and a nice snug wolfish nest under sheltering fir trees to sleep in.  For Wolf it was not too bad--but for Dog...


Dog had to depend on the kindness of his humans for his living and as his youthful energy waned and his eyesight dimmed and his bark became less viral--unfortunately his humans began to forget the many services he had willingly performed for them and began to treat him badly--sometimes forgetting to put any food scraps at all into his old wooden bowl and, worst of all, since like all dogs he lived for human praise-- never petting him or calling him "Good Dog".

...