Otis The Wolf, parts 1202 - 1205

1202. "It may be possible for people to become confused about their basic identity,"  said Jemima, "but can an animal be confused about his identity. Can you, for example, being a Duck, at some point begin to think that you are a goose, or perhaps the Emperor of the Solomon Islands in the 15th Century?"

1203. You say that your stories are devoid of fiction, but perhaps the problem is that your story in this case is missing some basic facts that have not been discovered because DNA testing was not available when Otis and the Boy were friends. In short I think the vet hit on the explanation of the situation, Otis is not a wolf at all, and also not a dog, he is half and half, neither one or the other.

1204. "To be two characters at once is a much harder albatross to carry that having no identity at all," said Buboni, appending his notions to Aunt Jemima's.  "The person with no established identity can always adopt a persona like a mask at a party, and having no true nature he can make do and even succeed. Such a person's character is like a blank slate upon which anything can be convincingly written. And since it contradicts nothing, can cause its possessor no problems.

1205. But consider the dog or the man that has two natures, especially if those two natures are contradictory, and most often people like that are cursed with characters that are not only contradictory but actually at war with each other.

Otis The Wolf, parts 1198 - 1201

1198. Some time later the Boy found Otis and the two of them continued on their way. They were in the middle of a wood bounded by local roads on all sides, an area crisscrossed by many paths and well known to both of them. Then, unexpectedly they came across some company on the path, directly ahead of them were two wolves, very well know to Otis. These mangy underfed animals would have presented no danger to the Boy, even if he had been alone, but he was hardly alone.

1199. A few minutes later those two wolves lay dead in the path. The Boy understood that his dog was a wolf, and the wolf knew, for all intents and purposes, that he had become a dog belonging to a boy.

1200. This was the second problematic situation arising for Otis and the Boy but we were not about to find out what the third difficulty was, and what constituted the disaster they were about to experience because Aunt Jemima interrupted the Duck at this point in the story with some critical and inquisitive questions.

1201. "Look Professor," Jemima had taken to referring to the Duck as 'The Professor' with a slight tang of sarcasm in her voice. It was a sarcasm that denotes the instinctive suspicion that highly educated persons are truly just simpletons; a view often held by observant persons who happen to have no education what-so-ever.

Otis The Wolf, parts 1194 - 1197

1194. Assuming the dog belonged to the Boy he offered to take the dangerous animal off his hands. He suggested the dog be left with him for the time being, and at the same time told the boy to talk to his parents about it. He was willing to take care of the problem at no charge. As he said all of this he reached into the boy's bag and began extracting one of the studded goat collars. It was his attention to chain up Otis right then and there.

1195. Otis only had an indistinct notion of what the conversation was about. He had been acting the spy for a few months and so, like a tourist in a foreign country he was only familiar with a few of the most often used words and phrases. But when the old vet took a firm hold of the fur of his neck in preparation of putting a collar on him he understood in a flash that something was going wrong, but he was smart enough to get out of the situation without giving away his identity.

1196. Otis leaped away from the vet and then ran to a spot out in the yard and pretended to be engaged in attacking a mouse he had discovered. What tame house dog can resist the temptation to run around in circles chasing a mouse or a mole. This ruse deceived the vet and the Boy also, and the imaginary mouse managed to doge away from Otis in mouse like zig-zag patterns across the lawn and into the woods. Once in the woods the mouse vanished, and so did Otis.

1197. The Boy went into the woods as if to retrieve his dog for the vet, but he had no intention of returning that afternoon, and if it were possible, ever again. Otis was out of danger for the moment, but what possible way could the Boy avoid the problem of the curious vet? Well, it didn't matter because things were going to go from bad to worse, and then end in disaster.

Otis The Wolf, parts 1190 - 1193

1190. Then he had an inspiration; an idea which he knew was a complete falsehood, and yet, in actual fact was so close to the truth that it was terribly convincing. He decided to suggest that the dog, according to his observations, was actually a wolf, or, if not a complete wolf was the product of the mating of a village dog with a wild animal. He made this all up on the spur of the moment, perhaps unconsciously inspired  by the actual truth.

1191. His real desire was to sow fear of the dog into the heart of the Boy and so he gave him this little warning as if he was only concerned for safety, and was speaking in a professional capacity. "Your dog," he said, "is a very remarkable creature, but I am afraid he is also a very dangerous one. He obviously has a good percentage of wolf blood in his veins; do you know what that means?"

1192. "It means that if you should accidentally cut yourself, or happen into a situation where a chicken is being butchered, your beautiful dog will have his instincts triggered, and turn into a killer. The smell of blood acts on a wolf's system just like on a shark or a tiger. There is only one thing to do with this sort of animal, he needs to be adopted by some farmer who could use him strictly as a guard animal. Under no circumstances should this creature be a house pet.

1193. Now here is the curious thing about what the vet said about Otis. It was the absolute truth, even though the vet assumed it was a complete lie. Since he though it was a lie, he could hardly elaborate the idea in a convincing way. Nevertheless he was very successful at first for a few reasons, first because the Boy had no idea where his dog came from, and secondly, because we can't ever forget, underneath the Boys love of his dog, was a profound fear of him.

Otis The Wolf, parts 1186 - 1189

1186. But while he spoke of the problem of the rust on the handle and how the set screw was all screwed up and he had to resort to a hammer and a crowbar to get it off the instrument, all the while curious questions were arising in the back of his mind, questions which could be summed up in one phrase, 'What the Devil sort of a dog is this anyway,I've never seen the like.'

1187. Finally he stopped talking to the Boy and turned his attention entirely to Otis. He took his muzzle in one hand and with his thumb pulled Otis' lip up and began to examine his teeth. After this he took his upper and lower jaws, one in each hand, and pried his mouth open and had a look at all his teeth, just like when you have to give a cat some medicine. He could not figure out how this dog could have such a seriously healthy mouth.

1188. That old vet, staring into Otis' mouth had absolutely no idea how close he was to a sudden unavoidable and instantaneous visit to the Sulphur springs of Southern  Albania. It was all Otis could do to restrain his instinct to put a sudden end to the dental examination and the vet's life all in one sudden motion, but he managed to stay still.

1189. Meanwhile, as the vet sat there looking into death's teeth-filled door this is what he was thinking. 'This is a most remarkable and interesting dog, and for a start he would be a perfect addition to my farm as a guard at night, and also I suspect he would probably fetch at least a hundred and fifty used toasters at the county fair come May. The question is, how to separate the Boy from the dog with the least possible expense and difficulty.'

Otis The Wolf, parts 1182 - 1185

1182. It was this old veterinarian who now took a special interest in Otis when the boy stopped at his establishment to pick up a number of studded goat collars and a hurdy-gurdy crank handle that had rusted beyond recognition. There was no Mrs. Veterinarian, she had died forty years ago, although the vet still mentioned her often saying, 'I don't know when she will be back from the sulphur springs.' It was this kind of inappropriate humor that made people treat the old vet like a leper.

1183. The old man called Otis over and began to pet him in an absent-minded way as he explained to the Boy exactly what he wanted done to the hurdy-gurdy handle.  Otis by this time had become acclimated to being often petted and stroked and although he had not come to like it, he could put up with it without complaint.

1184. On the other hand, Otis was aware that he liked the same sort of affectionate treatment when it was applied to him by the Boy. He knew this was extremely un-wolf like, but as with so many other contradictions and confusions in his life he pushed it almost completely out of his mind.

1185. But the vet was a vet, and in the same way that the Boy could not look at a horse shoe without noticing the wear pattern, so the vet could not handle an animal without engaging in a kind of clinical examination.  He noticed right away the temperature of Otis' nose, the amount of oil in his fur, the sharpness of his nails, and the texture of the pads of his feet. He did all of this without thinking about it in any way, all the while talking about the hurdy-gurdy handle.

Otis The Wolf, parts 1178 - 1181

1178. His first remark, usually expressed moments after examining some cow or pig was to say, 'Who knows, at this point I simply could not say, hmmmmm.' About this remark, the hmmm, was the most important part. A short hmm meant a small charge of 10 d-fosdit, but a long hmmmm, cost over 20 d-fosdit. D-fosdits are no longer in circulation anywhere but as a rough guide, one fostid in today's currency would be enough to buy a used toaster in a Goodwill Store.

1179. A week later the veterinarian would return and again examine the sick animal. If the animal had recovered he would say, 'just as I supposed, it is a classic case.' For this this was another 10 used toasters to be paid.

1180. If the animal had become sicker he would say exactly the same words,'just as I supposed, it is a classic case.' For this there was a 15 toaster charge. If the animal happened to be at death's door, he would rub his chin thoughtfully and say, 'she needs to spend some time at a spa, the best place is that well-known sulphur springs in Southern Albania.' This lame attempt at humor at a tragic time was never appreciated by anyone.

1181. As for the vet rubbing his chin before condemning an animal to destruction, it is true that it is the same gesture used by art collectors prior to purchasing a work of art. I do not know why both gestures are used the same way in such dissimilar situations. Perhaps it has to do with the finality of the thought-process going on in the brain at the time.