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.

Otis The Wolf, parts 1174 - 1177

1174. You can be certain the account of what happened to Otis is the truth simply because I, being a Duck, am incapable of making anything up. Duck stories have been handed down from generation to generation and are devoid of any fiction, and lack even any sort of invention or elaboration. Facts are all we care about, and inevitable conclusions. So I leave unanswered the question: do disasters strike in triplicate, or is it is a literary device of fairy-tales and dumb repetitive jokes.

1175. Let's just say that sometimes reality has the structure of fiction, and sometimes fiction has the structure of reality but it is all just coincidence. Like I said before, it is possible for people to draw absolute conclusions form a single example, how much easier to draw conclusions from three related evil things happening all at once.

1176. But to continue with our story. Just as there was an old gray wolf named Ottus who had it out for Otis and wanted to destroy him and drive him out of the community, so there was a wolf-like rather grayish old man who took a suspicious sort of interest in the Boy's companion and began to ask awkward questions about him.

1177. This elderly man was a well known veterinarian, or what we today would call a veterinarian, and like the Boy's father the blacksmith, he was a very important member of the community.  No one much liked this old man but it was not entirely his fault. He was almost never able to cure any animal diseases or ailments but instead had four remarks that he used in all situations.

Otis The Wolf, parts 1170 - 1173

1170. It was Ottus who was the first to notice that our Otis looked too much like a dog, and that something had to be done about it. It was the commander himself who suggested the spying assignment and it is easy to see his ulterior motive, he knew that in time it would be easy to find fault with his performance and have him turned out into the wild completely.

1171. All that was necessary was an accident during a raid to a farmstead in which someone was caught or injured. If this happened it would be easy to cast suspicion onto the spy, and suggest he was acting as a double agent. The entire wolf community was expecting this to happen anyway so, as in the past it was inevitable. But no accident had yet happened to facilitate the old grey wolf's insidious plan.

1172. As time went by the situation of  Ottus the Commander became more and more untenable. There was always the possibility that Otis would revolt if he was ostracized, if such a confrontation arose the outcome was hardly a foregone conclusion. He was uncertain if the rest of the wolves would join him in attacking Otis, it was all a matter of convincing them that Otis had morphed into a typical house pet.

1173. Then several problematic situations arose all at once. It seems to be true that problems and difficulties arise in groups of three. Either problems arise in triplicate, or it is a literary device so often resorted to by writers that people come eventually to think that triplicate disasters are somehow part of the fabric of human events. Obviously in the case of the story of Otis this could never be the case since there is nothing fictional about it.