What do you think?
Rate this book


39 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1915
✦"No matter how much Blumfeld would love to have a dog right now, he'd still climb the stairs by himself for the next thirty years rather than have an old dog who will bore him out and breathe louder than him as it dragged itself from one stair to another.
That's right. Blumfeld will stay alone after all; it's not like he's got quirks of an old unmarried sitter, who wishes to have a subjugated live creature next to her, which she can protect, with which she can be gentle with, a creature that she wishes to constantly serve, so therefore, for this goal a cat, canary or even a goldfish would be enough. And if she can't have any of that, she'd be happy with flowers on the windowsill. Blumfeld, however, only wishes to have a companion, an animal he doesn't have to take too much care of, animal which wouldn't mind occasionally receiving a kick, animal which could sleep on the streets during the time of distress, but an animal which would, if Blumfeld asked it to, readily bark, jump or lick hands right away."
True, a dog also has its drawbacks. However well kept it may be, it is bound to dirty the room. This just cannot be avoided; one cannot give it a hot bath each time before letting it into the room; besides, its health couldn't stand that...
... Uncleanliness, however, is but one of the drawbacks of dogs. Dogs also fall ill and no one really understands dogs' diseases. Then the animal sits in a corner or limps about, whimpers, coughs, chokes from some pain; one wraps it in a rug, whistles a little melody, overs it milk...
... Much as Blumfeld would like to have a dog at this moment, he would rather go on climbing the stairs alone for another thirty years than be burdened later on by such an old dog which, sighing louder than he, would drag itself up, step by step.
