The Faithful Dog by Pu Songling
A man travelling to seek his imprisoned father's release drives away the family dog despite its repeated attempts to stop his mule. After discovering that half his silver is missing, he retraces his route and finds the dog dead over the lost money. In gratitude, he buys a coffin and buries it at a place thereafter called the Grave of the Faithful Dog.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Short Story, Animal Stories · 582 words
First lines
A certain man of Lu-ngan, whose father had been cast into prison, and was brought almost to death's door,[1] scraped together one hundred ounces of silver, and set out for the city to try and arrange for his parent's release. Jumping on a mule, he saw that a black dog, belonging to the family, was following him. He tried in vain to make the dog remain at home; and when, after travelling for some miles, he got off his mule to rest awhile, he picked up a large stone and threw it at the dog, which then ran off. However, he was no sooner on the road again, than up came the dog, and tried to stop the mule by holding on to its tail. His master beat it off with the whip; whereupon the dog ran barking loudly in front of the mule, and seemed to be using every means in its power to cause his master to stop. The latter thought this a very inauspicious omen, and turning upon the animal in a rage, drove it away out of sight. He now went on to the city; but when, in the dusk of the evening, he arrived there, he found that about half his money was gone. In a terrible state of mind he tossed about all night; then, all of a sudden, it flashed across him that the strange behaviour of the dog might possibly have some meaning; so getting up very early, he left the city as soon as the gates were open,[2] and though, from the number of passers-by, he never expected to find his money again, he went on until he reached the spot where he had got off his mule the day before. There he saw his dog lying dead upon the ground, its hair having apparently been wetted through with perspiration; [3] and, lifting up the body by one of its ears, he found his lost silver. Full of gratitude, he bought a coffin and buried the dead animal; and the people now call the place the Grave of the Faithful Dog.
Genres
- Short Story — A brief prose narrative follows a journey, the loss of silver, and its recovery beneath the dead dog.
- Animal Stories — The dog's attempts to stop its master and its death over the missing money drive the story's action.
Tags
dogs · animal loyalty · lost money · imprisonment · gratitude
What this Textopian page supports
The Faithful Dog is listed on Textopian as a short story by Pu Songling, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Pu Songling
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Short Story, Animal Stories
- Length: 582 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Difficult (10th-12th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Faithful Dog by Pu Songling
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph