«It is not easy to honourable. The world is full of cunning, crafty mem who have no understanding of honour or loyalty. They connive, they steal, and and invariably, in the eyes of the world, they succeed. To be honest requires great effort, and continuous courage. And as for fairness, that is hardest of all.»
«Sword in the Storm» by David Gemmell
I toned down the loyalty demonstration by the dog, as I found it strange that he would allow the wolf to run away with a child. But it is a nice story about what you owe another person, and where it stops.
Old Sultan
A farmer once had a faithful dog called Sultan. But the dog had grown old and lost all his teeth, so that he could no longer hold anything fast.
One day the farmer was standing with his wife before the house-door, and said,
«Tomorrow I intend to shoot Old Sultan. He is no longer of any use.»
His wife, who felt pity for the faithful dog, answered,
«He has served us so long and been so faithful. Might we not give him his keep?»
«Eh! What?» said the man. «He has not a tooth left in his mouth, and no thief is afraid of him. He has served us well, yes, and he had good feeding for it. Now he may be off.»
The poor dog, who was lying stretched out in the sun not far away, had heard every word, and was sorely troubled, for tomorrow was to be his last day.
He had a good friend, the wolf, and in the evening he crept out into the forest to him and complained of the fate that awaited him.
«Be of good cheer,» said the wolf, who had no wish to see his old friend replaced by a young dog with good teeth. «I will help you out of your trouble. I have thought of something. Tomorrow, early in the morning, your master is going with his wife to make hay. They will take their little child with them, for no one will be left behind in the house. While they work, they will leave the child under the hedge in the shade. You lie down there too, as though you meant to guard it. Then I will come out of the wood and draw near. You will step between me and the child and bark as loud as you can. They will think you have saved it and will be far too grateful to do you any harm. On the contrary, you will be in high favor, and they will never let you want for anything again.»
The dog agreed to the plan and just as it had been arranged, so it was carried out. The father cried out when he saw Old Sultan defending the child and threatened the wolf with his hayfork until the wolf ran away.
«And I meant to cast you off,» said the farmer, «while you were still keeping faith with us, with all that age had left you.» He stroked his faithful dog. «You served us while you were strong. Now you shall live with us while you are old.»
Then he said to his wife, «Go home at once and make Old Sultan some minced meat, so that he need not chew, and give him a warm blanket to lie on.»
Henceforth Old Sultan was as well off as he could wish to be.
Soon afterward the wolf visited him and was pleased to see that everything had succeeded so well. The dog, grateful for his help, offered him some food from his own bowl.
«Thank you,» said the wolf, taking a bite, «but now you will not mind if I carry off one of your master’s fat sheep in return.»
«Do not reckon upon that,» answered the dog. «What is mine I will gladly share with you. But I will remain true to my master and what is my master’s I will guard.»
The wolf thought that Sultan could not be in earnest. His friend was known to keep faith, and surely he would keep it with the one who had saved his life rather than with a master who had meant to shoot him. Besides, the old dog had not a single tooth left with which he could hurt him.
So the wolf came creeping about the farm that night and was about to make off with a sheep when he heard loud barking. Old Sultan was raising the alarm. The farmer came running and dressed the wolf’s hide soundly with the flail.
The wolf had to flee, but he cried out to the dog,
«Wait a bit, you scoundrel! You shall pay for this.»
The next morning the wolf sent word to Sultan that he should come into the forest, and there they would settle what stood between them. The wolf had asked a wild boar to stand by him, but Old Sultan could find no one except a cat with only three legs. As the two set out together, the poor cat limped along on three legs, and from the pain she held her tail straight up in the air.
The wolf and the boar were already at the appointed spot. But when they saw the two coming, they mistook the cat’s outstretched tail for a saber and thought that Old Sultan had come to settle the quarrel by force. And when the poor cat hopped along on her three legs, they could only think that she was picking up a stone at every step to throw at them. At that their courage failed them. The wild boar crept into the underwood, and the wolf sprang onto the trunk of a great fallen tree and crouched among its branches.
When the dog and the cat came up, they wondered why there was no one to be seen. The wild boar, however, had not been able to hide himself completely. One of his ears was sticking out of the brush. While the cat was looking around, the boar moved his ear, and the cat, thinking it was a mouse, jumped upon it and bit it hard. The boar made a fearful noise and ran away, crying out,
«The guilty one is up there!»
At his cry, the dog and the cat looked toward the fallen tree and saw the wolf crouching among its branches. The wolf was ashamed of having shown himself so timid, and he made peace with the dog again. But thereafter, whenever the wolf wished to see his friend, he waited at the edge of the wood, and Sultan went out to meet him. And if there was something from Sultan’s own bowl to spare, they shared it there.