My Dog Tulip Page #3

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this corner instead of that

or boarded this bus

rather than that one,

I would find the ideal friend

waiting for me

and that we would recognize

each other at once

after the exchange

of a few words.

Ah, and a further complication

was that I did not want anyone

to think

that I was pursuing them.

It was therefore necessary

to encounter the ideal friend

face-to-face,

which is not easy

if you happen both to be moving

in the same direction.

It was with a measure

of naivet in dog affairs

that my first consultation

with a vet

was to inquire

whether she was in heat.

The question was never settled,

that is to say by him.

All he said

in a cold voice was...

have you no control

over your dog?

In the face of the evidence,

it was idle

to say anything but"no,"

to which,

still keeping his distance,

he dryly replied...

then take her out

of my surgery at once.

Another vet

had been recommended to me.

He was an ex-army man, a major.

Tulip!

Just have to

take them like...

having failed as I had failed

to shout her down,

the major swooped upon her,

yelping...

these Alsatians,

they're all the same!

...and beat her about the body

with his bare hands.

These dashing military tactics

did not enable him

to examine her,

if that was part of his plan.

As I walked away

from this establishment,

I supposed myself to be in the

position of an undoctorable dog.

And this gloomy reflection

was succeeded by another,

which was...

"if all Alsatians are the same,

did any of them ever

receive medical attention?"

It transpired that they did,

this time

for a most important service...

to have her inoculated

against distemper.

I had made the appointment

by telephone

and had thought it politic to

apologize for Tulip in advance.

The first sight that greeted us

before we ever reached

the surgery door...

for its window looked out

upon the yard

through which we passed...

was a spaniel,

all too plainly seen within,

absolutely motionless and

with an air of deep absorption.

The dog was standing

upon the table in an empty room

with a thermometer sticking out

of its bottom, like a cigarette.

It was almost as though

he'd put it there himself.

Oh, Tulip.

If only you

were like that.

But she was not.

Can you turn her back to me

and hold her head still?

I think so.

Good.

Now just keep her head

like that.

Uh, may I give her

the injection myself?

You could show me where

to do it, and she wouldn't

mind it from me.

Oh, I say, don't hurt her.

There's really no need.

After this,

Tulip would not, could not

even enter the streets

in which her last two

experiences had taken place.

I would suddenly miss her

from my side

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