The story of the great Russian writer Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy "The Lion and the Dog" with the subtitle "story-tale" was written by him for the "ABC" presumably around 1875. This book was a collection that included initial texts for children to study various subjects - from zoology and geography to the Russian language.
Tolstoy himself presented many requirements for the works included in the book. He said:
Children are strict judges in the literature. The stories need to be written for them clearly and entertainingly and morally.
What a story?
The summary of Lion and the Dog for the reader’s diary might be this: this little story tells about the friendship of the big lion and the little dog. She, thrown to him to be eaten, was not only pitied by a large and, by all accounts, vicious predator, but also became for her a friend more devoted than the people who abandoned her.
And when the little neighbor of the lion died, he soon fell ill and died, without letting anyone into his cage.
Main events
Here we dwell on a brief summary of Tolstoy's “Leo and Dogs”.
In a London zoo, stray cats and dogs were taken as a fee for visiting, which they threw into the cages of predators as food.
Once, they gave such a small dog to a lion to eat. But for some reason, he did not eat it, but regretted it and even began to play with her and share food.
One of the gentlemen who had visited the zoo once recognized his dog and wanted to pick her up, but the lion growled and did not allow it.
So they lived together for a year. And then the dog got sick and died. But the lion did not believe it - at first he sniffed it and touched it with his paw, and then began to jump around the cage, in desperation, gnawing at the bolt.
He was given another dog, expecting him to forget the old one, but the lion tore it to pieces.
The summary of Lion and the Dog ends as well as the story itself:
Then he put his arms around the dead dog and lay there for five days.
On the sixth day, the lion died.
Education of feelings
As always, after reading Tolstoy’s works, the reader may have many questions, and there will probably be a strange aftertaste from the simple stories he told, in general.
After a brief summary of The Lion and the Dog, we will outline some reader's conclusions.
Why did the lion feel sorry for the dog? For her defenselessness? Hardly. If in that zoo it was customary to feed large predators of stray dogs and cats for food, then the animals are used to eating what they give. How many lions and badgers on the account of the lion did he regret? Tolstoy said nothing about this.
And at the end of the story, did he tear apart other dogs that were thrown into his cage, expressing his disagreement with the decision of a cruel fate to deprive him of his little comrade?
Why did the lion's friendly feelings arise so suddenly, why did its warmth manifest itself so selectively? Maybe the dog was some kind of special?
Probably, the matter is in her behavior: when she was thrown into a cage to a lion, she fell on her back - that is, in the most defenseless pose for animals - and began to wave her tail, thereby showing complete humility and, at the same time, friendly disposition towards the owner of the cage . Then she completely stood on his hind legs in front of him.
The reader’s conclusion may be as follows: the dog was cunning, she guessed that behaving unbanally in a banal situation is the only chance to survive near the predator. And the lion was surprised. He had never come across such strange victims.
And then the dog had to get used to such a dangerous neighborhood, and the lion got used to take care and made friends with her.
Here is another reader’s conclusion: friendship is selective. One must have special virtues in order to earn it. But is a dog, if she is as stupid as she is weak, unworthy of sympathy and friendly participation?
And here is one more conclusion: friendship was necessary not so much for a dog as a lion. Even in captivity, he wants to be someone needed.
But soon the owner came for the dog to the zoo - he wanted to pick it up. Perhaps she was attached to him, and then she was simply lost? But the lion did not let her go. The little girlfriend became his property.
So. The poor thing had to adapt in order to survive. And the lion got a living toy and came up with the meaning of life. And both of them, of course, are victims in the hands of cruel people. Here is the story about it. And for some reason, it is believed that this story is about love and devotion. Have they been here?
This is not a children's story turned out at Tolstoy. Although, as in the traditional Russian folk tale, where the characters are animals, their actions here are projected onto people.
We gave a brief summary of the story "The Lion and the Dog" and a few from the whole range of reader's conclusions. You can find your own.