A Dog's Tale

By Mark Twain

What If a Dog Could Speak?
“My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian. This is what my mother told me, I do not know these nice distinctions myself. To me they are only fine large words meaning nothing.” - Mark Twain, A Dog's Tale

A young pup doesn’t understand why she was separated from her mother. She has a new home now and when a fire breaks out, she tries to save the master’s baby. Misunderstood, the master cruelly beats the pup. Will the truth be unraveled? Will the pup get the love she truly deserves?

This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xist Publishing
• Release date: Mar 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781681956275

Mark Twain

Mark Twain (1835-1910) was an American humorist, novelist, and lecturer. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, a setting which would serve as inspiration for some of his most famous works. After an apprenticeship at a local printer’s shop, he worked as a typesetter and contributor for a newspaper run by his brother Orion. Before embarking on a career as a professional writer, Twain spent time as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi and as a miner in Nevada. In 1865, inspired by a story he heard at Angels Camp, California, he published “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” earning him international acclaim for his abundant wit and mastery of American English. He spent the next decade publishing works of travel literature, satirical stories and essays, and his first novel, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873). In 1876, he published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a novel about a mischievous young boy growing up on the banks of the Mississippi River. In 1884 he released a direct sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which follows one of Tom’s friends on an epic adventure through the heart of the American South. Addressing themes of race, class, history, and politics, Twain captures the joys and sorrows of boyhood while exposing and condemning American racism. Despite his immense success as a writer and popular lecturer, Twain struggled with debt and bankruptcy toward the end of his life, but managed to repay his creditors in full by the time of his passing at age 74. Curiously, Twain’s birth and death coincided with the appearance of Halley’s Comet, a fitting tribute to a visionary writer whose steady sense of morality survived some of the darkest periods of American history.

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Questions

CHAPTER I.

My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian. This is what my mother told me, I do not know these nice distinctions myself. To me they are only fine large words meaning nothing. My mother had a fondness for such; she liked to say them, and see other dogs look surprised and envious, as wondering how she got so much education. But, indeed, it was not real education; it was only show: she got the words by listening in the dining-room and drawing-room when there was company, and by going with the children to Sunday-school and listening there; and whenever she heard a large word she said it over to herself many times, and so was able to keep it until there was a dogmatic gathering in the neighborhood, then she would get it off, and surprise and distress them all, from pocket-pup to mastiff, which rewarded her for all her trouble. If there was a stranger he was nearly sure to be suspicious, and when he got his breath again he would ask her what it meant. And she always told him. He was never expecting this but thought he would catch her; so when she told him, he was the one that looked ashamed, whereas he had thought it was going to be she. The others were always waiting for this, and glad of it and proud of her, for they knew what was going to happen, because they had had experience. When she told the meaning of a big word they were all so taken up with admiration that it never occurred to any dog to doubt if it was the right one; and that was natural, because, for one thing, she answered up so promptly that it seemed like a dictionary speaking, and for another thing, where could they find out whether it was right or not? for she was the only cultivated dog there was. By and by, when I was older, she brought home the word Unintellectual, one time, and worked it pretty hard all the week at different gatherings, making much unhappiness and despondency; and it was at this time that I noticed that during that week she was asked for the meaning at eight different assemblages, and flashed out a fresh definition every time, which showed me that she had more presence of mind than culture, though I said nothing, of course. She had one word which she always kept on hand, and ready, like a life-preserver, a kind of emergency word to strap on when she was likely to get washed overboard in a sudden way—that was the word Synonymous. When she happened to fetch

Reviews for A Dog's Tale

[spiritus3-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was part of my AMS syllabus. Here is the review I gave.
I found “A Dog’s Tale”, by Mark Twain, hard to read. Whether it is a movie or a book, I cannot bear the thought of harm coming to an animal. I will not watch a movie if it involves animal cruelty.
Mark Twain writes this short story as told by, Aileen Mavourneen, a Presbyterian. Her mother was a Collie and her father a St. Bernard. As I read the story, I could picture Aileen as a little girl, explaining how she admires her mother’s knack for an extensive vocabulary. The Collie even used her knowledge of words and phrases as weapons to defeat other dogs, making them feel ashamed and inferior to her. It is funny to imagine a dog following the children to Sunday school, to pick up on new words, and use them however she chose. She was intelligent and her Presbyterian puppy loved her.

Eventually, as the puppy grew up, she was sold to a family, and had to leave her mother and father. Her mother gave her important advice, and this was “In memory of me, when there is a time of danger to another do not think of yourself, think of your mother, and do as she would do.” Of course Aileen would obey her mother. She became part of this new family and was happy there. Mr. & Mrs. Gray became her owners and did not rename her, which made her happy. She lived with them and their daughter Sadie, and new baby.

A time came when a fire broke out in the baby’s room, and at first Aileen began to run away from it until she remembered her mother’s words. Aileen ran back to the bassinet and dragged the baby out of harms way. The master seeing this, thought Aileen meant harm to the baby, which was not the case. Mr. Gray began striking Aileen with his cane. Aileen escaped to the garrett where she lay in pain from her beating. She heard a commotion going on for a time and this caused her great fear. Eventually it stopped. Aileen thought she would starve to death in the garrett, without food or water, until she heard Sadie’s voice crying for her. Then she knew everything was alright, and she could go back to the way things were.

Aileen had a puppy and this gave her great happiness. Mr. Gray, being the scientist he was, wanted to experiment on Aileen’s puppy, to determine whether a certain injury to the brain would produce blindness or not. After the experiment, the puppy lay dying. Aileen ran over to her and licked the blood and comforted it with a mother’s touch. She went with the footman, to bury the puppy, and Aileen expected the puppy to grow up from the dirt as seeds grow. After much time passed, Aileen’s heart broken, she could not eat, but cried every night for her puppy, and eventually she was gone too.

Mark Twain apparently felt that language was under appreciated and language of course, was very instrumental in how Mark Twain communicated. It was humorous to imagine a dog showing off to other dogs, using big words that she really did not understand. It was humorous to just imagine a dog speaking. By using the Collie to misrepresent words, he attempts to prove his point. Mark Twain would be appalled at how language has evolved or rather not evolved since his demise. Mark Twain was an animal activist, early on. He did not believe in experimentation on animals. This was very humane of him, and something that Mr. Gray lacked; compassion.In this story, Aileen shares her emotions with us in such a way, it seems human. It is so pitiful that you can feel her suffering. I found “A Dog’s Tale” to be briefly humorous and also pathos.

It is a quick read with a lesson to learn.

[beebowallace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

heartbreaking ...

[cailin_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mark Twain's story A Dog's Tale first appeared in Harper's magazine in the early 1900's. It's a short story, about 50 pages it tells the story of a dog growing up with her family and the irony of being truly good in an indifferent, often cruel world. The story has Mark Twain's humor, but also a lesson in irony. I really enjoyed this story.

[reinadecopiaypega · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful story but sad, depressing and leaves an animal lover feeling deflated and hurt.

I suppose it was written to give that strong punch required to wake up mankind and its horrible treatment of animals.

Man's inhumanity to man, and to all other living creatures - we've much to answer for.

[sasham-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

As a pet lover I found this story quite distressing amd definitely would not let little children read it. While I can see the point of the casual contempt with which we treat animals and the causual use, abuse and experimentation they are subjected to is still relevant (unfortunately)I hope that as a society we have moved forward form this.

[kmander1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

made me cry

[donhazelwood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

heartbreaking ...