We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven
has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment.—GEORGE
ELIOT.
Literature, history, and biography are full to overflowing of instances
of affection between dogs and their owners. Remember the dog Argus,
which died of joy on the return of his master Ulysses after twenty
years’ absence. The story is touchingly told in Homer’s Odyssey:
“As he draws near the gates of his own palace, he espies, dying of old
age, disease, and neglect, his dog Argus—the companion of many a long
chase in happier days. His instinct at once detects his old master, even
through the disguise lent by the goddess of wisdom. Before he sees him
he knows his voice and step, and raises his ears—
And when he marked Odysseus in the way,
And could no longer to his lord come near,
Fawned with his tail and drooped in feeble play
His ears. Odysseus, turning, wiped a tear.”