Bulka
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STORIES FOR CHILDREN
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Fables For Children, Stories For Children, Natural Science Stori
I had a small bulldog. He was called Bulka. He was black; only the tips
of his front feet were white. All bulldogs have their lower jaws longer
than the upper, and the upper teeth come down behind the nether teeth,
but Bulka's lower jaw protruded so much that I could put my finger
between the two rows of teeth. His face was broad, his eyes large,
black, and sparkling; and his teeth and incisors stood out prominently.
H
was as black as a negro. He was gentle and did not bite, but he was
strong and stubborn. If he took hold of a thing, he clenched his teeth
and clung to it like a rag, and it was not possible to tear him off, any
more than as though he were a lobster.
Once he was let loose on a bear, and he got hold of the bear's ear and
stuck to him like a leech. The bear struck him with his paws and
squeezed him, and shook him from side to side, but could not tear
himself loose from him, and so he fell down on his head, in order to
crush Bulka; but Bulka held on to him until they poured cold water over
him.
I got him as a puppy, and raised him myself. When I went to the
Caucasus, I did not want to take him along, and so went away from him
quietly, ordering him to be shut up. At the first station I was about to
change the relay, when suddenly I saw something black and shining coming
down the road. It was Bulka in his brass collar. He was flying at full
speed toward the station. He rushed up to me, licked my hand, and
stretched himself out in the shade under the cart. His tongue stuck out
a whole hand's length. He now drew it in to swallow the spittle, and
now stuck it out again a whole hand's length. He tried to breathe fast,
but could not do so, and his sides just shook. He turned from one side
to the other, and struck his tail against the ground.
I learned later that after I had left he had broken a pane, jumped out
of the window, and followed my track along the road, and thus raced
twenty versts through the greatest heat.