A DOG'S EYE VIEW OF MAN

BY JAMES THURBER

If Man has benefited immeasurably by his association with the dog, what you may ask
has the dog got out of it? His scroll has, of course, been heavily charged with punishments: he has known the muzzle, the leash, and the tether; he has suffered the indignities of the show bench, the tin can on the tail, the ribbon in the hair, his love life
with the other sex of his species has been regulated by the frigid hand of authority, his digestion ruined by the macaroons and marshmallows of doting women.

The list of his woes could be continued indefinitely. But he has also had his fun, for he
has been privileged to live with and study at close range the only creature with reason,
the most unreasonable of creatures.

The dog has got more out of Man than Man has got out of the dog, for the clearly demonstrable reason that Man is the more laughable of the two animals. The dog has long been bemused by the singular activities and curious practices of men, cocking his head inquiringly to one side, intently watching and listening to the strangest goings-on in the world. He has seen men sing together and fight one another in the same evening. He has watched them go to bed when is time to get up, and get up when is time to go to bed.

He has observed them destroying the soil in vast areas, and nurturing it in small patches. He has stood by while men built strong and solid houses for rest and quiet,
and then filled them with lights and bells and machinery. His sensitive nose, which can detect what's cooking in the next township, has caught at one and same time the bewildering smells of the hospital and the munitions factory. He has seen men raise up great cities to heaven and blow them to hell.


Mr. Thurber was also a remarkable cartoonist, friend of E.B. White, another great
writer from USA. You could certainly investigate about his life in the web. Along with
Saul Bellow and George Orwell some of my favorite writers.

I know, If I read such, why there is no evidence in what I write? Such is life, the popular expression nowadays in Puerto Rico, USA. On the other hand I wanted to pay a tribute to our dog DIVA, a boxer/Doberman mix. A great character, playing mood most of the time from the boxer, the symmetry, agility, body of the Doberman.

Diva admires our garden often smelling the flowers, looking for some sweet grass to chew. However, what she really loves is Cyperus, as much as Mimi, our passed away
siamese cat. Both enjoy the smell and the taste of this plant used to make paper in other prairies. And that is that.
And that is that.