Week 14 Storytelling: No Canine Left Behind

One day, a hunter and his dog were out in the forest looking for game. They hunted all day, going all through the marshes and thickets, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Discouraged, the hunter decided to call it a day. As they had been going into the depths of the forest all day, their way home was a long one, and they got out onto the main road well after midnight. 

 (The hunter and his dog)

As they neared the village, they happened to pass a cemetery. The sight of the cemetery at such a dark, late hour frightened the man, and he picked up his pace. He had scarcely drawn his gaze from the cemetery when all of a sudden, a corpse in a white shroud appeared in front of him! The hunter’s chest tightened and his palms became clammy and cold.

“I’m going to make a run for it!” he decided out loud and broke into a sprint.

Unfortunately for him, the corpse happened to be just as quick, and in no time, the corpse began to gain on the man. Luckily for the hunter, his dog was right at his side. Just as the corpse was about to grab the man’s jacket, the dog jumped up and bit the corpse’s arm! A fierce and loud fight ensued between the dead man and the dog. The hunter, however, didn’t see any of this as he ran to his house on the outskirts of the village.

The next morning, the hunter woke up his whole family and told them what had occurred. He waited anxiously on the front porch, hoping that his trusty dog would show up. He waited all day, and when the sun finally began to set, he saw the dog slowly coming up the road toward the house.

He was overjoyed! He had almost lost hope and realized he would never find a dog as loyal and good as the one that had protected him from the fierce corpse. He ran out to the dog and began to embrace him, when all of a sudden, the dog’s appearance began to change.

The once lean, somewhat mangy dog began to transform into a handsome young man. His fur changed into lavish clothing, and he soon stood looming over the hunter.

“Foolish hunter,” said the prince once he had finished transforming, “You should not have left me back there to defend you. The corpse came there to challenge you to a wrestling match to see if you were worthy of his blessing. If you had stayed and won the fight against the corpse, he would have bestowed upon you great riches and power, but because you fled, I was the one that showed my strength and courage to the dead man. We fought all night, and at the first light of the morning, he praised my efforts and turned me into a prince with great riches.”

The hunter begged his former pet to share some of his riches with him, but the prince refused to give him anything because the hunter hadn’t stayed to help him out. Not long after, a lavish carriage pulled up to where they were standing, and the prince climbed in and rode off to his new life. 

Author's Note: This tale was based off of The Dog and the Corpse in the Russian Folktales unit. In the original tale, the dog is left by his master to fight a corpse that has appeared before them and wants to kill them. The dog and corpse fight all night, and in the morning, the corpse fell motionless to the ground. The dog then held a grudge against his owner because the owner didn't try to help the dog. In the end, the dog had to be killed because it kept trying to kill the owner out of anger. My version of the tale is loosely based on the original, but I wanted the dog to get some kind of reward for fighting the corpse. 
Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore by W. R. S. Ralston (1887)
Web source: UN-Textbook