“Woofy”…
It was my second day in the cold, sunny Johannesburg. I was staying in a big old estate turned into a guesthouse, with alot of zebras, horses, birds and different breeds of dogs wondering around . A nice place to rest and be with nature.
I saw her sitting on the stairs, staring at the birds. Beautifully white, shiny sad eyes, with an unforgettable personality. She was totally unlike other dogs. I took her as a Canadian Husky in the first place. I said to the owner of the lodge, “What a nice dog you have, so beautifully white”
And she smiled, ” Its not a dog, its a wolf, a 2nd generation Canadian wolf born and living in our estate for last 6 years”
I saw her sitting on the stairs, staring at the birds. Beautifully white, shiny sad eyes, with an unforgettable personality. She was totally unlike other dogs. I took her as a Canadian Husky in the first place. I said to the owner of the lodge, “What a nice dog you have, so beautifully white”And she smiled, ” Its not a dog, its a wolf, a 2nd generation Canadian wolf born and living in our estate for last 6 years”
Wow! I couldn’t believe my eyes that i was playing with a wolf. I never met a wolf before in my life, and definitely not someone so close. All the images in my mind about wolves were from the scary werewolf horror movies I saw over the years, showing the anger side of wolves, making my fear instincts on alert, but this wolf was not angry. May be she was, but not showing. She was different, not like the other dogs, who come and wanted to play with you. She was on her own, a totally self-actualized creature, never asking you to be played. If someone calls her, she just comes closer and stares boldly and honestly, not a single word or bark, just her eyes saying silently, I belong to no one.
Long before I read Hesse’s book “steppenwolf”(a must read) and i remembered one of the chapter, where Hesse talks about the dual nature of the character Harry. One being of the human, and the other being of the wolf, and both trying to dominate each-other. Whenever the human side of the nature is doing some thing good, its the wolf that was laughing at him and whenever the wolf was dominating, the human part condemns him. Both natures living in perpetual enmity.
I wondered about “Woofy” the wolf, how she has managed to soften the wolf side of her and living peacefully with the humans. The owner told me, her parents are still living in the cage, but she is used to of humans and pretty domesticated, although still sometimes they find the birds and some dogs around butchered but not eaten by her.
I thought may be we all humans have the wolf in them living in perpetual enmity with the human side, just like Woofy, having the human part in her and in constant fight with the wolf inside.
