The Dog, the Wolf and God by Folco Terzani

Author:Folco Terzani
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Feast of the Sky

Outside the cave, over a vast mountain prairie, the mists were rising like ghosts towards the sky. Just as the wolves set off at a brisk pace to warm their damp bodies, they stumbled upon a spine-chilling sight. In the middle of the soft grass, around a great standing rock, lay an entire herd of cows. Dead.

Suspecting a trap, they sniffed the air for clues. But the smell was good, the bodies still warm.

‘Poor, poor, innocent creatures!’ It was Muni who broke the silence. His gaze had risen from the horrifying scene to follow the elongated shape of the boulder that pointed tellingly towards the sky. ‘The very rock where they sought shelter during the storm attracted the lightning …’

The Dog recognized at once that laid out before them was a dinner of dizzying proportions.

‘This gift is not intended for us alone,’ said Muni solemnly. ‘We must give thanks and prepare a banquet.’

He gave the wolves instructions to tear open the cows, strictly cautioning them however not to eat a single bite. The Dog watched with rapt attention as the wolves dragged the carcasses into an orderly line, then opened them up, one after the other, from the soft spot in the middle of the belly. They went about their business like professionals, every gesture precise and elegant. They knew what they were doing.

When everything was ready, Muni made an inspection. Satisfied, he looked up towards the firmament, so pure and bright that you could almost hear the stars twinkling. Then suddenly it began.

They went about their business like professionals, every gesture precise and elegant.

‘Ooooo-ooooo-ooooo …’

From the very first note the Dog was mesmerized. Never in his life had he heard a tune at once so triumphant and so sad. Muni’s voice was joined by Kalu’s, then Alina’s, Anah’s, and one voice blended into another in a perfect chorus. So beautiful was the Song that the whole prairie, which after the storm had resumed its ruckus, fell silent. Even the crickets, master musicians of the night, let their own trilling subside to listen to that melancholy call, profounder even than their own. The Dog’s hairs bristled on the back of his neck. Though he couldn’t understand the words, he had the distinct impression that he recognized the Song, an ancient melody that told of other worlds, beyond the living and the dead. It was the most sublime expression of Truth he’d ever heard.

‘Ooooo-ooooo-ooooo-ooooo …’

Each wolf sang alone, like a king or a queen, looking out into the vastness of space, and an irrepressible urge rose in the Dog to form the same vibrations. But in his own throat those noble notes choked into the ugly croak of a toad.

As if that song of devotion, which came from a universal state of mind, had dissolved all fear, a multitude of animals began to emerge from every corner of the prairie. Foxes and badgers, squirrels and a family of wild boar – mother boar watching carefully over her little ones.

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