Back to "Dogs of my own" Contents Back to Home				A  LION  FOR  A  TALE
	Arslan conjures up to me a few things of the ancient time, that's the reason why this idea came to me, that is to say : writing a tale for him. First, like a lot of Croatian Sheepdogs with a tail crushed on the back, he reminds of the Spitz, and Spitz are considered as primitive breeds. Like my other dogs, Arslan has still the pack instinct, that makes dogs live all together in harmony and also take care and educate all pups. But Arslan has something else ; his coat shows an atavism, on the neck his hair is centre parted, without any human intervention of course ; sometimes the hair is perfectly parted, some other times not exactly with a straight line ; the coats of his brothers and his father show such an inclination too, sometimes and not always, but compared with Arslan's coat, that is only an inclination. Probably in the past a lot of Croatian Sheepdogs were so, but, perhaps because it wasn't considered as very pretty, this characteristic seems now to be scarce, and this from a long time enough so nobody thought to use it as a difference between Croatian Sheepdog and Mudi ; I consider as very probable that the ancient Mudi blood had this characteristic too, breeders have eliminated it, but is this parted hair a primitive characteristic of only Croatian Sheepdog/Mudi ? On the standard of the German Spitz, it can be read that the hair must be "not parted on the back", that let you think that this could be possible,or at least this has been possible in the past ... Arslan is small, and even if small heights still can't be considered as relics of the past (not yet ... ?), it must be admitted that most Croatian Sheepdogs are nowadays high or very high ...Arslan has another thing of the ancient time : his name ; "arslan" is an archaic Croatian word that was used to call the lion. Arslan is a lion for a tale, so let me write a tale for a lion of mine.
			Once upon a time there was a wonderland where the king of the beasts decided to settle in to start a family. The lioness had first several cubs but fate decreed that they all had to vanish away. The following year, she had cubs again, and one of them was clearly smaller than the other. One day the lioness and her cubs were walking peacefully in the quiet country. When they met a little brook, the cubs wanted to stay there, playing with water. But suddenly the cubs shied at a terrible noise that seemed to be thrown all around. They ran away without hearing their mother who was trying in vain to explain : the din was nothing else than a violent thunderclap. Fortunately, the lioness quickly caught up her offspring and cheered them. She was on the point of coming back home with the cubs when she realized that one of them was missing, the smallest wasn't here.  She wanted to search him, but the hunt for the small cub had been to no avail. Finally, she made up her mind to come home without him.
		The small lion cub was so afraid because of this strange racket that he ran on during a few minutes without thinking of what was happening. Then he stopped, and suddenly he discovered that he was alone, without his family any more, and in a completely unknown land. There were a lot of trees all around, he didn't recognize anything. He sat down and he was wondering what he had to do when a voice, that seemed to come from nowhere, called him. The voice was soft and benevolent, and although he felt like crying, he trusted in this strange presence. The voice explained him what had happened to him and to his family, but when the cub asked "why", it answered that there's no rose without a thorn and then it disappeared. The lion cub was tired and didn't feel reassured to have lost his family. Would he find them again ? He began to sleep. But another strange presence came to him through his slumber. It was a shining and beaming one, peace and benevolence were flying all around. Then the cub enter into another world, he seemed to be guided by this glowing presence to discover a lot of things. All seemed so strange for a young boy like him ! Then he found again his usual world, and a voice told him that now he was the keeper of the ancient times. Then it explains to him how he could leave this wood and come back home, where his family were waiting for him. Then the lion cub suddenly woke up. The sun was already shining between the boughs. He got up quickly and, without thinking, he followed a way as if he knew it before. Then, at least, he recognized the country and ran to find again his family. 12/04/07 Isabelle Coquinot Back to "Dogs of my own" Contents Back to Home