第4章 Nothing at all(1)

ONCE UPON A TIME there were three little orphan dogs.

They were brothers.They lived in a far forgotten corner of an old forgotten farm in three forgotten kennels which stood there in a row.

One of the kennels had a pointed roof and in it lived Pointy,the dog with pointed ears.

Another kennel had a curly roof and in it lived Curly,the dog with curly ears.

The middle kennel had a roundish roof and in it lived the third dog,but whether he had round ears nobody knew,for he was a dog whom no one could see.He was invisible.

He was not very tall.

Nor yet very small;

He looked like nothing.

Like nothing at all.

And that was his name —Nothing-at-all.

Nothing-at-all was happy enough,for although no one could see him,he had just as much fun as any other dog.

He could jump and run and eat.He could hear and see and smell.

He could bark and romp and play with his two little puppy brothers.

And Pointy said to Nothing-at-all,"We love you even if we can't see you."

And Curly said,"We know you are a really truly dog even if we can't see you.We can't see the wind either but the wind is real.And we can't see smells but smells are very real."

And Nothing-at-all said,"Oh,I suppose it takes all kinds of dogs to make a world,both see-able and unseen-able ones,so why should I worry?"

And he was as happy as any dog could be until there came a day when something happened.

It was a warm and drowsy day.Pointy was lying in his pointed kennel,Curly was lying in his curly kennel,and Nothing-at-all was lying in his roundish kennel.They were dozing,all three,when the sound of voices roused them from their dreams.

"Oh look!"cried a boy-voice."Here are some dog kennels in this far forgotten corner of the old forgotten farm."

"With dogs in them?"asked a girl-voice.

The boy looked into one kennel and said,"Yes!There's a curlyeared dog in here."

Next he looked into another kennel and said,"And a pointy-eared dog in here!"

Then he looked into the middle kennel,but since only invisible Nothing-at-all was in there,he saw nothing."The roundish kennel is empty,"he said."Nothing in it at all."

Gently and carefully the girl reached for Pointy;gently and carefully the boy reached for Curly,but the two little dogs were frightened and began to whimper.

"Don't cry,little pointy-eared dog,"said the girl."We won't hurt you.We'll adopt you both and give you milk to drink and bones to nibble."

And the boy said,"Don't cry,little curly-eared dog.We'll be kind to you.We won't ever hit you or kick you,or pick you up by your neck or your tail,or with your legs dangling down."

When Pointy and Curly heard this,they knew they would be safe and happy,so they snuggled into the children's arms and went back to sleep.

And then they were carried away to a new and happy home,while poor little Nothing-at-all was left behind.But do you think he sat down and cried?Oh no —he had a plan!

"I'll just be very quiet and go with them,"he thought."After a while they'll get used to me and find out I'm a really truly dog even though they can't see me.Then they'll adopt me too.And they'll never hurt me but will give me milk to drink.And bones to nibble.I think I will like it very much!"

Those were his thoughts as he trotted after the boy and the girl and his two puppy brothers.

But it was a long long road,and soon his little invisible legs felt so weary and his big invisible eyes felt so blinky that he had to sit down and rest.His eyes blinked once and twice and thrice,and then he was fast asleep.When he awoke he was all alone.

"Oh,where is everybody?"he cried."I must run and find them!"

He ran to the puddle pond.No one was there.

He ran round the blossom bushes.No one was there.

He ran past the poppy patch.No one was there.

Back and forth he went,in and out,over and under,in twists and curves and zigzags,but no one was anywhere.

At last he found a hollow tree which looked something like a kennel.He crept into it —and,because he felt so lonely and so very much like nothing,he murmured sadly to himself:"Oh,I'm not very tall and not very small;I look like nothing,like nothing at all!"

As he finished,a voice said,"I can't see you,but aren't you that empty space in the tree trunk?"It was a bird who spoke.

"Yes,"said the little dog."My name is Nothing-at-all,and that's what I look like too.I never minded it before,but now I long to look like other dogs so the boy and the girl can see me,and so they'll give me milk to drink and bones to nibble,and never pick me up by my neck or my tail,but adopt me for their pet as they did my two puppy brothers."

The bird laughed.