On emotion

A man traveled down a mountain path and came to a farm. On the porch were a farmer and his dog. The man walked up to the porch to talk to the farmer. The dog looked up from his slumber, then looked to his master and then went back to sleep.

“That is a quiet dog,” said the man. The farmer smiled as he looked at the dog.

“Yes. I have had him from a puppy. He is well trained.”

After a short visit and a refill of his stores, the man continued on his journey through the mountains. Deep in the wilderness he heard a wolf howl. Concerned he headed to a small wisp of smoke he saw rising from the trees ahead. There he found a camp with a man of the mountain sleeping by a fire. Resting her head on his lap was a wolf.

The wolf raised her head and stared at the visitor, glaring at him as he approached. The Mountain Man’s hand slid from where it rested on the wolf’s rump slowly up to her ears where he rubbed them, calming her without opening his eyes.

“That is a well trained dog,” said the man.

The mountain man answered without opening his eyes. “She is a wolf, and she ain’t trained.”

“Didn’t she obey you when you told her to calm?” asked the man astonished.

“Obey? No,” the Mountain Man chuckled at the thought. “She’s wild … but she can be agreeable if you know how to ask.”