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Then coming up to me, he said in a most pressing tone of entreaty, “Do, Sir, buy my dog”—"What do you ask for your dog?” said I. “What you please," said he. A piece of six livres was all I had about me at the time. I gave it him, and he accepted it without any marks of repugnance, and said, when he received it, “The dog is yours.”—“But," said I, “he will get away; I have no string to lead him by.”—“It is, however, necessary to have one,” said he, “for otherwise he would follow me.” Then undoing his garter, he called his dog, took it in his arms, and set it upon the ballustrade of the bridge. I perceived that while tying it, the old man's hands trembled; this I attributed to age, for his countenance, which I observed attentively, did not change: But when he had tied the knot, I saw him let his head fall upon his dog, and hiding his forehead in its rough hair, and with his mouth close to its body, he hung over it for some minutes mute and motionless.
I stepped up to him.—“What is the matter, friend?” said I. “Nothing,” said he, lifting up his head; “it will soon be over.” I observed his face all bathed in tears. “You feem to feel a great deal of uneasiness at parting with your dog,” said I. “Alas! yes,” said he: "He is the only friend I had in the world: We never were asunder. It was he who guarded me when I was asleep on the road; and when he saw me suffering and forsaken, the poor beast pitied me, and comforted me with his caresses. He loved me so much, that I can do no less than love him. But all this signifies nothing Sir, the dog is yours." And then he gave me the end of his garter he had tied tound its neck. “You must suppose me to
be very cruel, if you think me capable of depriving you of a faithful friend, and of the only one you have in the world,” said I. He did not insist any longer; but he wanted to return me the miserable crown. I told him to keep the crown and the dog, and at last got the better of his resistance. Then he cried out, “Oh! Sir, I owe you my life. It is hunger that has reduced me to this (illegible text)".
