Below is my translation of a story written in Vietnamese by Trần Tâm. It is part of a collection of 32 short stories written by the author and published in 2017. Trần Tâm was born in Quảng Ninh province in 1951, and for a time worked as a coal miner. The world famous  Hạ Long Bay is just off the coast of Quảng Ninh.

Logs in the fire pit were slowly turning into embers. The tall and lean master of the house, looking frail and weak, extended one hand and rested it on the back of a dog sitting next to him. The old man spoke in a deep voice.

“Black! I am old. I can’t follow you into the jungle any longer. It would be a waste of your skills. I’m handling you over to your new master. He’s the one sitting over there. Follow him back to his home where you can frolic with others of your kind. You will not be left to starve. You will never be abandoned or imprisoned. You got that, Black?”

Then he turned to look across the dying fire at his guest. His tone suddenly turned extremely sad.

“That’s it! Take him away!”

The guest slowly stood up. The dog remained unmoving, fixing its eyes on its old master who sat silent like a sculpture. Black whimpered softly then suddenly dashed to the door where it waited for the guest before following him out.

Man and dog went through jungle, crossing streams, eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty, only reaching home after several days. The new master lived in the foothills. Seeing him return, two dogs ran out and happily greeted him. Black stood back, kept cool and reserved. The new master shouted:

“Black! Come!”

Then turning to his two dogs, he said:

“Lao, Luốc, … this is your older brother. And you Black, from now on you will command and teach them.”

***

His name was Tần. He had lived in Bắp La village since childhood. After his wife died, he went up the mountains, leaving behind to each of his four children a well-built three-room house in town. Everyone knew about his hunting prowess. He was a skilled marksman and had dogs who listened and understood his commands.    

He had three dogs that he had carefully selected. When there were good dogs, he did not mind paying any price to buy them. A few years earlier, in a fight to the death with a cobra, his alpha dog got careless and the cobra bit him. The alpha died, and Tần was like someone who had lost an arm. Without a leader, the two remaining dogs were greatly diminished. He still took them hunting but the dogs merely ran and jumped haphazardly, then brought back salamanders, snakes, squirrels, and smelly skunks … He went looking for a new dog in many places, but only saw mediocre ones. He became despondent, thought about leaving his profession.

His home was in a remote area, but many visitors came and went. There were forestry students, line workers, geologists, all kinds of people. There were those who only stopped for one day in their life. The one who stayed the longest spent half a year. On the other hand, many new visitors often came. Some days dozens of them hung their plastic sheets and hammocks and spent the night in his house. The house felt cramped, but his heart did not.

They told him their stories. He told them his. Nights were long or short depending on what he told them. His stories followed them from one year to the next.

Hearing that he was looking for a prized dog, a geologist suddenly slapped his thigh:

“Uncle Tần! I know of one such dog! It is extremely intelligent, and you won’t find another like it. It is fast like the wind, strong like a leopard. It lives in the region of Nha Trạo …”

“How does one get there from here? Is it far?”

“You cut through the jungle! Five or six days, Uncle!”

The man next told Tần at length about the dog’s abilities then declared sadly:

“I just wanted you to know about the dog. If you go there you won’t be able to buy it. Just remember, when you get to Nha Trạo ask for the house with that smart dog named Black. I don’t remember the name of its owner. I forgot it as soon as I got out of the house. Not intentionally, but because that dog was so smart.”

After extracting from the man all the facts he knew about the dog, half a month later Tần packed a bag and left home. A week after that, he returned and gathered his children and grandchildren around him.

“That dog must be called the dog king. Its fur is black and smooth, with a white belly, and the inside of its four legs is also white. Its snout is fairly long. There are two white lines covering both cheeks from its jaw to its ears. Its nose and the tip of its tail are the color of flames. That is a dog king. The owner is too old and lives with an eight-year-old grandchild. His main source of income comes from what his dog brings back from the jungle. He had traded a sturdy male buffalo for a five-room wood house covered with bamboo leaves. He had specified that his dog’s name must not be changed when it goes to a new owner.”

He stopped and waited for his sons and grandchildren to voice their thoughts. All kept quiet. They were waiting for his opinion. He took his time.

“The price asked is quite reasonable! He knows I love dogs, that I need a dog, and that I would treat it with love. He abandoned his intention of keeping the dog for his grandson. He would have never given up on such a prized possession!”

***

After two years, thanks to the contributions of the four families of his children and grandchildren, Tần was granted his wish. Black  became his dog.

The dog did not shame its breed, did not fail his master. The morning after it came, Black showed its exceptional qualities. Lao and Luốc were completely obedient to it. Tần looked at Black and was pleased. Black laid prone, its eyes half closed observing how Lao and Luốc learned to crawl. They had to slide on their bellies and thighs. If any of the two rose up even a little bit, Black would growl like someone clearing his voice. When he gave them their food, Lao and Luốc pushed each other to eat. Black just stood still. Tần grabbed its bowl and brought it to Black but the dog would not touch it. He finally had to prepare another bowl, mixing bones with both cooked and raw meat and threw them at Black. The dog caught them and after two bites each bone went into its belly. From then on, every time Black ate, Lao and Luốc stood apart, not daring to approach.

In that manner, Black stayed with Tần for almost ten years. It became a dependable mainstay for him and the other dogs living in the same house. Tần did not have to work as hard as before. The dogs went hunting by themselves. He only acted as their support, carrying their kills home, or terminating their prey’s resistance when an animal finally lost the ability to defend itself.

On many days, the dogs would come home barking loudly to announce they had made a kill. He then followed them into the jungle with a machete.

Their reputation spread first among the people in Bắp La, then they became widely known to people throughout the mountainous region. People said that Tần’s house had smart dogs. A man called One-eyed Phàn from Lục Thanh Hòa Bình travelled more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) to come see the dogs. He cajoled and begged Tần to sell him Black. Denied, he stayed at the house and playfully set up traps, baits, and released venomous snakes all throughout the month. In the end, he had to leave empty handed, full of regrets.

Living with Tần for almost ten years, Black had made him prosperous. Black’s exploits are many and cannot all be recounted.

***

On one occasion, the sun shone again after days of soil rotting rain. Yearning to go out, the dogs were yapping joyfully. Black led Lao and Luốc into the jungle. At first Tần did not pay attention to them. Then nightfall came and the dogs had not returned. He went to the edge of the mountain, looked for them in the emptiness, but finally had to spend the night fitfully at home. The following morning, he went into the jungle, calling for them as he walked. After crossing over three mountains, he suddenly saw Luốc wrapping itself around his legs. He followed the dog to an empty area where Black and Lao were sitting and staring at a gorilla. The creature was covered with blood all over its body. It dragged itself here and there over the ground. It was tired but had not lost all of its strength and was fighting hopelessly against the exhausted dogs.

Tần was happy but not because his dogs got him an animal, not an unusual thing. He was elated because Black was smart enough to lure the gorilla out in the open. The gorilla was a clever beast with experience in foraging for food and in fighting against its enemies. Black had the intelligence to wait until the gorilla was out in the open before attacking it. Inside the jungle with so many trees and tangled vegetation, Black knew it would have no chance at all.

Tần carried the dead gorilla into town. It weighed in at 57 kilograms (125 lbs). He sold it to a herbalist who converted it into traditional medicines.

One early spring day, fog from the mountains descended and enveloped the valley with a thick and wet coat. Luốc ran out of the jungle and pulled him out of the house. By a large tree trunk he saw the soggy ground had been worked over deeply. An iguana had lost its strength but had not died yet. Black was biting a part of its head while Lao was gripping its tail. The two dogs dragged the iguana toward the tree trunk. It laid there belly up, its body covered with bite marks.Tần had to go into town to fetch his sons to help him carry the iguana home. Thanks to that, the whole family, from grandather to sons and grandchildren had a festive Tết (Lunar New Year) which lasted almost a month.

On another occasion, Tần was coming home from the jungle. Black was walking in front when it suddenly uttered a soft sound before stopping. Lao and Luốc also became silent then lowered their bodies and crawled softly to where Black stood. Suddenly, Black burst out and quickly disappeared. The other two dogs also ran forward on two different paths. The three dogs disappeared into the thick jungle understory. Tần knew they were tracking a prey, did not call them back and tried to follow them at his own pace. He leaned against a large tree trunk, smoked a cigarette, then fell asleep.

He did not wake up for a long time. He heard the wind flowing through the leaves and his hunter instict told him there were unusual noises coming from one particular direction. He slowly began tracking, machete in hand.

On the side of the next mountain, the three dogs were fighting with a wild boar. The boar was struggling mightily, trying to find a way out, but it could not break out of the tight circle formed by the three dogs. He saw Black often facing the boar, tossing things at it to make it gasp and try to scoop them up. The ground was thoroughly plowed over by the boar’s long and curved canines, by its feet and by the dogs’ feet. Every time the boar raised its head, Black was there to sink its teeth into the boar’s throat and tear out a part of it before the boar could defend itself.

Boar and dog excrement was scattered over the battlefield. The strong smell was overpowering. Knowing that he had met a fierce opponent, the boar tried to attack Lao and Luốc to find a way to escape. Each time he did that, Black surged forward to bite its testicles and force the boar to turn back to fight it. The other two dogs contented themselves to attack’s the boar’s rear feet.

The boar was enormous and powerful but in the end it could not escape from the three dogs. Tần’s sons had to struggle hard for almost two nights and three days to carry the boar back to the town market. There a hasty weigh in showed that it weighed 120 kg (264 lbs).

***

Thinking about Black, Tần silently regretted that the jungle around him no longer had any tiger or leopard. Black’s talent was wasted, like a famous athlete working as a drummer, like a king who was a martial art champion ruling over a peaceful country which knew no war. It was like a beautiful peacock mixed in with green and red roosters. Tần’s sadness was persistent and had no cure.

These past few days, Tần did not sleep well, waking up every time he heard a loud noise. Black had not come home for four nights. Lao and Luốc were listlessly sprawled across the yard. Since Black came to live with him, his dogs were no longer barking. Like inferior and boastful people with a loud mouth, dogs that barked were defective ones. A dog that barked a lot would exhaust itself after just 10 or 15 minutes. If it saw a stranger who acted forcefully it would back off. Someone who had only a single martial skill and displayed it without any result would seek to get out of the situation as fast as possible. When he joined the household, Black only needed to make a tidy single growl. Lao and Luốc understood and stopped barking.

Once Black went away for two nights. Lao and Luốc went with it but they came home when it rained. On the third day Tần was preparing to go look for it when Black came home. Its body was crumpled, displayed many scratches, and was thoroughly wet. It ate quickly then grabbed a leg of Tần’s trousers to signal that they should go. He knew there was a large prey and sent Lao to go get help in town. A few days later, the town people saw him and his sons carry a large deer with two broken legs. Tần understood that Black had lured the deer into a deep valley then had broken two of its legs. When caught in a trap, some fearless animals were able to free themselves by using their teeth to cut off their legs. Black was smarter. He crushed two of the deer knees on one side. Unable to walk, the deer laid down on the valley floor. That’s when Black went back to get Tần.

This time, his instinct told Tần that Black would not be back. He must go look for him. But where in the vastness of mountains and jungle?

After several sleepless nights, he decided to leave Bắp La and go to Nha Trạo to look for Black. He got enough food and money and had Lao and Luốc accompany him.

When he arrived at the old man’s village, looking at the surroundings he knew that the old master had just passed away. He turned and went to the market to buy ceremonial offerings, then he went back to the old master’s house.

The young boy had turned into a muscular young man who welcomed Tần appropriately although he did not remember him. Hearing him talk about the dog, the young man became animated.

“Before my grandpa went, an old black dog came and scratched at our door. At the time, my grandpa could not speak, but seeing the dog he leaned forward and raised his eyes. Grandpa cried. The dog laid down next to the bed until Grandpa died. It moaned and made people think it had rabies. They chased it away several days ago.”

The young man took Tần to the burial site. According to local customs, if the deceased had not been dead for more than one hundred days, relatives could not come near the grave. He stood at a distance and pointed out the grave to the visitor.

Tần approached and suddenly saw Black with his long snout lying on the grave. It looked at him through teary eyes. It did not appear to have recognized him. Lao and Luốc went toward Black but in the end had to walk back out. In front of Black, a rice ball topped by a hard-boiled egg remained intact. Tần placed a piece of boiled meat on  the dish, burned three incense sticks and bowed three times with them. Black did not move. Suddenly Tần looked at it and bowed deeply. As he came up he saw that Black had blinked softly. Tear drops rolled out of its eyes.

That night he stayed at the house of the young man. Images from a distant past appeared before him. The dog training sessions, the smart dogs, the choice of a name for a dog… To be able to call a dog clearly from a distance, the name of the dog should not have any accent except the acute accent. No onion, pepper, garlic or herbs should be mixed in the dog food to preserve the dog’s sense of smell. Reward and punishment should be fair, unbiased so that the dog will give its best. One must be full of love and care for the dogs if they are to work and help the humans. In the end images of Black kept appearing clear and larger than life before his eyes.

Before he went home, Tần seized the young man’s hand and said carefully:

“Listen to me, Black will die soon. I looked at its dry nose, and I know. It found its old master after 10 years and from over 300 kilometers (186 miles) of jungle and mountains. There is no other dog like it in this life. It is of the dog king breed that I have wished for many times. Tomorrow, send someone to bring its body back. Take this amount of money from me and use it to have someone dig a good and decent grave for it. This is in memory of the love I have for it. It found its way back here so that your grandpa can leave this world serenely. Now I must go home because I don’t want him to have any regret when he sees me while he is dying.”

Then he walked away bent forward. Lao and Luốc silently followed him.