A Faithful Friend

Part I

This is a story about a small dog. People in Britain love dogs and like to read dog stories, but this is a true story.

Bobby was a terrier with long hair. Terriers are very small, but they are brave and clever. Bobby was a brave dog, and there is a statue of him in Edinburgh — the capital of Scotland.

Bobby and his owner lived in the country near Edinburgh about a hundred years ago. Bobby's owner was a farmer. Bobby helped him to look after the sheep.

When Bobby's owner was very old, he went to live in Edinburgh, but he left the dog on the farm with the new owner. Bobby loved his old owner very much, and soon he ran away and went to the city to find his old friend. He looked here and there and ran along the streets of the city, and at last he found his owner. The man was poor and ill. Bobby stayed with his friend. He often went with his owner to a café, and Mr. Trail, the owner of it, always had some food for the little dog.

Soon Bobby's owner died, and people did not see the dog for some time. Then one day Mr. Trail saw Bobby near his café and gave him some food. Bobby took the food and ran away. The dog came to the café five or six times. He took the food that Mr. Trail gave him, but did not eat it — he ran away with it in his mouth. One day Mr. Trail went after Bobby and came to the cemetery. There he found the dog on the grave of his owner. Bobby stayed there every day in good and bad weather. He sat under a big stone when it rained, and Mr. Trail came and gave him food there.

Part II

But soon some people began to ask questions. "Why did the dog live in the cemetery?" "Did he have an owner?" "Did he have a collar?" They wrote these questions on a piece of paper and gave the paper to the mayor of Edinburgh. The mayor liked dogs and decided to help brave little Bobby. He himself bought Bobby a collar with the dog's name on it, and gave the dog "the freedom of the city", which they gave only to very important people. After that, Bobby lived in Edinburgh for many years. People came to see the dog in the cemetery, and children played with him. All the people in Edinburgh knew the dog and loved him.

When Bobby died, they put up a statue on his grave with his name and dates. Bobby's collar is now in the museum.