Can someone help me with the name and author of a short story - it was about an old man who falls and breaks his leg while alone in a remote mountain area. He is sitting at the base of a tree waiting for someone to find him when a grizzled old wolf approaches. The man is afraid at first, but then, half delirious, he begins to imagine that the wolf is his long-dead dog. Eventually the man coaxes the wolf into snuggling up with him. The story ends with some people finding the man and wolf (both now dead) lying close together; one person surmises that the wolf must have attacked the man and the man somehow fought him off before killing him; while another person, observing the position of the two bodies and the peaceful expression on the dead man’s face, says something like, “No, that’s not what happened … not at all.”
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I know it’s not The Interlopers or To Build a Fire.
Pluto, it’s not Natty Gann either. I’m pretty sure it’s not Jack London but I’m going to do a search on him just to be sure. I think I will remember the name of the story if I see it. Otherwise, I’ll have to start looking through my books. (I think I have this in some anthology but I have so many books that it will take a while to get through them.)
missbunny, did you ever find out the title of the story? I checkedd my “Collected Jack London”, and in the 23 short stories and two novels (White Fang, Call of the Wild) in the “Great North” section there wasn’t a story to match your description.
Arnold W., I still haven’t found that story and it’s driving me nuts! I checked every story in every Jack London anthology I could find listed and it’s not there. I am checking my books but I haven’t come across it yet. I’ll keep looking and post if I do find it.
The story was about a guy who fell in love with a Timberwolf that was, at first, very domesticated…but then “reverted” to its REAL nature and ripped the hell out of the fellow.
Title (derived from an old Inuit word): “WOOFYBITMYBALLSOFF”. Author: I. Likeit Dogstyle.
Jack London never seemed to do happy stories. Oh sure, they masqueraded as happy stories to an extent - there was character building, there was hope, there was adventure, there was spiritual faith reaffirmed…
Did you ever find out the title and the author of this? I had a client that thought the name was “Old Man and the Wolf” but I can’t seem to find it.
Thanks!
There was a Jack London story about an old Indian who was left to die in the wilderness when he became too much of a burden on his family; he was blind, but was able to sense the wolves drawing closer as his fire slowly died. I don’t think he got out of that one.
I’m pretty sure I’ve read all of London’s short stories, and that’s the only one I recall that resembles the one described above. If I’m mistaken, please do give the title of the work.
It does sound like a London story. I had a book of short stories by London, the first one about a zombie dog that shuffled through the forest looking for brains. It may have been in that book.
I’m looking at my Best Short Stories of Jack London, and one is a bit similar to what you’re describing. “Love of Life” features a dying man and a dying wolf lying next to each other. The man’s close to hallucinating, but never thinks it’s his dog. They’re both starving, and want to eat each other, but lack the strength.
I believe it is called Death Hunt, and I have been seeking a copy of it for years. It appeared in Reader’s Digest several decades ago. It is definitely NOT by Jack London.
The name of the Story is Deathwatch by BA Clifton. It was in a Reader Digest Edition in Feb 1979. Story attached. I can’t upload the story as I am a new user.
The old man sensed the animal’s eyes on him as he tried to shift to a more comfortable position. Blackness rushed into his head and he held perfectly still, trying to beat back the waves of exhaustion that surged through him. A tingling sensation in his arm told him that he had blacked out for a while. “How long?” he asked himself frantically, aware of a shape that seemed closer than before. “Damn you,” he said a low, controlled voice. “Keep your distance. I am not done yet.” The wolf watched impassively. The old man …
Thank you, I spent a part of my Christmas vacation trying to figure this out. I literally went through all the Reader’s Digest books that I read when I was child in my head. An amazing Librarian got me the microfilm of the Reader’s Digest that I figured was the right one. The clues from the thread got me in the ballpark and my memory palace did the rest. I was searching for this story for about 35 years. I am glad I found it through this thread.