# Name of short story about a man and a wolf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [May 24, 2000, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403 "2000-05-24T14:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/1 "2000-05-24T14:27:55Z")
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_. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/2 "2000-05-24T16:23:13Z")
I don’t have any info other than to add (for others, you seem to know already) that it’s almost certainly by Jack London. The story rings a bell, but there are so many bells going off in my head for various reasons that that doesn’t mean anything. Do de name “Natty Gann” strike a familiar note? ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/3 "2000-05-24T17:43:17Z")
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.) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/4 "2000-05-25T15:08:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/5 "2000-05-26T00:29:10Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![pukalani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e56c9b/32.png) [@pukalani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pukalani)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/6 "2000-06-06T04:01:39Z")
Hey, Buns-dear: 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. Love always, Pukalani. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2000, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/7 "2000-06-06T09:16:18Z")
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… But in the end, everybody dies in the snow.? ---
**Author:** ![swtmamarains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@swtmamarains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swtmamarains)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/8 "2013-01-04T18:23:42Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/9 "2013-01-04T18:52:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/10 "2013-01-04T19:29:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/11 "2013-01-05T16:04:42Z")
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. The man survives. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/12 "2013-01-05T17:45:26Z")
Moved from MPSIMS to Cafe Society, which didn’t exist when this thread last saw the light of day. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/13 "2013-01-05T18:26:30Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > 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. > > The man survives. Available online at Gutenberg [Love of Life, and Other Stories by Jack London | Project Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/710) ---
**Author:** ![Polidori3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@Polidori3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polidori3)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/14 "2016-12-05T00:05:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![MortonS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MortonS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortonS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/15 "2022-03-13T18:26:53Z")
Hello Everyone, 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 … _Removed text exceeding fair use._ ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/16 "2022-03-13T18:39:22Z")
Welcome to the board. I had to remove the bulk of your post as it exceeds fair use to post that much of a copyrighted work. [The FAQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/faq) covers this to some degree. More details from here: > [@Terms of Service and FAQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-of-service-and-faq/823562/1): > > You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the operator of the SDMB, except as permitted by the “fair use” provisions of the U.S. copyright laws (in general this means brief excerpts only). You agree to abide by the wishes of the board moderators in interpreting and enforcing these rules. Refusal to cooperate with board moderators or to abide by these rules is grounds for revocation of your posting privileges. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/17 "2022-03-13T18:42:48Z")
> [@MortonS](#): > > The name of the Story is Deathwatch by BA Clifton. It was in a Reader Digest Edition in Feb 1979. That would seem to be it. Good find! ---
**Author:** ![MortonS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MortonS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortonS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-short-story-about-a-man-and-a-wolf/20403/18 "2022-03-13T22:55:41Z")
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.