The Dog Fleeing His Master

The Dog Fleeing His Master. There was a man who had a dog. He wanted the dog to love him, so he always fed the dog with his own hands and untied him from his leash. As for tying the dog up and beating him, he had a servant do that, so the dog would see that all good things came to him from the master while bad things came from the servant. Because the dog did not like being so often tied up and beaten, he ran away. His master criticized him for being ungrateful and unmindful of all the favors he had done for the dog, who was now running from him, a master who had always loved him and fed him, and who had never tied him up and never beaten him. The dog replied, "What your servant did at your command, I consider to have been done by you."

Canis Herum Fugiens. Canem quidam habens, quo magis ab illo diligeretur, semper suis pascebat manibus ligatumque solvebat. Ligari autem et verberari iubebat a servo ut beneficia a se, maleficia autem a servo, in illum viderentur esse collata. Aegre autem ferens Canis se assidue ligari verberarique aufugit et, cum increparetur a domino ut ingratus et tantorum beneficiorum immemor, qui se fugisset a quo semper dilectus pastusque fuisset, ligatus autem verberatusque nunquam, respondit, "Quod servus tuo iussu facit, a te factum puto."

Notes. This is Abstemius 36. As usual with Abstemius, it is not found in Perry's inventory.There are, of course, many fables about dogs and their masters, but Abstemius's story here is really ingenious. The dog is very smart to see through the deceitful "good cop - bad cop" strategy that his master has employed.