Toyon, a Dog of the North and His People

When Nicholas Kalashnikoff was just twenty, he was exiled by the Czar to the farthest end of Siberia. Five months’ journey west of Petersburg, he was traveling on horseback with two Cossack guards and a guide across the bleak deserted tundra when a fierce snowstorm blew up. Nicholas was overjoyed when they finally reached the home of Guran, a wealthy, much-respected peasant. At first, as he huddled by the welcome fire, food and warmth were his only interests. Later, though, he found he couldn’t take his eyes from the large gray dog dozing nearby. The host spoke up. "This is no ordinary dog,” he said, "but our good spirit. All that you see around you—happiness and abundance—he has brought us. He saved my deer from destruction by wicked people and more than once he saved them from wolves. My daughter and son-in-law both owe their lives to him.” He offered then to recount the story of this great dog, Toyon. And this —as well as a book can imitate a three-days’ fireside tale—is what he related.