Translation:The High Mountains/13

Dimos and Phanis went to see the Vlachs. It's on the right, they had told them. They moved forward through the trees letting themselves be led by the path. But after five minutes, the path disappeared which often happens in forests. Everywhere looked the same.

They looked around, here and there, they didn't find it again. Then they continued without a path towards a place which looked like a clearing.

There seemed to be some huts there.

“Hello!”, they called.

Somebody was coming up the slope, running. But it wasn't a person, it was a dog. He ran up angrily and there he was, set right in front of them.

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As soon as Dimos saw that this watchdog was coming straight towards them − a real monster! − he picked up a big stone and took another one in his left hand.

The watchdog understood that it was with him that he'd have to fight.

Poor Phanis only cried “Hey go away!” raising his stick. But while he was trying to frighten him, he had gone very pale and seemed to be pleading with the dog: “Don't eat me!”

Dimos saw that they were in danger and that they had to escape. So he threw the stone with all his might.

The stone hit the dog on the backbone. The dog whined, threw himself on the stone which had fallen, bit it furiously as if to eat it up, took a step backwards and once again rushed forward.

But as he saw the child still with a stone in his right hand, ready to hit him a second time, he changed his mind.

We all fear retaliation. The dog had in front of him a child who was fighting for his life. At that moment Phanis saw what was meant by courage.

How he regretted not having thrown the stone himself!