1. Mr. Dog woke up one Spring morning and yawned.
2. He stretched his legs and wrinkled his nose.
3. Then he sniffed the breeze. There were many interesting
smells in the air.
4. He could smell
the jaoze* steaming in Mrs. Li's kitchen. That made his to tongue
hang out, and he panted a little with pleasure.
5. Presently he caught another scent. It was that damned
Tabby cat. He frowned, and growled deep in his throat.
6. The silly thing was watching him for sure, hiding
behind a fence or something. He looked around suspiciously, but Tabby
was not to be seen.
7. Mr. Dog remembered a scratch on his front leg from
the sharp claws of Tabby. He growled again and licked the scratch morosely.
8. Just then something tickled inside his ear. He shook
his head sharply, but the tickle didn't go away. Maybe it was a pesky
ant.
9. It wasn't fair. Why was life full of trouble? He
began to whine and brush at his ear with his right paw.
10.
The aroma from Mrs. Li's jaoze drifted past his nose again. Mm,
yummy. He stood up and scratched the ground a little with his paws.
It felt good.
11. Then he trotted
around to the back of the house where he knew Mrs. Li was cooking.
12. Mr. Dog scratched
at the back door eagerly, and panted with anticipation.
13. When Mrs. Li
opened the door he wagged his tail in the friendliest way, and gave
a little bark to say "hello".
14. Mrs. Li was
in a bad mood. Her brow was dark. When she saw Mr. Dog she gave a
snort of anger.
15. "You mangy
mutt!" she shouted, picking up an old shoe and throwing it at him.
16. The shoe caught
Mr. Dog fairly on the snout. He yelped in surprise and pain, then
shook his head. It still hurt.
17. Mrs. Li was
looking for another shoe to throw, so Mr. Dog hastily ran away with
his tail between his legs.
18. He began to
whine softly again, looking fearfully over his shoulder. It wasn't
fair. No breakfast this morning. Why was the world so cruel?