Jesse’s Dog | 蔡瀾和倪匡

Walasse Ting had an American Jewish wife. After she died, their teenage son Jesse was so grief-stricken that he lost his will to live.

Walasse thought a trip to the Thai island of Koh Samui would ease his pain, but Jesse just sat watching the swimming pool all the time.

One day Jesse heard a strange moaning and went to look for the source. I have found the ugliest of dogs, a real mongrel. Its body was covered in wounds and it was so thin you could see its bones. Jesse took pity on it and threw the dog the left-over bread from his breakfast. The dog swallowed it in one gulp. Jesse threw a tomato and the dog ate it too. In fact, it was so hungry that it ate anything.

From then on, the dog followed Jesse everywhere.

The whole of Koh Samui island was filled with coconut trees and forests. The dog just walked behind Jesse silently.

When he was thirsty the dog would lick the morning dew from the leaves. It was forever searching for something to eat. Sometimes it would flip over a stone and eat the ants like a pangolin. Jesse found the dog had such a strong will to survive that it put him to shame.

One day the dog went missing and Jesse went searching for it everywhere.

The waiter from the hotel asked, “What are you looking for, young master?”

“Have you seen a dog anywhere?”

“The island is full of stray dogs. We use a net to catch them. “I heard from my colleagues that we caught one just now.”

“Where is the dog now?” Jesse asked anxiously.

“Usually they are brought to the police station to be put down by M16.”

“It’s all my fault,” Jesse thought, “if I hadn’t fed the dog, it wouldn’t have got caught.”

Rushing out of the hotel Jesse took a taxi to the police station.

“Ta, Ta, Ta, Ta!” a roar of bullets was heard. Too late! Too late! Jesse never felt so guilty in his life. He found many dogs in a pool of blood but none as ugly as the dog he loved.

He went back to the hotel and was sitting staring at the swimming pool when the dog reappeared by his side. Jesse hugged it immediately.

The hotel staff told Jesse later that someone saw the dog escape from the police van.

From then on, Jesse and his dog became inseparable.

“Papa, can I keep him?” Walasse saw the begging eyes of his son and the dog. He finally agreed.

It is a big hustle to bring an animal from Thailand to Holland. First, you must buy it an air ticket that costs more than a passenger. Then, you must obtain a health certificate from the vet, plus a bribe to predate it. For Jesse’s dog, a special cage had to be made because the local airline had never had this experience before. Bribery of the customs official was again a must. Walasse and his son returned to the vet, as according to Thai law, a strong sedative had to be given.

“You know there is a risk that the dog might not do it,” the vet said. The decision was made, and the dog seemed to accept it too. When the vet gave the injection, the dog did not resist.

Their troubles seemed endless. There was no direct flight to Amsterdam, and they had to change plans in Frankfurt.

When they landed there, the airline people couldn’t find the dog.

“Maybe it has frozen to death at the high altitude,” they said.

After a long search they found the dog had broken the cage and ran off to the catering section where he had munched his way through the first-class meals and was now sleeping peacefully.

At this point Jesse refused to let go of the dog again. They got off at Frankfurt and hired a car driving them straight back to Amsterdam.

Jesse moved to a country house with high walls to prevent the dog from going out. I nursed the dog back to full health and it grew a lovely long coat of hair for winter. In fact, the dog was so well fed that it had to be put on a diet!

It was a rascal! Over the years Jesse’s dog killed countless chickens and ducks from neighboring households, plus two young goats.

From time to time the dog would face the east where its distant homeland was, and howl and howl and howl.