Far up in the mountains of the Province of Hunan in the central part of
China, there once lived in a small village a rich gentleman who had only one
child. This girl was the very joy of her father's life.
Now Mr. Min, for that was this gentleman's name, was famous throughout the whole
district for his learning, and, as he was also the owner of much property, he
spared no effort to teach Honeysuckle everything he could, and to give her
everything she craved. Of course this was enough to spoil most children, but
Honeysuckle was not at all like other children. As sweet as the flower from
which she took her name, she listened to her father's slightest command, and
obeyed without ever waiting to be told a second time.
One day when Honeysuckle was sitting inside a shady pavilion that overlooked
a tiny fish-pond, she was suddenly seized with a violent stomach-ache. Frantic
with pain, she told a servant to summon her father, and then without further
ado, she fell over in a faint upon the ground.
When Mr. Min reached his daughter's side, she was still unconscious. After
sending for the family physician to come as fast as he can, he got his daughter
to bed, but although she recovered from her fainting fit, the extreme pain
continued until the poor girl was almost dead from exhaustion.
Now, when the doctor arrived and peered at her from under his gigantic
spectacles, he could not discover the cause of her trouble. Poor Honeysuckle lay
in agony for three days, all the time growing weaker and weaker from loss of
sleep. Every great doctor in the district had been summoned for consultation,
but all to no avail.
Mr. Min sent out a proclamation in every direction, describing his daughter's
illness, and offering to bestow on her a handsome dowry and give her in marriage
to whoever should be the means of bringing her back to health and happiness. He
then sat at her bedside and waited, feeling that he had done all that was in his
power. There were many answers to his invitation. Physicians, old and young,
came from every part of the Empire to try their skill, and when they had seen
poor Honeysuckle and also the huge pile of silver her father offered as a
wedding gift, they all fought with might and main for her life; some having been
attracted by her great beauty and excellent reputation, others by the tremendous
reward.
But, alas for poor Honeysuckle! Not one of all those wise men could cure her!
One day, when she was feeling a slight change for the better, she called her
father, and, clasping his hand with her tiny one said, "Were it not for your
love I would give up this hard fight and pass over into the dark wood. For your
sake, because I am your only child, and especially because you have no son, I
have struggled hard to live, but now I feel that the next attack of that
dreadful pain will carry me away. And oh, I do not want to die!"
Here Honeysuckle wept as if her heart would break, and her old father wept too,
for the more she suffered the more he loved her.
Just then her face began to turn pale. "It is coming! The pain is coming,
father! Very soon I shall be no more. Good-bye, father! Good-bye; good-bye!"
Here her voice broke and a great sob almost broke her father's heart. He turned
away from her bedside; he could not bear to see her suffer. He walked outside
and sat down on a rustic bench; his head fell upon his bosom, and the great salt
tears trickled down his long grey beard.
As Mr. Min sat thus overcome with grief, he was startled at hearing a low whine.
Looking up he saw, to his astonishment, a large, shaggy mountain dog. The huge
beast looked into the old man's eyes with so intelligent and human an
expression, with such a sad and wistful gaze, that the greybeard addressed him,
saying, "Why have you come? To cure my daughter?"
The
dog replied with three short barks, wagging his tail vigorously and turning
toward the half-opened door that led into the room where the girl lay.
By this time, willing to try any chance whatever of reviving his daughter, Mr.
Min bade the animal follow him into Honeysuckle's apartment. Placing his
forepaws upon the side of her bed, the dog looked long and steadily at the
wasted form before him and held his ear intently for a moment over the maiden's
heart. Then, with a slight cough he deposited from his mouth into her
outstretched hand, a tiny stone. Touching her wrist with his right paw, he
motioned to her to swallow the stone.
"Yes, my dear, obey him," counselled her father, as she turned to him
inquiringly, "for good Doctor Dog has been sent to your bedside by the mountain
fairies, who have heard of your illness and who wish to invite you back to life
again."
Without further delay the sick girl, who was by this time almost burned away by
the fever, raised her hand to her lips and swallowed the tiny charm. Wonder of
wonders! No sooner had it passed her lips than a miracle occurred. The red flush
passed away from her face, the pulse resumed its normal beat, the pains departed
from her body, and she arose from the bed well and smiling.
Flinging her arms about her father's neck, she cried out in joy, "Oh, I am well
again; well and happy; thanks to the medicine of the good physician."
The noble dog barked three times, wild with delight at hearing these tearful
words of gratitude, bowed low, and put his nose in Honeysuckle's outstretched
hand.
Mr. Min, greatly moved by his daughter's magical recovery, turned to the strange
physician, saying, "Noble Sir, were it not for the form you have taken, for some
unknown reason, I would willingly give four times the sum in silver that I
promised for the cure of the girl, into your possession. As it is, I suppose you
have no use for silver, but remember that so long as we live, whatever we have
is yours for the asking, and I beg of you to prolong your visit, to make this
the home of your old age - in short, remain here for ever as my guest - nay, as
a member of my family."
The dog barked three times, as if agreeing. From that day he was treated as an
equal by father and daughter. The many servants were commanded to obey his
slightest whim, to serve him with the most expensive food on the market, to
spare no expense in making him the happiest and best-fed dog in all the world.
Day after day he ran at Honeysuckle's side as she gathered flowers in her
garden, lay down before her door when she was resting, guarded her Sedan chair
when she was carried by servants into the city. In short, they were constant
companions; a stranger would have thought they had been friends from childhood.
One day, however, just as they were returning from a journey outside her
father's compound, at the very instant when Honeysuckle was alighting from her
chair, without a moment's warning, the huge animal dashed past the attendants,
seized his beautiful mistress in his mouth, and before anyone could stop him,
carried her off to the mountains. By the time the alarm was sounded, darkness
had fallen over the valley and as the night was cloudy no trace could be found
of the dog and the little girl.
Once more the frantic father left no stone unturned to save his daughter. Huge
rewards were offered, bands of woodmen scoured the mountains high and low, but,
alas, no sign of the girl could be found! The unfortunate father gave up the
search and began to prepare himself for the grave. There was nothing now left in
life that he cared for - nothing but thoughts of his departed daughter.
Honeysuckle was gone for ever.
Several long years passed by; years of sorrow for the ageing man, pining for his
departed daughter. One beautiful October day he was sitting in the very same
pavilion where he had so often sat with his darling. His head was bowed forward
on his breast, his forehead was lined with grief. A rustling of leaves attracted
his attention. He looked up. Standing directly in front of him was Doctor Dog,
and lo, riding on his back, clinging to the animal's shaggy hair, was
Honeysuckle, his long-lost daughter; while standing near by were three of the
handsomest boys he had ever set eyes upon!
"Ah, my daughter! My darling daughter, where have you been all these years?"
cried the delighted father, pressing the girl to his aching breast. "Have you
suffered many a cruel pain since you were snatched away so suddenly? Has your
life been filled with sorrow?"
"Only at the thought of your grief," she replied, tenderly, stroking his
forehead with her slender fingers; "only at the thought of your suffering; only
at the thought of how I should like to see you every day and tell you that my
husband was kind and good to me. For you must know, dear father, this is no mere
animal that stands beside you. This Doctor Dog, who cured me and claimed me as
his bride because of your promise, is a great magician. He can change himself at
will into a thousand shapes. He chooses to come here in the form of a mountain
beast so that no one may find out the secret of his distant palace."
"Then he is your husband?" faltered the old man, gazing at the animal with a new
expression on his wrinkled face.
"Yes; my kind and noble husband, the father of my three sons, your
grandchildren, whom we have brought to pay you a visit."
"And where do you live?"
"In a wonderful cave in the heart of the great mountains; a beautiful cave whose
walls and floors are covered with crystals, and encrusted with sparkling gems.
The chairs and tables are set with jewels; the rooms are lighted by a thousand
glittering diamonds. Oh, it is lovelier than the palace of the Son of Heaven
himself! We breathe fragrant air that blows through forests of pine and hemlock.
We live only to love each other and our children, and oh, we are so happy! And
you, father, you must come back with us to the great mountains and live there
with us the rest of your days, which, the gods grant, may be very many."
The old man pressed his daughter once more to his breast and hugged the
children, who clambered over him rejoicing at the discovery of a grandfather
they had never seen before.
From Doctor Dog and his fair Honeysuckle are descended, it is said, the
well-known race of people called the Yus, who even now inhabit the mountainous
regions of the Canton and Hunan provinces. It is not for this reason, however,
that we have told the story here, but because we felt sure every reader would
like to learn the secret of the dog that cured a sick girl and won her for his
bride.
The Fire Bird
A Russian fairy tale about a young Prince and his beautiful Princess.
The Story of the Phoenix
In the Book of the Ten Thousand Wonders there are three hundred and thirty-three
stories about the Phoenix, and this is one of them.
The Strange Tail of Doctor Dog
Read about Mr Min and his beloved daughter Honeysuckle, and their encounter with
Doctor Dog.
The
dog replied with three short barks, wagging his tail vigorously and turning
toward the half-opened door that led into the room where the girl lay. 
