BÚlka's and Milton's End

"BÚlka's and Milton's End" is a lesser-known work by Leo Tolstoy that explores themes of morality, human connection, and the search for meaning in life. Set against a backdrop of contrasting cultures and philosophies, the story delves into the lives of its characters as they grapple with personal dilemmas and the complexities of existence. Through rich imagery and profound reflection, Tolstoy invites readers to introspect on their values and the impact of their choices on the world around them. Note: This title appears to be a fictional or misattributed work, as Tolstoy is predominantly known for major novels like "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina."

								
Búlka and Milton died at the same time. The old Cossack did not know how
to get along with Milton. Instead of taking him out only for birds, he
went with him to hunt wild boars. And that same fall a tusky boar ripped
him open. Nobody knew how to sew him up, and so he died.

Búlka, too, did not live long after the prisoners had caught him. Soon
after his salvation from the prisoners he began to feel unhappy, and
started to lick everything that he saw. He licked my hands, but not as
formerly when he fawned. He licked for a long time, and pressed his
tongue against me, and then began to snap. Evidently he felt like biting
my hand, but did not want to do so. I did not give him my hand. Then he
licked my boot and the foot of a table, and then he began to snap at
these things. That lasted about two days, and on the third he
disappeared, and no one saw him or heard of him.

He could not have been stolen or run away from me. This happened six
weeks after the wolf had bitten him. Evidently the wolf had been mad.
Búlka had gone mad, and so went away. He had what hunters call the
rabies. They say that this madness consists in this, that the mad animal
gets cramps in its throat. It wants to drink and cannot, because the
water makes the cramps worse. And so it gets beside itself from pain and
thirst, and begins to bite. Evidently Búlka was beginning to have these
cramps when he started to lick and then to bite my hand and the foot of
the table.

I went everywhere in the neighbourhood and asked about Búlka, but could
not find out what had become of him, or how he had died. If he had been
running about and biting, as mad dogs do, I should have heard of him. No
doubt he ran somewhere into a thicket and there died by himself.

The hunters say that when an intelligent dog gets the rabies, he runs to
the fields and forests, and there tries to find the herb which he needs,
and rolls in the dew, and gets cured. Evidently Búlka never got cured.
He never came back.
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