Two Dogs and a Fence

"Two Dogs and a Fence" by Henry Lawson is a short story that captures the essence of rural life in Australia. Through the lens of two dogs and their interactions at a fence, Lawson explores themes of companionship, isolation, and the human condition in a vividly depicted landscape. The narrative reflects on the simplicity of existence and the complexities of relationships, showcasing Lawson's trademark wit and deep understanding of the Australian spirit. The story serves as a poignant reminder of the bonds that connect us, even in solitude.

• Short story

								
“Nothing makes a dog madder,” said Mitchell, “than to have another dog
come outside his fence and sniff and bark at him through the cracks when
he can't get out. The other dog might be an entire stranger; he might
be an old chum, and he mightn't bark--only sniff--but it makes no
difference to the inside dog. The inside dog generally starts it, and
the outside dog only loses his temper and gets wild because the inside
dog has lost his and got mad and made such a stinking fuss about nothing
at all; and then the outside dog barks back and makes matters a thousand
times worse, and the inside dog foams at the mouth and dashes the foam
about, and goes at it like a million steel traps.

“I can't tell why the inside dog gets so wild about it in the first
place, except, perhaps, because he thinks the outside dog has taken him
at a disadvantage and is 'poking it at him;' anyway, he gets madder the
longer it lasts, and at last he gets savage enough to snap off his own
tail and tear it to bits, because he can't get out and chew up that
other dog; and, if he did get out, he'd kill the other dog, or try to,
even if it was his own brother.

“Sometimes the outside dog only smiles and trots off; sometimes he
barks back good-humouredly; sometimes he only just gives a couple of
disinterested barks as if he isn't particular, but is expected, because
of his dignity and doghood, to say something under the circumstances;
and sometimes, if the outside dog is a little dog, he'll get away from
that fence in a hurry on the first surprise, or, if he's a cheeky little
dog, he'll first make sure that the inside dog can't get out, and then
he'll have some fun.

“It's amusing to see a big dog, of the Newfoundland kind, sniffing along
outside a fence with a broad, good-natured grin on his face all the time
the inside dog is whooping away at the rate of thirty whoops a second,
and choking himself, and covering himself with foam, and dashing the
spray through the cracks, and jolting and jerking every joint in his
body up to the last joint in his tail.

“Sometimes the inside dog is a little dog, and the smaller he is the
more row he makes--but then he knows he's safe. And, sometimes, as I
said before, the outside dog is a short-tempered dog who hates a row,
and never wants to have a disagreement with anybody--like a good many
peaceful men, who hate rows, and are always nice and civil and pleasant,
in a nasty, unpleasant, surly, sneering sort of civil way that makes you
want to knock their heads off; men who never start a row, but keep it
going, and make it a thousand times worse when it's once started, just
because they didn't start it--and keep on saying so, and that the other
party did. The short-tempered outside dog gets wild at the other dog for
losing his temper, and says:

“'What are you making such a fuss about? What's the matter with you,
anyway? Hey?'

“And the inside dog says:

“'Who do you think you're talking to? You---! I'll----' etc., etc., etc.

“Then the outside dog says:

“'Why, you're worse than a flaming old slut!'

“Then they go at it, and you can hear them miles off, like a Chinese
war--like a hundred great guns firing eighty blank cartridges a minute,
till the outside dog is just as wild to get inside and eat the inside
dog as the inside dog is to get out and disembowel him. Yet if those
same two dogs were to meet casually outside they might get chummy at
once, and be the best of friends, and swear everlasting mateship, and
take each other home.”
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