“…I ask my Mistress to remember me, always, but not to grieve for me too long. In my life I have tried to be a comfort to her in time of sorrow and an added joy in her life’s happiness. It is painful for me to think that even in death
I shall cause her pain.
Let her remember that, while no dog ever had a happier life, I have now grown ill and pained. I should not want my pride to sink to bewildered humiliation. It is time for me
to say ‘Good-bye.’
It will be a sorrow to leave her, but not a sorrow to die. Dogs do not fear death, as men do. We accept it as a part of life, not as something alien and terrible that destroys life.
What will become of me after death? I would like to believe I will be in a place where one is always young. Where I will someday be joined by companions I’ve known in life. Where I will romp in lovely fields with those who have gone before me. Where every hour is mealtime. Where in long evenings there are fireplaces with logs forever burning and one curls oneself up and remembers the brave old days on earth and
the love of one’s Mistress.
This is much to expect, but peace, at least, is certain…and a long rest for these weakened limbs…and eternal sleep which is, perhaps, the best……”
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Excerpt From an adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Last Will and Testament of Silverdane Emblem O’Neill” …