The Donkey

The donkey is a quiet and gentle animal.

Some people think that donkeys are stubborn animals, but it is not true. They can be stubborn when people treat them cruelly.

The donkey is a very useful animal. It can work hard. It carries big loads of wood and heavy sacks.

The Reindeer

There are several kinds of deer, but the reindeer is the most useful. It lives in the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America. In North America the reindeer is wild, but in Europe and Asia people keep it as a domestic animal.

The reindeer has large horns and the hair on its body is brown above and while beneath.

The people of the North use the reindeer to draw their sledges when they go from place to place. The reindeer are fastened to the sledge by leather straps. Then the man, who sits on the sledge, ties a rope round their horns and drives the animals.

But the reindeer is not only a horse for the people of the North, but a cow, too. It gives them milk and they make butter and cheese of it.

The reindeer lives on moss, which grows under the snow. When the snow covers the ground it uses its feet and mouth to find moss.

The flesh of the reindeer is used as food by people of the North. They used its skin to make their clothes, rugs and boots. From reindeer’s horns people make glue.

The Newfoundland Dog

The Newfoundland dog is not only strong, but it is brave and kind. It is very fond of water and likes to swim. It rushes into the water and swims in it. If its master throws a stick into the water, the dog swims off at once to get it. When the dog reaches the stick, it seizes the stick with its strong teeth, turns round and swims back. When the dog comes to the dry land it lays the stick at its master’s feet.

The St. Bernard Dog

The St. Bernard dog is very large and strong with a large head, long hair and a bushy tail.

It is very clever and noble.

Its home is among the Alps – high mountains in Switzerland. There are several very steep and narrow roads which lead over these mountains into Italy.

There are snow-storms on these mountains even in summer. But in winter these storms are very fierce. They sometimes come on very suddenly, often after a bright morning. The snow falls so thickly that the travelers soon lose their way and in the end die under the snow. But the St. Bernard dogs come to save their lives.

These dogs took their name from the Convent of St. Bernard. Here the monks trained their dogs to look for travelers during snow-storms.

Every day in winter the monks sent the dogs out, generally in pairs. One dog had a basket of food and a flask of wine. The other had a cloak. In this way the man whom they found could have something to eat and drink at once and could get warm soon. If the man was able to walk they led him towards the Convent. The dogs barked all the way and the monks got ready to meet them.

If the man was so weak that he could not move, the dogs ran to the Convent and brought some of the monks to help him.

In this way the dogs saved many lives.

Once a woman, who wanted to go over the mountains with her little son, fell down and broke her leg. The dog found the little boy, got him on its back and carried him to the door of the Convent. After that it brought some monks to help the woman.