A HOUND NAMED MACE

An old man lived with his hound-dog Mace in a run-down shack on the outskirts of town.  He had no family and only a few meager possessions, including a bag of hand tools that he used to do odd jobs in town.  The old man and his dog lived from one day to the next on the little money these jobs brought in.

The dog was just a normal hound with one exception: while most dogs like to chew on grass occasionally, Mace chewed the grass every day.  Actually he mowed it.  When the old man was in town Mace would spend the day in the yard, chewing away on the lawn.

One bright sunny day the old man headed into town with a spring in his step and a whistle on his lips.  He had a plumbing repair job that would probably pay enough for him to buy food for the remainder of the week if he managed the money carefully.

Ready to start to work inside the house, old man reached in the bag for his wrench but didn't feel it.  He dumped everything on the floor but still couldn't find the wrench.  Without a wrench he couldn't finish the job and without the pay he couldn't even buy food for supper.  Although sympathetic, the lady who had hired him told the old man she would have to hire someone else.

The old man packed up his tools and headed home, head bowed and shoulders stooped. The whistle was gone, and no longer was there a spring in his step. The walk that normally took 15 minutes seemed to last forever.  But finally the old shack came into view, and he saw Mace munching away as usual on the lawn.

Kneeling beside the hound, the man began to pet him; through tear-filled eyes he told the dog that there would be no supper tonight and no food for tomorrow.  What was more, without money to buy a new wrench he had no idea what the future held. It was the loneliest, most helpless feeling he had ever had.

Then he caught a glimpse of something shining in the grass.  His despair turned in an instant to joy:    It was the wrench. It would have been lost forever had Mace not eaten the grass where the wrench had been dropped. The old man hugged the dog and ran into the house to find a pencil and a sheet of paper.  He quickly wrote a moving tribute to his canine companion.  Few people have ever heard these words.  (One man, however, did happen to read this tribute; he changed the words around a little and took the credit for writing a famous song.)

Here are the title and beginning line of the original poem:

A Grazing Mace, How Sweet the Hound that Saved a Wrench for Me
 

Back to The LightSide

Home