Hoekom juis ‘n Jack Russelltjie? So is ek telkens gevra toe my hondeboekie (hierbo) in 2000 by Human & Rousseau verskyn. Billike vraag.
Die boek handel immer nie oor ‘n JR of JR’s in die algemeen nie. Dit handel oor hondestories. Soveel stories, soveel soorte honde. In my eie lewe speel ‘n JR geen rol nie, buiten dat die bure se laspos gedurig blaf en met sy skerp tandjies hondeterreur in die buurt saai.
Die rede was eenvoudig dat Cora Coetzee wat getaak was om die omslag te ontwerp, ‘n lastige rugprobleem ontwikkel het. ‘n Alternatief moes haastig gesoek word. Daardie manhaftige JR’tjie is in ‘n fototeek raakgeloop en het dadelik die hart van die boek se redakteur gesteel. Ek het nie beswaar gehad nie en … siedaar!
Vanoggend het ek per e-pos ‘n JR-storie ontvang wat my met grote deernis vervul oor daardie hondjies. Ek is trots op die ou oor hoe hy ‘n luiperd uitoorle.
Wat my nog trotser op die JR maak, is dat hy al ‘n ou hond is wat oor ‘n jong luiperd koning kraai. Hy laat netjies reg aan HvD se definisie van ‘n “senior oomblik” geskied.
Die tradisionele definisie is mos negatief: dis wanneer jou kop joiu in die steek laat, ‘n naam vertgeet word, ‘n eenvoudige woord op jou tong vashaak, ens.
Ek verkies om dit positief om te keer; om ‘n senior oomblik te definieer in terme van ‘n oomblik van briljantheid, ‘n oomblik van flinkdink. Wanneer ‘n gryse ‘n troefwoord spreek, met ‘n dodelike kwinkslag vorendag kom en/of ‘n geleentheid raaksien en daarop toeslaan.
Lees gerus die storie oor die ou hond en die jong luiperd – dit pas my definisie soos ‘n handskoen!
Die storie is in Engels, en ek was te lui om te vertaal:
An old gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa , taking his faithful, elderly Jack Russell named Killer, along for the company.
One day the old Jack Russell starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he’s lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.
The old Jack Russell thinks, “Oh, oh! I’m in deep doo-doo now!” Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old Jack Russell exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?”
Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. “Whew!”, says the leopard, “That was close! That old Jack Russell nearly had me!”
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old Jack Russell sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.
The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.
The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, “Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!”
Now, the old Jack Russell sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?”, but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old Jack Russell says…
“Where’s that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!”
Moral of this story…..
Don’t mess with the old dogs…age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! BS and brilliance only come with age and experience. Hoor-hoor! (HvD)
