The Adventures of an Irish Setter on St. Patrick’s Day

The Irish are known for being clever, particularly when it comes to getting out of a sticky situation.  So it’s only natural they have such a glorious celebration on March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day, celebrating all things Irish.

And it’s not just the humans who are clever.  So are our animals, as this story demonstrates.

Many years ago a wealthy Irish man decided to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by going on Safari to Africa.  And he took along his faithful Irish Setter for company.

One day the dog started chasing butterflies and before long he discovered he was lost.  While wandering about he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the obvious intention of having lunch.

The dog thinks, “Boyo, I’m in deep trouble now.”

Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by, and immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.  Just as the leopard is about to leap, the dog exclaims aloud,

“Man, that was one delicious leopard.  I wonder if there are any more around here?”

Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack in mid stride, as a look of terror comes over him, and slinks away into the trees.

“Whew,” says the leopard.  “That was close.  That dog 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 dog saw him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figured 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 cat 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 dog 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 dog says, “Where’s that monkey?  I just can never trust him.  I sent him off half an hour ago to bring me another leopard and he’s still not back.”

Wishing you a blessed St. Patrick’s Day full of clever solutions to all your troubles.