Jack London: Bâtard
“Bâtard” is a short story by American writer Jack London, published in June 1902 in The Cosmopolitan magazine. Black Leclère is a cruel and brutal man who, upon seeing a fierce mixed-breed puppy—a cross between a wolf and a husky—decides to acquire it not because he wants it, but because he despises it. Leclère names the dog Bâtard, “Bastard,” and from the very first moment, man and animal are bound together by hatred. For five years, they travel together through the Canadian North. Amid hunger and abuse, Bâtard grows, becomes strong, fiercely dominates the other dogs, and harbors a deep grudge against his master. Both are trapped in a battle of wills, bound by a savage enmity in which each waits for the moment to destroy the other.