My lovely lady dog Sophia, described as a cross-bred Labrador with a golden robe, was born nine years ago.
A few minutes ago, I told her [in our everyday French dog talk] that she's a lovely old lady, and I gave her a fine Saint Marcellin cheese. In her usual discreet style [a little like that of Cécilia Sarkozy], Sophia refrained from making any public statement on this occasion.I'm reminded of our Skeffington ancestor, the lunatic second Earl of Massereene [1743-1805], who once threw a party for his dog, while insisting that invited animals should be attired for the festivities in dress clothes. I'm fond of that crazy ancestral personage, Clotworthy Skeffington, whose escape from a Parisian prison preceded the storming of the Bastille. I admire him in the same way I love dogs and underdogs in general, and Sophia in particular.
she's so nice and sweet!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd she's wise, too, as her Greek name implies! Well, her name was originally Greek, meaning "wisdom", but the existence of Sophia Loren makes many people think that it's an Italian, if not Latin, name. I guess you could say it's a universal name, except that the French like to replace the final "a" by an "e". I pronounce my dog's name in the Greek fashion, as two syllables: sof-YAH. She's great with children and strangers, but not necessarily with other dogs. Her general technique with another unknown dog consists of sniffing it for ten seconds, in an apparently friendly fashion, to see what it's all about, and then barking furiously as if to tell the other dog to get the hell away from her. Sophia's great passion in life is food (tendency to become overweight unless I pay attention to her diet), and I've always had the impression that she sees other dogs, particularly in the neighboring village of Pont-en-Royans, as rivals for fragments of food that she might find in the street. Above all, Sophia is marvelously faithful, with no tendency to ever want to roam away from the house. I consider her as a dog of character.
ReplyDeleteyou know, I've always known the word "sofia" is a greek word (Sophia Loren is just a nickname, her real name is Maria).
ReplyDeleteBut I thought the word meant "love for something.."
I definetely have to check it.