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a8507aa
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Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.
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comfort
pets
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James Herriot |
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fa0ab21
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If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.
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gratitude
love
soul
loyalty
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James Herriot |
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a496d57
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This old man had once told me that he left school when he was twelve, whereas I had spent most of the twenty-four years in my life in study. Yet when I looked back on the last hour or so I could come to only one conclusion. I'd had more of books, but he had more of learning.
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knowledge
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James Herriot |
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66715a6
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That quotation about not having time to stand and stare has never applied to me. I seem to have spent a good part of my life - probably too much - in just standing and staring and I was at it again this morning.
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beauty
hills
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James Herriot |
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5b13b8c
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I think it was the beginning of Mrs. Bond's unquestioning faith in me when she saw me quickly enveloping the cat till all you could see of him was a small black and white head protruding from an immovable cocoon of cloth. He and i were now facing each other, more or less eyeball to eyeball, and George couldn't do a thing about it. As i say, I rather pride myself on this little expertise, and even today my veterinary colleagues have been kno..
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James Herriot |
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0224ef1
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I don't think he ever gave a thought to other people's opinions, which was just as well because they were often unkind
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James Herriot |
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281e588
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If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. You've nothing to worry about there.
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James Herriot |
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109b612
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Over the years I knew her she always looked at me like that - as though I was a quite pleasant but amusing object - and it always did the same thing to me. It's difficult to put into words but perhaps I can best describe it by saying that if I had been a little dog I'd have gone leaping and gambolling around the room wagging my tail furiously.
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james herriot |
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d2f1375
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My mind went back to that picture in the obstetrics book. A cow standing in the middle of a gleaming floor while a sleek veterinary surgeon in a spotless parturition overall inserted his arm to a polite distance. He was relaxed and smiling, the farmer and his helpers were smiling, even the cow was smiling. There was no dirt or blood or sweat anywhere. That man in the picture had just finished an excellent lunch and had moved next door to do..
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veterinarians
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James Herriot |
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e1d5ec0
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At times it seemed unfair that I should be paid for my work; for driving out in the early morning with the fields glittering under the first pale sunshine and the wisps of mist still hanging on the high tops.
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James Herriot |
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17bf0a1
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And there was that letter from the Bramleys--that really made me feel good. You don't find people like the Bramleys now; radio, television and the motorcar have carried the outside world into the most isolated places so that the simple people you used to meet on the lonely farms are rapidly becoming like people anywhere else. There are still a few left, of course--old folk who cling to the ways of their fathers and when I come across any of..
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James Herriot |
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75f48f8
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Everybody was asleep. Everybody except me, James Herriot, creeping sore and exhausted towards another spell of hard labour. Why the hell had I ever decided to become a country vet? I must have been crazy to pick a job where you worked seven days a week and through the night as well. Sometimes I felt as though the practice was a malignant, living entity; testing me, trying me out; putting the pressure on more and more to see just when at wha..
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James Herriot |
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0ca0265
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No animal is a better judge of comfort than a cat
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James Herriot |
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302b5d2
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I went back to my conversation with Siegfried that morning; we had just about decided that the man with a lot of animals couldn't be expected to feel affection for individuals among them. But those buildings back there were full of John Skipton's animals - he must have hundreds. Yet what made him trail down that hillside every day in all weathers? Why had he filled the last years of those two old horses with peace and beauty? Why had he giv..
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love
horse
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James Herriot |
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8fd3fde
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When all t'world goes one road, I go t'other.
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James Herriot |
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78195cb
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She's out, Jim! The bugger's out!" Well this was great. Anybody who has driven a car with a hysterical cat hurtling around the interior will appreciate my situation."
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James Herriot |
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3798d61
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It was to a moribund horse, and Mr. Sidlow, describing the treatment to date, announced that he had been pushing raw onions up the horse's rectum; he couldn't understand why it was so uneasy on its legs. Siegfried had pointed out that if he were to insert a raw onion in Mr. Sidlow's rectum, he, Mr. Sidlow, would undoubtedly be uneasy on his legs.
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James Herriot |
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6a9b887
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Why had I entered this profession? I could have gone in for something easier and gentler--like coalmining or lumberjacking.
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James Herriot |
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3ceefec
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and just then the thin boy yawned. I had labelled him as an ineffectual sort of lad but he certainly could yawn; it was a stretching, groaning, voluptuous paroxysm which drowned my words and it went on and on till he finally lay back, bleary and exhausted by the effort.
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James Herriot |
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b6fc393
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he devoted a considerable amount of his acute intelligence to the cause of doing as little as possible. Tristan did, in fact, spend much of his time sleeping in a chair.
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James Herriot |
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311b429
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But Siegfried held up a restraining hand. "Just one moment," he slurred. "The windscreen is very dirty. I'll give it a rub for you." The ladies watched him silently as he weaved round to the back of the car and began to rummage in the boot. The love light had died from their eyes. I don't know why he took the trouble; possibly it was because, through the whisky mists, he felt he must re-establish himself as a competent and helpful member of..
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James Herriot |
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f4c27a5
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He devoted a considerable amount of his acute intelligence to the cause of doing as little as possible.
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laziness
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James Herriot |
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884b8be
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Usually they looked past me hopefully and some even went and peered into the car to see if the man they really wanted was hiding in there. And it was uphill work examining an animal when its owner was chafing in the background, wishing with all his heart that I was somebody else. But I had to admit they were fair. I got no effusive welcomes and when I started to tell them what I thought about the case they listened with open scepticism, but..
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James Herriot |
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51de183
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The dog did not move as the needle was inserted, and, as the barbiturate began to flow into the vein, the anxious expression left his face and the muscles began to relax. By the time the injection was finished, the breathing had stopped.
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James Herriot |
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612ba43
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Then the bull shook himself, turned his head and looked at us. There was an awed whisper from one of the young men: "By gaw, it's working!" I enjoyed myself after that. I can't think of anything in my working life that has given me more pleasure than standing in that pen directing the life-saving jet and watching the bull savouring it."
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James Herriot |
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fcdc07e
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a bullock, backing in alarm from the halter, crashed its craggy behind into my midriff. The wind shot out of me in a sharp hiccup, then the animal decided to turn round in the narrow passage, squashing me like a fly against the railings. I was pop-eyed as it scrambled round; I wondered whether the creaking was coming from my ribs or the wood behind me.
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James Herriot |
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bec8332
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own. I am sure that is what the family remembered best about me because of the way the mother's letter began. "Dear Vet with the bandaged finger ..."
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James Herriot |
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a6ff9d4
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Old Herriot may be limited in some respects, but by God, he can wrap a cat.
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James Herriot |
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cc5afc3
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You don't find cows with names any more and there aren't any farmers like Mr. Dakin, who somehow scratched a living from a herd of six milkers plus a few calves, pigs and hens.
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James Herriot |
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184408b
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He was polishing the glass with a dead hen.
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James Herriot |
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38d6083
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All young animals are appealing but the lamb has been given an unfair share of charm.
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James Herriot |
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1574d48
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without warning, the thermometer disappeared from my fingers. Some sudden suction had drawn it inside the cow. I ran my fingers round just inside the rectum--nothing; I pushed my hand inside without success; with a feeling of rising panic I rolled up my sleeve and groped about in vain.
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James Herriot |
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eaf643b
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Though in her late thirties, she had no fears of spinsterhood because she had been assiduously courted for fifteen years by Charlie Hudson from the Darrowby fish shop and though Charlie was not a tempestuous suitor there was nothing flighty about him and he was confidently expected to pop the question over the next ten years or so. Mr.
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James Herriot |
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656c057
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I can't bear it, Mr. Herriot. He was like a Christian was that pig, just like a Christian.
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James Herriot |
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2977dc2
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But cruel fate had not finished with us yet. My colleague's gasps and grunts from the rear ceased for a moment to be replaced by a horrified shriek. "The bloody thing's shitting, Jim! She's shitting everywhere!"
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James Herriot |
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9f1139a
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And I could find other excuses to get out and sit on the crisp grass and look out over the airy roof of Yorkshire. It was like taking time out of life. Time to get things into perspective and assess my progress.
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James Herriot |
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422768b
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Every day lasts a year. I never enjoy anything. And every morning when I wake up I dread having to face the world again.
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James Herriot |
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d26d328
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Life was full for me. There were so many things to find out and a lot I had to prove to myself. The days were quick and challenging and they pressed on me with their very newness. But it all stopped here in the garden. Everything seemed to have stopped here a long time ago. I looked back before going through the door into the yard and it was like suddenly coming across a picture in an old book; the empty, wild garden and the tall, silent ho..
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James Herriot |
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d472e54
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I had such a frightening experience last week," Mrs. Pumphrey continued. "I was sure I would have to call you out. Poor little Tricki--he went completely crackerdog!" I mentally lined this up with flop-bott among the new canine diseases and asked for more information. "It was awful. I was terrified. The gardener was throwing rings for Tricki--you know he does this for half an hour every day." I had witnessed this spectacle several times. Ho..
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James Herriot |
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2c39d0d
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If you decide to become a veterinary surgeon you will never grow rich but you will have a life of endless interest and variety.
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James Herriot |
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d538136
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What I didn't notice was that the passenger seat was not fixed to the floor but stood freely on its sledge-like runners. I dropped into it and went over backwards, finishing with my head on the rear seat and my feet against the roof. Farnon helped me up, apologising with great charm, and we set off. Once
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James Herriot |
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0136d1d
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As I say, I rather pride myself on this little expertise and even today my veterinary colleagues have been known to remark: "Old Herriot may be limited in many respects but by God he can wrap a cat." As"
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James Herriot |
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b10a268
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I overheard one youngster asking another: "Has he grilled you on the causes of fits in calves yet? Don't worry, he will." That made me feel suddenly old but there was compensation on another occasion when a newly qualified ex-student rushed up to me and offered to buy me all the beer I could drink. "You know what the examiner asked me in the final oral? The causes of fits in calves! By God I paralysed him--he had to beg me to stop talking."..
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James Herriot |
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64da305
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I freely admit that I have many times adopted Jim Oakley's precept of a "bloody good gallop," often with spectacular results. To this day I frequently learn things from farmers, but that was one time when I learned from a postman."
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James Herriot |