A Dog of Flanders
A Dog of Flanders, El perro de Flandes, 플랜더스의 개, 法蘭德斯之犬
A Dog of Flanders is a novel about a boy Nello and his dog Patrasche, written by Marie Louise de la Ramée under the pseudonym Ouida in 1872. It is widely read in Japan, and has been adapted into several films and anime.
In the 19th century, a boy named Nello becomes an orphan at the age of two when his mother dies in the Ardennes. His grandfather, Jehan Daas, who lives in a small village, Hoboken, near the city of Antwerp, takes him in. One day, Nello finds a dog who was almost beaten to death and names him Patrasche. Due to the good care of Jehan, the dog recovers, and from then on, Nello and Patrasche are inseparable. Since they are very poor, Nello has to help his grandfather by selling milk. Patrasche helps him pull the milk cart that Nello uses to sell milk in the town.
Nello has a friend, Aloise, the daughter of a well-off man in the village. The father doesn't want his daughter to have a poor sweetheart. Although Nello is illiterate, he is very talented in drawing. He enters a junior drawing contest in Antwerp, hoping to win the first prize, 200 francs per year. However, the jury selects somebody else. Afterwards, his grandfather dies and he is accused of causing a fire. His life becomes even more desperate. Having no place to stay, Nello goes to the cathedral of Antwerp to see Rubens' The Elevation of the Cross, but he doesn't have enough money to enter. On the night of Christmas Eve, he and Patrasche go to Antwerp and, by chance, find the door to the church open. The next morning, the boy and his dog are found frozen to death in front of the triptych.
(Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. "A Dog of Flanders")
