“The Lion of the Low Countries” by Huskyteer

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.

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I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

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and Today’s story is

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“The Lion of the Low Countries” by Huskyteer,

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an Ursa Major and Cóyotl Award-winning author of short stories.

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The story originally appeared in

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Symbol of a Nation

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from FurPlanet and you can find more of her stories

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at huskyteer.co.uk.

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“The Lion of the Low Countries”

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by Huskyteer “There you go, Mr Belgicus. One latte and one waffle with cream and Nutella.”

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Leo thanked the waitress and sipped his coffee,

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staring out across the cobbled square

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with its soothing splash of fountains.

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The morning sunlight shrank his pupils

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and played on the faded words that spotted his coat.

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He stretched out an arm,

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claws extended, and turned it over to feel the warmth on the unlettered inside of his wrist.

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Even in the rarefied world of heraldry,

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Leo Belgicus was an

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oddball. Back in the early days of the Renaissance, some artistic cartographer had noticed that the borders

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of the then Low Countries

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formed a shape that somewhat resembled a lion rampant,

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and a symbol had been born.

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He was proud of the fine details that mapped his skin,

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the rivers and villages, but they rewarded close and careful browsing.

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From afar, he was a mess.

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While other national creatures in bold, simple shapes

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were raised aloft on their countries’ flags, he was stuck in a book.

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Maybe that was why they all seemed to look down on him.

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He flipped his tablet open and created a new document.

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LIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: KEYNOTE SPEECH,

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he typed, then, exhausted by this burst of creativity,

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took a bite of his waffle.

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Licking cream from his nose,

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he considered his next line.

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Relevance, that was the key.

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He needed to fit in to this modern age, but it wasn’t easy.

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The zeitgeist rushed along like a Eurostar train.

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Miss, and you bellyflop onto the tracks, left behind in a cloud of embarrassment.

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In the Nineties, his PR officer had got Leo to perform a rap on national television.

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The memory still made his ink run cold,

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and even eating the PR officer had been a poor consolation.

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The conference used to be a highlight of his year.

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Now, he was dreading it.

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Young tyros like Lev Two-Tails, the silver lion of Czechia, already treated him with open contempt. ‘Paper

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lion’, Lev had called him at the last one.

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“You know, like a paper tiger. Because you are maps? Ha!”

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He switched to his newsfeed and browsed the headlines.

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Terrorism. Unemployment.

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Political extremists.

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Refugees crowding in from places where things were far worse.

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The general feeling seemed to be

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that the whole world was unravelling;

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was it any wonder that nobody had time for Leo?

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As a national animal,

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Leo’s purpose was to kindle his people’s pride in their country by reminding them of their history.

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Once, just stalking regally through the streets had been enough;

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now he stopped passers-by for conversation,

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like some religious fanatic or double glazing salesperson.

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More and more often,

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he either heard that history was boring and stuffy, or that the past was full of dubious conquests and prejudices of which he should be ashamed.

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Be strong, he willed the people crossing the square.

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Be brave. Remember your past.

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We’ve come through worse than this.

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A girl holding a teddy bear looked his way, briefly.

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Nobody else spared him a glance.

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All wrapped up in their mobile phones as usual.

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Above them, the flags of the EU and Belgium waved.

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Stars and stripes.

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Huh. Leo examined himself in the metal surface of the table.

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He was a lion! A funny-shaped lion, but instantly recognisable nonetheless.

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He was noble and fierce!

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He represented the proud spirit of his people!

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He should probably cut down on the waffles.

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Leo had always been on the short and chunky side,

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his shape dictated by the old national borders,

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but there was no excuse for the way his tummy bulged out at present.

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If anything, he should be losing weight,

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the way his map had changed.

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Wars and treaties had nicked an ear here, taken a chunk from his tail there,

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scarred his sides and ripped hanks from his mane.

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The states and towns that labelled him were blurring as their names faded from public memory.

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Once, they had stood out brightly,

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tattoos that rippled with his muscles.

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Now he looked like some neglected piece of public sculpture,

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chipped and scribbled on by bored teenagers.

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Across the square,

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a tourist pointed her camera.

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Leo smiled, toothily,

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and raised his paw in a regal wave.

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Not everyone recognised him these days,

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even his own people.

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Like the ancient placenames on his maps,

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he was fading from their memory.

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He wasn’t available on postcards, or as a plastic figurine.

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On the merchandise front, he’d lost out to a statue of a small boy piddling.

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He closed the news down and logged in to LION,

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the Lions International Online Network.

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Only the venerable lion of the United Kingdom was showing as available, which was fine with Leo;

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insofar as he had friends,

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the British Lion was his best one.

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He sent a private chat request.

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After a few seconds

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a video window popped open,

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showing the familiar grave and golden face.

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Leo narrowed his eyes respectfully.

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You didn’t mess with Lyonesse.

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“Hullo, LB. Looks like a nice morning over there.

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Filthy in London as usual.

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How’s the keynote going?”

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“Morning, Nessie. Actually, I’m a bit worried about it.

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I’m having a hard time finding something to say that’s relevant, you know?”

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Like Leo, the British Lion had seen her empire dwindle over the centuries as other nations rose to power.

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There were certain subjects you didn’t bring up with Lyonesse,

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like the loss of America, and why she had a mane

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(sexual dimorphism wasn’t a concept with which artists in the Dark Ages were greatly familiar,

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and most of them painted with a vague idea that a lion was a large, gold cat in a wig),

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but her dignity and seniority

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were such that nobody dared give her a hard time. “Pff.

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What do you mean, ‘relevant’?

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‘Edgy’? ‘On trend’?” Lyonesse

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had never let him forget his foray into rap.

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He felt his territories flush red.

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“You’re better than that, Leo.

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Pay no attention to those…those

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hipster neckmanes.”

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“They’re right, though.

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Nobody reads my blog.

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I applied to sponsor a brand of chip sauce and got turned down.”

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He gulped, and made his most damning confession.

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“It wasn’t even the leading brand.”

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“Dear me. Tintin and Poirot still ignoring your dinner invitations, too?”

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The onscreen face of Lyonesse smirked.

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“I have faith in you, LB.

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I know your speech is going to put Belgium on the map again.”

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Leo nodded acknowledgement of the old joke,

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though his tail, unseen under the table, twitched with annoyance.

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“I just don’t want to look silly,”

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he said. “Nonsense!

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Everyone’s always happy to see you, mapface.

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Are you bringing some of those caramel biscuity things?” “Stroopwafels,”

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Leo supplied, sadly.

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“Well, talk to you soon.”

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He closed the window.

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There it was: to his peers, Leo Belgicus, the Lion of the Low Countries, was nothing but a supplier of European treats.

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A portly, cuddly joke.

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And to the people of Belgium,

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a virtual unknown.

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Nobody cared about the past any more; they just wanted the future.

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Music and cartoons from the USA and Japan.

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Yet, at the same time,

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they were scared and unhappy.

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The prevailing view, he gathered, was that while they welcomed new things into the country on their own terms,

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the new people who came here looking for work or safety

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were less welcome.

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They would take all the jobs, or refuse jobs and take money from the state

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(nobody seemed entirely clear on this point)

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and they would dilute the national identity.

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But part of your identity is sitting right here!

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He wanted to jump up on the seat of the artsy

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steel café chair that was currently making his backside cold and sore,

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and roar it out. But would any of them hear?

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Maybe it was time to head home.

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Work on his stupid speech in peace.

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Some decades ago, Leo had established himself in the Atomium,

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the huge metal sculpture built for the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels.

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Already it was hopelessly dated,

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but that was somehow OK because it was retro.

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Fashions changed so quickly now.

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Times past, a castle was good for several centuries

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if you hung up a new tapestry every so often.

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There was a tram stop somewhere around here, but to his annoyance

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he wasn’t quite sure of the direction.

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He beckoned the waitress.

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“Seven Euro, please, Mr Belgicus.”

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She spoke Flemish with a slight accent from somewhere to the east.

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The stipend Leo had been granted by the state

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predated both the franc and the liard, rendering it worthless in today’s money,

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and his image was long out of copyright, so he didn’t receive royalties.

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It was lucky he’d invested in gold and diamonds,

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which he converted whenever the rate was favourable.

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He drew out his wallet,

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then paused. “You…weren’t born in Belgium, were you?”

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he asked, trying not to offend.

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“But you recognised me.

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How’s that?” “You’re part of the citizenship course!”

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She smiled. “I’ve forgotten a lot of what I learned, but I remember you.

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Your face looked so friendly.”

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He was supposed to look fierce,

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but Leo found he didn’t mind.

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He smiled back. Reaching in his wallet again,

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he picked out a mid-sized diamond.

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“Thank you,

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but I can’t accept this.” “I won’t tell your boss.”

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“It’s not that. I had to study the whole history of Belgium, you know. The bad bits too.

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I can guess why you have diamonds.”

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Leo dropped his gaze.

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“Do you know how to get to Labrador Road?”

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he asked. She frowned.

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“Let’s see, you need to head for…er…”

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“Can you show me on here?”

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He flexed a bicep so the town plan stood out.

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That had been a good pickup line, in the past,

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but the waitress just shook her head.

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“I don’t recognise any of these places.

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Don’t you have a maps app?”

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“A maps app? Why would I need a maps app?”

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He shrugged indignantly,

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displaying the towns and geographical features across his chest.

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“Why are you lost?”

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The waitress leaned across him

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and tapped at the screen of his tablet. “There!”

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With a series of gestures too intricate

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and precise for lion paws,

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she brought up a plan of the city

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and zoomed in on the red blob that marked their location.

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“There. Head up that street and turn left at McDonald’s…sir?

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Mr Belgicus?

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Are you all right?”

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She waved a hand in front of his nose.

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The Lion of the Low Countries

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stared straight ahead,

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a new light dancing

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in his parchment-coloured eyes. #

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Leo tapped triumphantly at a laptop key.

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On the screen above his head,

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the familiar portrait of Leo Belgicus appeared:

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the side view, with one forepaw raised,

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head high, and a long, red tongue lolling out.

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When he zoomed in on Liège, near his right elbow,

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a street plan appeared.

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A button changed the view, so Leo and his audience could see a reconstruction of the town

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as it had been in the Renaissance,

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and a scrollbar moved the map back and forth through the centuries.

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The team from the software company had spent

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weeks photographing

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and scanning Leo from every angle.

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He’d seen parts of himself he hadn’t known existed,

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and resolved to groom more thoroughly in future.

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High resolution imagery was

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not kind to centuries-old fur or whiskery chins,

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and the border hamlets between his toes deserved to be presented in their best light.

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He had helped them with the modelling of each town

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through the ages, too;

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after all, he had been there.

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Now he could revisit and share a past nobody else alive remembered.

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It was incredible,

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this skipping about in history.

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Aware that he had spent rather too long engrossed in a graphical representation of his own bicep,

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Leo raised his eyes.

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“Historians can use it,”

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he said, “and fiction writers.

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Children in school, too.

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And the new people coming in, the immigrants, they can learn about their new country.

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But it’s fun for everyone.

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Give it a try when you get home!”

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The URL flashed up on the screen.

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The audience of national lions

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made polite noises of appreciation.

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Someone, probably Lyonesse, began to clap, but when nobody else joined in, the noise faltered and stopped.

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They were intrigued, though;

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Leo could tell by the tilted heads

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and the ears turned towards the podium.

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It had been fun, working with the programmers,

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and flattering to hold their attention, even if they were mostly intrigued by the challenges of rendering him in pixels,

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or whatever they were called.

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What had really excited Leo, though,

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was the sensation of being a symbol to them.

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As, once, he had provided something to rally round and fight for,

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so his very shape and form spurred the maps team on to new feats of programming.

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There were other things, too,

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that he was keeping to himself for now.

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His visits to the borders

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to welcome newcomers into Belgium,

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and the care packages he funded by selling off his stores of treasure

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from the bad colonial days.

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“Any questions?”

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he said, into the hush.

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Lev Two-Tails raised a silver paw.

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“We all know something that looks cool today can be hideously out of place in a few decades,”

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he said. “How do you know this won’t be one of them?”

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“Are you referring to my brief career as a rap star?” Leo asked, before anyone else could.

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“Actually, I was thinking of Communism,” said the younger lion. “But the point still stands.”

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“My point,” Leo replied,

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“is that it doesn’t matter if something we try turns out to be silly,

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as long as we keep trying.”

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“Isn’t that just delaying the inevitable?

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All this effort, just to keep up appearances.

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If they don’t need us any more, and we can’t help them,

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maybe we should just…fade

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away.” Leo, startled,

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looked properly at Lyonesse;

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noticed how old and tired she looked.

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As his gaze wandered across the assembled lions,

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with their fur of argent

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and gules and or,

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he realised that he wasn’t the only one who felt

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left behind as the decades moved on.

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Even Lev had seen his territory chopped and changed over a relatively short

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lifespan. Many of them, like him, had watched the blue flag with its gold stars creep into their territory,

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and wondered what it heralded.

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“We’ve all been afraid of change,”

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Leo told them. “Our countries change and our people change, and we worry they’ll reject us.

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They make new alliances and unions, and we get scared that they won’t need us any more.

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They form bigger and

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bigger societies, and we’re afraid they’ll lose their identity, and us.”

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He spread his paws,

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widening the gaps between neighbouring hamlets.

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“But look at us! Look at

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LION! I can get hold of any of you for a chat, whenever I want.

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Lev can show me what’s going on in his country, just using his phone.

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And in a few years,

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all this will sound just as quaint as telex.”

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“Telex the thing? Or Telex the synthpop band?”

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“Lev,” Lyonesse warned,

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and the Czech lion subsided, swishing his two tails.

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Leo plunged onward.

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“When our people disperse to other countries,

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they need things that remind them of home.

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Food. Comic books.

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Flags. The very things that the new ones who come in adopt to help them learn and fit in.

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When online friends say,

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hey, what’s it like living in Belgium, or Czechia, or wherever

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—we’re part of that.

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We’re Lions International,

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remember?” He was freestyling now, going off the map.

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It was a heady feeling.

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Leo tossed his head back and shook out his mane.

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“There might not be flags where we’re going,”

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he said. “There might not be borders, or nations. But there will be lions.

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And there will definitely

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be stroopwafels.”

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He left the stage

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to furious applause.

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Even though some of it might have been at the prospect of biscuits,

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he was confident that some was for his speech.

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He hoped he was right about the future,

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but it wasn’t his place to try and influence it.

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He just brought the past to the table,

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for his people to remember the good bits and acknowledge the bad bits.

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He had rallied the lions and he would rally his nation, too.

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He’d like to see a pissing statue arouse such passion in its audience!

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The other delegates stood,

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beginning to mingle and head for the refreshments.

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The low purr of their chatter had a cheerful, excited tone.

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As Leo made his way past Lyonesse, she put a paw on his shoulder and touched her warm, pink nose against his inky one.

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“Excellent speech, LB,”

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she growled into his ear,

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her beard tickling the sensitive hairs there.

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He rustled at her touch,

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and for the second time that morning

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he looked at the old British lion

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as if he had never seen her before.

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Somewhere inside Leo Belgicus,

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a border crumbled.

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This was “The Lion of the Low Countries”

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by Huskyteer, read for you by Khaki,

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your faithful fireside companion.

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For more stories you can find us wherever you get your podcasts,

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or on the web at thevoice.dog.

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Thank you for listening

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to The Voice of Dog