All Creatures Great and Small

Chapter 11 begins with James facing a tragic situation. An old man’s beloved dog has cancer, and the only thing James can do is put him down to stop his suffering. No words of comfort he can think of feel good enough, and he can’t bear to charge Mr. Dean for putting his dog to sleep. But Mr. Dean still thanks him by giving him a long-saved cigar.

Another skirmish in the endless struggle between brothers Siegfried and Tristan involves Siegfried trying to get Tristan to do some work by putting him in charge of the account books on market day. Everything goes well until Tristan loses the receipt book, so they no longer have a record of who has paid their bills. The farmers who have already paid are furious to get their bills again.

With all the difficulties of farm work, James is pleased to have small animal clients. One is Tricki Woo, a spoiled Pekingese whose owner, Mrs. Pumphrey, imagines Tricki to be nearly a person with strong opinions and even a lonely Dalmatian for a pen pal. James is happy to put up with being Tricki’s “uncle” because Mrs. Pumphrey also spoils him, giving him sherry and sending delightful gifts and hampers.