The Call of the Wild is the story of Buck, a dog stolen from his home and thrown into the merciless life of the Klondike to endure hardship, bitter cold and the savage lawlessness of men and dogs.
White Fang tells of the adventures of an animal, part dog, part wolf, turned vicious by cruel abuse, then transformed through the patience and affection of one man.
Jack London’s superb ability as a storyteller and his deep understanding of nature and animals have made these among the world’s most favorite dog stories.
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A történet főhőse, Buck, a bernáthegyi- és juhászkutya keverék, amelyet az északi aranybányászat megindulásakor száz dollárért eladnak. Befogják szánt húzni, majd több ezer mérföld után három ügyetlen aranyásó veszi meg, s a fáradt eb egy idő után nem hajlandó továbbmenni, amiért kis híján agyonverik. Thorthon, a jártas aranybányász menti meg az életét és Buck nagyon megszereti, egy ízben az életét is megmenti. Thorthon és két társa nagyszerű aranylelőhelyre talál, de az indiánok rajtuk ütnek és megölik őket. Buck erdei bolyongásából hazatérve halva találja gazdáját: bosszút áll az indiánokon, és enged a vadon hívásának, beáll a farkasok közé.
Chafing at custom’s chain;
Again from its brumal sleep
Wakens the ferine strain.”
Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide- water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.
Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which glimpses could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was approached by gravelled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear things were on even a more spacious scale than at the front. There were great stables, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly array of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards, and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well, and the big cement tank where Judge Miller’s boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon.”