We read the most horrible story for Thomas Mann this week. It's called Tobias Mindernickel, and it's about this guy (Tobias Mindernickel) that nobody likes, and who has no friends, and hardly ever leaves his house because he doesn't want to be made fun of.

One day he decides to get a dog, probably to keep him company. But he doesn't like the fact that the dog doesn't obey his every command, and he beats the dog for whenever he misbehaves, and he always hates it when the dog is really happy. One day the dog accidentally jumps on a sharp knife, and gets wounded, and Tobias becomes immediately very happy and sympathetic, because now the dog finally understands "the pain of the world." He loves nursing the dog back to health.

At the end of the story, the dog gets better, and Mindernickel can't stand to see the dog so happy again, so when the dog starts running around the room, Tobias stabs the dog, and accidentally kills it. Then he realizes what he's done and starts crying. The End.


Isn't that a twisted story? The only good thing about it, I guess, is that you can tell from the way the story's written that Thomas Mann liked dogs, because he describes the dog so realistically. So at least it's clear that the reader is supposed to sympathize with the dog, and not the man!