continuously altered by that which it cloaks. If you put a drop of
intense stain and a drop of powerful scent into a large tank of
distilled water, you change the superficial character of the water, make
it seem to be other than what it is. But it remains essentially a tank
full of water, now containing an obtrusive trifle of alien matter in
addition to the hydrogen and oxygen that decide its most significant
properties. That is what the Challon did to Homer--he released the
potential, then accidentally but indelibly stained it with his own
personality.

"To me, now, it merely _seems_ as though I first suffered death and then
an unwelcome resurrection, awakening in despair to find myself usurping
the helpless body of an almost new-born animal. Nothing physical or
spiritual of the Challon survived, but the embryo mind had been fed a
ready-made identity and so believed that it had already existed as a
Challon before re-birth as a dog. Its brain received instantly all 'my'
training, so that it became at once 'mature.' What I have endured in
these eight years--the isolation of mind and inadequacy of body--have
been a blunderer's reward visited upon his victim as a further injury.
Now that Homer lies near death--and 'I' with him, of course--I welcome
'our' approaching release from an unhappy situation.

* * * * *

"Wait--let me finish. Your main concern is what will happen to Timmy
when 'we' die, but it will be simpler to understand if I explain as much
as I can first. Finding myself to be a rational mind in the helpless,
immature body of an animal, I thought I was isolated forever. In
choosing the embryo to begin with, I was driven by the need for haste
and had not understood the limitations of a canine in a human world, nor
would I have had any alternative if I had fully understood. When it was
too late, it was not difficult to predict my future. I had no means of
communicating with the dominant species, Man. In time, if I survived
the hazards a puppy is exposed to, I could reveal my unusual
intelligence--could even learn to communicate in some hopelessly labored
manner. By using my store of inherited knowledge I could, if anyone
would take a dog seriously, advance your science. But I could do nothing
toward my main goals without exposing myself as an imitation Challon,
and that I must never do lest I loose terrible consequences.

"I knew that the life span of my new body was pitifully sho