"And where was the dog-king born? For, never having heard of him before, I am now quite as wise as I was," said Uros.
"Well, they say that Atilla, who was a very great king, was born at Starigrad, the old castle, which, as you know, is not very far from Nona. Starigrad is said to have been built on the ruins of a very old city, which was once called Orsopola, but which now hardly deserves the name of a town. The village where I was born goes by the name of Torre-Vezza, but we in Slav know it as Kulina-pass-glav."
"What a peculiar name, The Tower of the Dog's Head," added Milenko.
"Yes, it is also called The Tower of the Dog-King
Kulina-pass-kraljev."
"And why?" asked Uros.
"Because it was the tower where Atilla was born, and as the king happened to have a dog's ears, the place was called after him The Tower of the Dog-King."
"How very strange that a king should have a dog's ears."
"Not so very strange either. Once, in olden times, a king actually had ass's ears; but that was long before constitutional monarchy: I doubt whether people would stand such things nowadays. Some historians say that he had a dog's head, but that, I daresay, is an exaggeration; and perhaps, after all, he had only big hairy ears, something like those of a poodle. Anyhow, if the legend is to be believed, it does not seem wonderful that Atilla was somewhat of a mongrel and doggish in his behaviour."
"Let's hear the legend," said Uros.
Thereupon, the captain and his two mates, lying flat on their stomachs, propped themselves up on their elbows, and began to puff at their cigarettes. Then the captain narrated as follows: