Russian short story 1984 or before

[crystalspin]

It's haunting my mind, unfortunately with very few concrete details.

I believe it was in a collection of Russian SF short stories, or possibly just the one story by a Russian (still Soviet then?) author. I think the former: My best friend and I were studying Russian language and that's how the book would have followed him home...

The protagonists are a woman and a wolf (or dog?) -- they communicate telepathically or perhaps are bound emotionally and/or mentally, as I'm not sure WORDS are ever used.

The crux of the story is SOMETHING is lost, and the World (?) is in danger because of it... maybe a virus from a laboratory? or something from "outer space"... the wolf/dog is integral to finding the [very small] THING because of its sense of smell, and I suppose the woman is necessary because she is linked to the animal (and has opposable thumbs, if and when the THING is found).

Please help with any or all: story title, author, name of the collection, publisher. I'm in search of something LOST within myself, and I would like to read this again. Obviously, I'm also out of touch with best friend of 1984...

TIA ~'spin!~

 

[SpaceShip]

Hi crystalspin. Welcome to the Chronicles. Sorry can't help with your query but there are soooo many people on this site with soooo much info between them that I'm sure one of them, if not more, will come up with some ideas. Hope to see you around the site.

 

[crystalspin]

Thanks, SS!
I actually have a rep. as the Google Queen, but this one has me (and Google) stumped.

Learned a bunch ab. Russian science fiction (authors and awards, etc), but either my synopsis is off, or no one has sat around typing/scanning abstracts in!

I read all the way through Book Search and *tried* a search of the whole forum, but any of my words resulted in too-voluminous hits to tackle!

Hoping for the best, tomorrow!
~'spin!~

 

[iansales]

Could it be something by the Strugastsky brothers?

 

[crystalspin]

Ian,
Arkadi and Boris are very prominent in discussions of Russian SF, are they not?!! I think I will be reading some of theirs, regardless of the answer to my quest... the World of Noon sounds compelling!

I woke up this AM with another, perhaps phantom? -- memory, however, that the book that included my story was a volume of NEW Russian writers, which the S.Bros would not have been, in the early 80's... That memory could be entirely wrong however.

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...
~'spin!~

 

[crystalspin]

If anyone is curious -- I *found the story*!!!

It is (English name) "City and Wolf" by Dmitri Bilenkin (trans. Roger DeGaris), published in World's Spring (ed. Vladimir Gakov) (1981, MacMillan, NY).

I found it by searching "Soviet 'science fiction' collections 1980's", and buying several of the hits, on eBay. World's Spring was my best hope, and arrived the latest... Worth waiting for, though!

TAFN, ~'spin!~