The Heart of a Dog

The outstanding surgeon, Professor Preobrazhensky, with the support and direct participation of his faithful assistant, Dr. Bormenthal, performs a unique operation to transplant a human’s pituitary gland and testicles into a stray dog named Sharik. The result is astonishing: the dog starts to take on a human appearance, but along with him, the donor’s worst character traits—Klim Chugunkin—also manifest.

The novella “Dog Heart,” subtitled “A Monstrous Story,” was intended for the almanac “Nedra,” where “Diabolisiada” and “Fatal Eggs” had previously been published. The editor of “Nedra,” N. S. Angarsky, hurried Bulgakov to create “Dog Heart,” expecting it to have no less success than “Fatal Eggs.” But during Bulgakov’s lifetime, unfortunately, the novella was never published.