"

Glancing around at the dying woman, Pelagia saw that a magical transformation had taken place and she was quite clearly no longer ready for the grave. She was gazing intently at the bulldog puppies, and the fingers lying on her breast were stirring feebly, as if attempting to catch hold of something.

A trembling voice, just barely audible, asked: “But are they slobbery?”

"

Boris Akunin - Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog