23 Two Travellers and a Bear

23. TWO TRAVELLERS

AND A BEAR

By Sue Reid

One cold winter’s day two friends

set off to travel to the town. They

talked and laughed as they strode

along. It was cold and snow was

falling but the two men hardly

noticed - they were enjoying each

other’s company so much. What a

pleasant fellow he is, each of them

thought. I’m glad that we are trav

elling together.

The road to the town lay through a

forest. It was late by the time the

men reached it. ‘We should turn

back,’ one of them said to the

other nervously. ‘It’ll soon be dark

and there are bears in that forest.’

His friend was just as scared as he

was. But didn’t want his friend to

know. So he laughed. ‘Pah! Bears.

That’s nothing to be afraid of. I

fought a bear once – and he ran

away.’

The other man felt ashamed of

himself. I am a coward, but he is

brave, he thought. ‘Then we’ll go

on,’ he said.

It was very dark in that forest.

The trees grew close together. It

was hard to see the road clearly. It

was hard to see anything at all!

But the man wasn’t afraid any

more. He listened as his friend told

him all about his fight with the

bear. ‘It was very big,’ he boasted.

‘Twice as big as me. But I picked

up a stick and fought it off.’

All of a sudden there was an enor

mous crash. And out of the bushes

lumbered - a bear. The men had

never seen such a huge bear. When

it saw the men it licked its lips. ‘At

last!’ it said, standing up on its hind

legs and growling. ‘Dinner!’

With a cry of fright, the friend ran

to the nearest tree and hauled him

self up onto a branch. ‘Aren’t you

going to fight it?’ the man cried.

‘Fight it! You must be mad,’ said

his friend. ‘It will kill us.’ The man

ran up to the tree where his friend

crouched, trembling. ‘There’s room

for us both in that tree,’ he cried.

‘Help me up.’

1But his friend pushed him away.

‘No there isn’t. Find somewhere

else to hide,’ he said.

‘What shall I do?’ the man thought.

The bear was so close now he could

have stretched out a hand and

touched it. ‘If I try to run it will run

faster. If I fight it, it will kill me. It

is bigger and stronger than me.’

He flung himself to the ground

and lay there, as still as he could.

‘Perhaps it will leave me alone,’ he

thought, ‘if it thinks I am dead.’

The bear was very hungry. It

hadn’t eaten for a long time. But it

was puzzled when it saw the man

drop to the ground. ‘Is he dead?’ it

wondered. ‘Let me see.’

It bent down, so close that the man

could feel its fur brush his cheek.

Then it put out a paw and prodded

him. The man lay still, his heart

pounding. ‘Any minute now,’ he

thought, ‘that bear will tear me to

pieces.’ But the bear got up. ‘He

hasn’t moved. He must be dead,’

it thought. ‘And I don’t like dead

meat.’ And it ambled away sadly

into the forest.

The man got up and dusted himself

down. He didn’t look at his friend.

He was very angry with him. He

had pretended to be brave, but he

was a coward. He had left him to

face the bear on his own.

‘I saw the bear whisper in your ear,’

the friend said climbing down from

the tree. ‘What did he say?’

‘He said a man who leaves his

friend to face danger isn’t a true

friend.’ And with that he turned

away, leaving the other to make his

own way home.

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