The Boy Who Lived With Bears
Continued from Page 1
"No, friend deer," the boy said, "You are beautiful and good, but so fast I would be left far behind you."

Then an old bear-woman walked over to the boy. She looked at him a long time before she talked and when she spoke her voice was like a growling song. "You can come with us and be a bear," she said. "We bears move slowly and speak with harsh voices, but our hearts are warm. We eat the berries and the roots which grow in the forest and our nice dens and fur would keep you warm in the long season cold."

"Yes," said the boy, "I would like to be a bear. I will come with you and you will be my family." So
the boy who had no family went to live with the bears. The mother bear had two other children and
they became brothers to the boy. They would roll and play together and soon the boy was almost as
strong as a bear.

"Be careful, though," the old bear-woman cautioned him. "Your brothers' claws are sharp and wherever they scratch you, you will grow hair just like them." They lived together a long time in the forest and the old bear-woman taught the boy many things.

One day they were all in the forest seeking berries when the bear-woman motioned them to silence. "Listen," she said. "There is a hunter." They listened and, sure enough, they heard the sounds of a man walking. The old bear-woman smiled. "We have nothing to fear from him," she said. "He is the heavy- stepper and the twigs and the leaves of the forest speak of him wherever he goes."

Another time as they walked along, the old bear- woman again motioned them to silence. "Listen," she said. "Another hunter." They listened and soon they heard the sound of singing . The old bear-woman smiled. "That one too is not dangerous. He is the flapping-mouth, the one who talks as he hunts and does not remember that everything in the forest has ears. We bears can hear singing even if it is only thought, and not spoken."

So they lived on happily until one day when the old bear-woman motioned them to silence, a frightened look in her eyes. "Listen," she said, "the one who hunts on two-legs and four-legs. This one is very dangerous to us, and we must hope he does not find us, for the four-legs who hunts with him can follow our tracks wherever we go and the man himself does not give up until he has caught whatever it is that he is hunting for."

Just then they heard the sound of a dog barking "Run for your lives," cried the old bear-woman "The four-legs has caught our scent."

And so they ran, the boy and the three bears. They ran across streams and up hills, but still the sound of the dog followed them. They ran through swamps and thickets, but the hunters were still close behind. They crossed ravines and forced their way through patches of thorns, but could not escape the sounds of pursuit. Finally, their hearts ready to burst from exhaustion, the old bear-woman and the boy and the two bear-brothers came to a great hollow log. "It is our last hope," said the old bear-woman. "Go inside."

They crawled into the log and waited, panting and afraid. For a time, there was no sound and then the noise of the dog sniffing at the end of their log came to their cars. The old bear-woman growled and the dog did not dare to come in after them. Then, once again, things were quiet and the boy began to hope that his family would be safe, but his hopes were quickly shattered when he smelled smoke. The resourceful hunter had piled branches at the end of the log and was going to smoke them out!  "Wait," cried the boy in a loud voice. "Do not harm my friends."

"Who is speaking?" shouted a familiar voice from outside the log. "Is there a human being inside there?" There came the sound of branches being kicked away from the mouth of the log and then the smoke stopped. The boy crawled out and looked into the face of the hunter--it was his uncle!!

"My nephew!" cried the uncle with tears in his eyes. "Is it truly you? I came back to the cave where I left you, realizing that I had been a cruel and foolish man . . . but you were gone and there were only the tracks of many animals. I thought they had killed you.

And it was true. Before the uncle had reached home, he had realized that he had been a wickedperson. He had turned back, resolved to treat the son of his own sister well from then on. His grief had truly been great when he had found him gone.

"It is me," said the boy. "I have been cared for by the bears. They are like my family now, Uncle. Please do not harm them."

The uncle tied his hunting dog to a tree as he nodded his agreement. "Bring out your friends. I will always be the friend of bears from now on if what you say is true."  Uncertain and still somewhat afraid, the old bear-woman and her two sons came out of the log. They talked to the boy with words which sounded to the uncle like nothing more than animals growling and told him that he must now be I human being again.

"We will always be your friends," said the old bear-woman and she shuffled into the forest after her two sons. "And you will remember what it is to know the warmth of an animal's heart." And so the boy returned to live a long and happy life with his uncle. a friend to the bears and all the animals for as long as he lived.