Note 324 — LEGENDS

All went well until one day toward spring, when the fatal moment came. The mother bear heard a hunter approaching again and, although they all kept very still, she said, addressing the child: “I think our time has come; our separation is near; you can remain here, but we must go, for we are bears, but you are a human being. They will take you out and care for you.” Then the child and the cubs saw the hunter coming. She put out her two-pronged bough but could do nothing; all her magic power was gone. When the hunter came up, seeing the claw marks on the bark of the tree, he concluded there must be bears within. The old bear knew all was over, so she said to the eldest of her cubs, “You must go first and the others must follow.” At this the eldest climbed up and out, and at that instant the boy heard the twang of the bowstring and impact of the arrow, and as he watched the little bear it seemed to throw off a burden, which fell to the ground, while the little bear itself324 went straight on without stopping. Then the other little bears followed, one and all sharing the fate of the first; each time one emerged the boy heard the same sounds and saw the burden fall, but as he saw the little bears still running on, he was not frightened. Then the old bear said: “Now, I have to go. You must be good and obedient and all will be well with you”; then she went out. He heard the same sounds as before and saw her drop on the ground; knowing she was killed, he began to scream. The hunter, hearing him, was astonished. Then, remembering having heard that a child had been lost, he though it might be the child in this tree. So he set to work to get the boy out, and soon succeeded in doing so. He found the child naked and unable to speak a word, having forgotten how to talk. Skinning the largest cub, the hunter made leggings for the child from the skin. The boy was grieved to see his companions dead and cut up, but he could not speak to let his rescuer know how dear they were to him. The hunter took the boy to his father, who was overjoyed to see his child again. Ever afterward he kept the boy near himself, and in the future all was well.