This page created 2005 for The Anthropomorphic Index. Do not redistribute without crediting The Anthropomorphic Index.

E-text prepared and proofread by Perri (salalipika@gmail.com)

DOINGS OF LITTLE BEAR

By Frances Margaret Fox

I.

WHAT WOKE LITTLE BEAR

Before Little Bear learned to walk and long before Goldilocks ate his porridge, broke his chair, or slept in his bed, the Middle-sized Bear used to rock him to sleep.
One day when Little Bear was cutting a new tooth, his mother rocked and cuddled him half an hour before he fell asleep. Gently she carried him upstairs and put him in his bed.  Suddenly Big Bear began dancing and prancing about the kitchen. He sang in a big voice:

“Ta-de-dum, dum, dum!
Ta-de-dum, dum, dum!"

“Why, father!" exc1aimed Mother Bear. “You'll wake Little Bear!”
Immediately Big Bear put a big paw over his big mouth and stopped singing.

Just then a flock of ducks waddled past the Three Bears' home. It seemed to Mother Bear as if every duck tried to say “Quack!” louder than every other duck.
“Oh, ducks, please don't!” begged Mother Bear. “You'll wake Little Bear!”
The ducks hid their heads under their wings. Soon after that three black crows sat on a tree near Little Bear's window, and began to call, “Caw! caw!”
“Oh, please don't shout so loud!” begged Mother Bear, who was making apple pie.
The pie was in the oven when down the green road came the forest band; then Little Bear stirred in his sleep, for the rabbit was beating his drum with might and main:

“Diddy-bum, diddy-bum!
Diddy-bum-bum!”

Two hundred crickets and three hundred grasshoppers were playing their fiddles:

“Fiddle-de-dee!
Fiddle-de-dee!”

The frogs were playing their banjos:

“Plunkety, plunk! Plunkety, plunk!”

Katydids were singing, “Katy-did!” Beavers were beating time with their tails:

“Ker-splash-bump, bump!
Ker-splash-bump, bump!”

Little Bear woke up and cried for his mother, and she carried him downstairs.
“Here, take daddy's watch!” offered Father Bear; but the band was making such a din baby could not hear the watch tick.
“See what daddy's doing!” said his father, and he waltzed round, singing:

“Ta-de-dum, dum, dum!
Ta-de-dum, dum, dum!”

No wonder Little Bear stopped crying and laughed through his tears!
And Mother Bear laughed, too.
Little Bear was happy after that; but he did not go to sleep again that day.

II.

WHEN LITTLE BEAR WAS ILL

Once Father Bear went away on a journey. He had been gone two days when Mother Bear noticed that the wood box was nearly empty, and asked Little Bear to fill it. But instead of doing as his mother had asked, Little Bear sat on the back doorstep, with his chin in his front paws, and looked at that woodpile.
“What is the trouble?” asked Mother Bear. “Don't you feel well?”

“Not very,” answered Little Bear, but a little twinkle shone in his eye.
“You poor little fellow, you must be ill!” Mother Bear went on. “How do you feel?”
“Kind of tired,” confessed Little Bear, with a glance at the woodpile.
“Come in and lie down,” advised Mother Bear.
It was warm, and Little Bear fell asleep the minute his head touched the pillow.
Mother Bear stepped to the door when she saw Father Deer passing “What do you do for your children when they are ill?" called Mother Bear.
“We give them salt," advised Father Deer. “Is Little Bear ill?"
“I fear that he is,” was the reply.
“Well, give him a lump of salt,” repeated Father Deer, and as he went on, he told every one that Little Bear was ill.
Bad news travels fast. Before Little Bear awoke from his nap the house was full of neighbors, and the table was full of medicine; Peter Rabbit's mother had sent camomile tea; Mother Deer brought salt; Sally Beaver was there with willow twigs.
“My mother says that he must nibble at the willow bark,” Sally Beaver advised.
“Father says that you must roll him in deep mud," put in severe Mrs. Reynard.
“Oh, Mother Bear, Mother Bear,” wailed Little Bear, “don't make me take any medicine! Oh, don't!”
By this time Little Bear was so scared that he felt positively ill.
“I'll give him the catnip tea,” promised Mrs. Wildcat. “If he makes any fuss, I will hold his nose.”
“And I'll hold his nose and make him take the salt!” declared Mother Deer. “It is the best medicine there is!”
“Perhaps I might coax him to take a taste of the camomile tea,” began Mother Bear. “You'll take the camomile tea for dear mother, won't you?”

“No, no, no, I don't want any medicine!” protested Little Bear.
“You'll have to hold his legs and arms, and I'll hold his nose,” said Mrs. Wildcat, “and of course we shall begin with catnip tea.” At that moment Father Bear came home, having returned from his journey. “Let me see Little Bear,” he said.
Straightway all the neighbors edged toward the door, in order to make room for
Father Bear.
“How did this sudden illness begin?” questioned Father Bear.
Then Father Bear looked at Little Bear's tongue and felt his pulse; then he heard about the empty wood box, and he said, “I know what will cure him right away. Little Bear, what you need to do is to get up and fill the wood box!”
“Oh, I'd like to fill the wood box,” answered Little Bear. And with a leap and a bound, he sent the medicines flying as he ran toward the woodpile, and took off his little outside coat.
Soon the neighbors heard the sound of wood falling- bumpety, bang! bumpety, bumpety, bump, bump! bang, bang, bang! into the wood box.
When the wood box was filled, Mother Bear wiped her eyes. She had been crying for joy.
“If your baby ever should be ill again, give him catnip tea,” advised Mrs. Wildcat, as she walked out.
“Salt-salt is the thing,” corrected Mother Deer gently, as she bowed, and left the house.
“I'm glad that he is well again,” remarked Sally Beaver, as she nibbled at her own willow twigs. And Mother Bear kissed Sally Beaver.
As for Little Bear, he filled the wood box the next day without being reminded.

III.

A JOKE ON FATHER BEAR

The morning that Father and Mother Bear wentt Seven Mile Point they put Little Bear in his cart and took him along.
“Because we may not get home to-night,” explained Mother Bear. “Besides, it will be easier to bring our blackberries home in a cart.”

All the way to Seven Mile Point Little Bear sang and asked questions, and asked questions and sang. He was the happiest and the most bothersome little bear in the big forest that morning.
Later in the forenoon, when Father Bear and Mother Bear were busy picking blackberries, Little Bear spied Goldilocks, with her mother, her aunt, and her little cousin. They were picking blackberries on the other side of the clearing.
Straightway Little Bear began to dance up and down, and shout, “I am going to scare somebody! I am going to scare women and children, women and children!”
“Where are there any women and children?” asked Father Bear.
“Over there, over there!” answered Little Bear. “And one is Goldilocks, and I'll scare her! I'm going to scare Goldilocks!”
“Are you sure that there isn't a man with them?" inquired Mother Bear.
“No, they are all alone! Goody, goody! I'm going to scare them!”
“How do you think you are going to scare them?” demanded Father Bear.
“I am going to creep along under the bushes, so that they can't see me, and then when I am close to Goldilocks, I shall jump up and say, 'Boo! Boo! Boo!' And then I shall watch them run, and maybe I shall say 'Boo!' again.”
Father and Mother Bear smiled; but Father Bear stopped picking blackberries and said, in severe tones, “Young Bear, you must never scare women and children. Do you understand? You must never scare women and children!”
“But I should so like to see them run!” said Little Bear. “But,” he added, quickly, “of course I won't scare them-but-it would be all right to scare a man, wouldn't it?”
“Oh, yes, there would be no harm in scaring man, but women and children-no, you must never do that.”

Little Bear ran back to his play, and forgot Goldilocks and her mother and her aunt and her little cousin until an hour later, and then he looked down from a hilltop and saw a strange sight.
On one side of a clump of blackberry bushes he saw his father and mother; on the other side of that same clump of bushes he saw Goldilocks and her mother her little cousin and her little cousin's mother. They were all picking blackberries!

Father Bear and Mother Bear did not know that Goldilocks and her family had crossed the clearing, and you may be sure that Goldilocks and her family did not know that they were so near a big, big bear and a middle-sized bear.
Little Bear watched with delight. Presently he saw Goldilocks move toward her mother.
“I think I heard somebody on the other side of the bushes,” whispered Goldilocks. Of course Little Bear could not hear what either of them said; he could see only that they were speaking together.
Her mother answered, “My child, you hear the wind in the bushes.”
“But, mother,” Goldilocks said again, as Big Bear stepped on a dry twig, “I am sure I heard a noise.”
“My child,” answered Mother Goldilocks, “you hear the squirrels.”
Again Goldilocks whispered, “Mother, I know that I heard somebody on the other side of the bushes.”
"My child, you probably hear the birds flitting about.” Hardly had Mother Goldilocks spoken these words when a funny thing happened. Father Bear suddenly stepped around the bushes, and almost bumped into Mother Goldilocks. My, but she was scared! When Mother Bear stepped around the bushes, she almost bumped into Goldilocks. And as the little girl and Mother Goldilocks, and the Baby Cousin's Mother screamed and ran - so did Mother and Father Bear!

Little Bear had a great laugh over this, and later, back at home, even Father Bear saw the humor in how a woman and child had managed to frighten him!

IV.

LITTLE BEAR'S BEE TREE

Whenever Father Bear and Mother Bear went after honey they left Little Bear at home. Little Bear wondered about that honey, and why he was always left at home.
“Where do you find honey, Father Bear?” Little Bear asked, one day
“In a bee tree, Son Bear, in a bee tree, to be sure!” answered Father Bear.
“What is a bee tree like?” asked Little Bear. “Is it like a needle-ey pine tree, or a maple tree, or is it like a birch tree with leaves that flutter, or...what is a bee tree like, Father Bear, and how does it grow?”
“A bee tree,” answered Father Bear, “is any kind of a hollow tree where bees build nests and store honey.”
“How do you find a bee tree, Father Bear?” said Little Bear, trying to look wise.
“How do you find a bee tree?” repeated Father Bear, trying to look wise, too. “Why, Son Bear, you find a bee tree by-well, a bear knows where to look for a bee tree; that's all-you find it because you find it! Yes, yes!”
“Could I find a bee tree?” asked Little Bear.
“Oh, no, Son Bear,” Father Bear answered, “not even in the way Goldilocks' father found his bee tree!”
“Please tell me about it!” begged Little Bear.
“Well, Goldilocks' father found his bee tree the way most men do in the north woods. He filled a little box with honey made of sugar and water. Then he caught a bee and shut it up in the box. When the bee had gathered all the sweetness he could carry, Father Goldilocks opened the box and let the bee go. You must know, Son Bear, that bees fly in a straight line to their nests; that is what is meant by a 'bee line.' Goldilocks' father followed the bee as far as he could see the right direction; and at last Father Goldilocks reached the bee tree and helped himself to honey.”
“Oh, I wish I could find a bee tree!” cried Little Bear.
“No, no, Little Bear, no, no!” Father Bear insisted. “You won't know how to find a bee tree until you grow to be a big, big bear!”
Now that very day Little Bear did find a bee tree, and this is how it happened: he was playing in the woods between the house and the river when he jumped upon a long, moss-covered log, and began to dance and sing:
“When I'm big, I'm going to find a bee tree!”

Just then Little Bear danced straight through the roof of that old rotten log, which had once been a tree, and down he went into a bees' nest! Out came the bees after Little Bear's nose! Home ran Little Bear, fast, fast!
“I found a bee tree! I found a bee tree!” shouted Little Bear, brushing the bees from his nose, first with one paw, then with the other. “Oh, I did find a bee tree!”
“Son Bear found a bee tree!” echoed Father Bear. Out came Mother Bear, and the three ran back after the honey. And that honey was so sweet Little Bear did not care if the bees did sting his nose!
After that happy day the Three Bears always went together in search of honey.

V.

LITTLE BEAR AND THE CIRCUS MAN

One morning Father Bear and Mother Bear went away to pick blackberries. Mother Bear told Little Bear to stay in his own yard. After his father and mother went away, Little Bear was dancing a bear dance beside the lilac bush, when a stranger looked through the railing, and said, “Are you one of the Three Bears? Is your father called the Big Bear and your mother called the Middle-sized Bear?”
“Yes,” said Little Bear, “we are the Three Bears family.”
“Then open the gate, and come with me,” said the stranger. “I am Mr. Circus Man.”
Now the circus man went into the forest on purpose to catch Little Bear. In his hand he carried a chain and a collar. He wished to put the collar around Little Bear's neck, and drag him by the chain from the forest. He wanted to put him in tent with this sign:

SIDE SHOW!
BRING THE CHILDREN TO SEE THE LITTLE BEAR, WHOSE HOME WAS VISITED BY
GOLDILOCKS!
Only Ten Cents Admission!

“You should go to the circus and hear the band play, Little Bear,” said the man. “And you should see the circus tents! You should see the clowns do tricks inside the biggest circus tent! You should see the big animals that belong to the circus! You should see the elephants from India! They are bigger than your house, Little Bear! You should see the great hippopotamus and the huge rhinoceros with the horn on top of his nose! You should listen to the lions roar, and hear the tigers growl! Will you come with me to the circus, Little Bear?”
“I should like to see the circus,” spoke Little Bear, “but I can't go until my father and mother come back from the blackberry patch. Mr. Circus Man, I should think you would be afraid of the big elephants bigger than our house.”
“Oh, no,” answered Mr. Circus Man. “I am so brave I am not afraid of the elephants.”
“I should think,” went on Little Bear, “that you would be afraid of the great big hippopotamus and the big, big rhinoceros.”
“Oh, no, Little Bear,” the circus man said. “I am so brave that I am not afraid of anything. You come with me. You see, I am not afraid of--"
Mr. Circus Man never finished that speech, because at that moment Father and Mother Bear returned, and Mr. Circus Man suddenly looked terribly frightened. For half a second he stared at the Middle-sized Bear and the Big Bear, and then he turned and ran so fast that his coat tails stood straight out behind!
Little Bear laughed until he had hiccoughs.
“What is the matter with Mr. Circus Man?” asked Little Bear, at last.
“He must have been afraid of us,” answered Mother Bear.

“Afraid of you!” exclaimed Bear; and then he laughed harder than ever, because he thought it was so funny that any one could be so afraid of his good father and mother. And that night, Little Bear laughed in his sleep, and Mother Bear smiled, and said, “Maybe he is dreaming of Mr. Circus Man running away from us. It was funny!”