. Beasts and men . nard returned. Well,cousin, said he, how doyou feel ? Very cold, said , with her teethchattering. My tail isso numb that I hardlyknow Ive got one ! Does it feel heavy?asked Reynard anxiously. Very heavy, saidMrs. Bruin. There must be hun-dreds of fish on it! saidReynard. He left thebank and walked roundthe bear, observing thatthe water in the hole had frozen over, and that Mrs. Bruinstail was held firmly in the ice. I think you may safely pull up now, he went on, butyou must be careful to land all the fish together. There isonly one way to do that: you must give a s
. Beasts and men . nard returned. Well,cousin, said he, how doyou feel ? Very cold, said , with her teethchattering. My tail isso numb that I hardlyknow Ive got one ! Does it feel heavy?asked Reynard anxiously. Very heavy, saidMrs. Bruin. There must be hun-dreds of fish on it! saidReynard. He left thebank and walked roundthe bear, observing thatthe water in the hole had frozen over, and that Mrs. Bruinstail was held firmly in the ice. I think you may safely pull up now, he went on, butyou must be careful to land all the fish together. There isonly one way to do that: you must give a strong, sharp,sudden pull and take them by surprise. Now then, are youready ? One, two, three . .! At the word three Mrs. Bruin rose on her hind legs andgave a mighty jerk, but her tail was so firmly embedded inthe ice that it would not come out. My word, cried Reynard, you have caught the wholeriver-full. Persevere, cousin—now then, a long pull and astrong pull! Ouf ! grunted Mrs. Bruin, ouf, ouf . . ah ! 171. ONE, TWO, THREE FOLK TALES OF BEASTS AND MEN And then she suddenly tumbled head over heels on the ice,as with one mighty jerk, she snapped her beautiful bushytail clean off close to the roots. When she had gathered her scattered wits together wellenough to understand what had happened, she went to lookfor Reynard, but he had suddenly remembered an importantengagement elsewhere, and was not to be found. And fromthat time down to this every bear has been born with a littlestumpy tail.
Size: 1533px × 1629px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauth, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcu31924029932617
