There Are Bears in the Woods

From Tales Told to Children

“Once you dig a hole and find yourself at the bottom of it, no one wants to hear you complain that you’re in a hole.” – Anon.

Once upon a time there was a man who complained that the woods near the town where he and his fellow citizens lived was a dangerous place. “Yes,” the people said, “it is dangerous. You should stay out of it.” The man wanted the woods cut down. The people said that maybe they should wait, not jump into hasty decisions.

The man kept insisting that the woods were dangerous, bears lived there, wolves too, and in time of drought the trees might catch on fire and the resulting holocaust could sweep through the town. "True," the people said, "but it hasn't happened yet. The wolves and bears had been kept at bay, and no fire had gotten bad enough to pose a serious threat to the town."

So one day the man found a pipe, and he began to play it. The children in the town were fascinated by the man with the pipe, and they began to follow him around. The man saw that he had much power, and he led the children out of town and into the woods. "The woods are very dangerous," the children said. "Are you sure we should go here?"

"Yes, it is dangerous," the man said, "but I am playing the pipe, and its sound is very sweet." The children agreed with him, and they continued to follow him deeper and deeper into the woods. Once the man was in the heart of the woods, bears and wolves began to creep out of their hiding places, licking their lips, their sharp teeth flashing in the moon light.

"Look!" the children said. "There are wolves and bears all around us! How will we be safe now?"

The man said not to worry, he had just the thing. He ordered the children to gather dry branches and leaves, and he quickly built a fire to frighten away the wild beasts. The fire grew hot, and the flames leaped up to the sky. "Quick," the man said. "More kindling. We must build a big fire to scare away all of the bears and wolves."

The children ran about and gathered up all of the dry wood they could find and piled it onto the bonfire. Soon the flames were licking the branches of nearby trees, which quickly caught fire themselves. The flames leaped higher and soon the trees were aflame. A wildfire spread throughout the tree branches and the sky lit up red and angry.

The fire spread faster than even the swiftest children could run, and the flames swept toward the town and the houses caught fire and the people were burnt up in their beds as they slept.

"You see," the man was heard to say before he too was consumed by the flames, "I told you these woods were dangerous."

Copyright©Jim Manis 2006