The Willow-Wren and the Bear

One summer day, the bear and the wolf were walking through the forest. The bear heard a bird singing so sweetly that he said, "Brother wolf, what bird is that singing so beautifully?" "That is the King of the birds," said the wolf, "and we must bow before him." But the bird was really a willow-wren.

"If that's so," said the bear, "I would very much like to see his royal palace. Come, take me there." "It's not as simple as you think," said the wolf. "We must wait until the Queen comes." Soon the Queen arrived with food in her beak, and then the King came too.

They began to feed their babies. The bear wanted to go right away, but the wolf held him back. "No, we must wait until the King and Queen leave again," he said. So they watched the hole where the nest was, and then they trotted away.

But the bear could not rest until he had seen the royal palace. A little while later, he went back. The King and Queen had just flown out, so the bear peeked inside and saw five or six baby birds lying in the nest. "Is this the royal palace?" cried the bear.

"What a miserable palace! And you are not royal children—you are disgraceful children!" When the baby wrens heard this, they became terribly angry and screamed, "No, we are not! Our parents are honest folk! Bear, you will pay for this!"

The bear and the wolf grew uneasy and hurried back to their dens. But the young willow-wrens kept crying and screaming. When their parents came back with food, the babies said, "We won't touch a single fly's leg, not even if we starve, until you find out whether we are respectable children or not.

The bear came here and insulted us!" Then the old King said, "Calm down. He will be punished." He flew with the Queen to the bear's cave and called out, "Old Growler, why did you insult my children? You will pay for this!

We will punish you with a bloody war!" So war was declared. All four-footed animals were called to fight: oxen, donkeys, cows, deer, and every other animal on earth. And the willow-wren called every creature that flies: not only big and small birds, but also gnats, hornets, bees, and flies.

When the time came for the war to begin, the willow-wren sent out spies to find out who was the enemy's commander. The gnat, who was the craftiest, flew into the forest where the enemy had gathered and hid under a leaf near the tree where the password would be given.

There stood the bear. He called the fox before him and said, "Fox, you are the cleverest of all animals. You shall be our general and lead us." "Good," said the fox, "but what signal shall we agree on?" No one knew.

So the fox said, "I have a long, bushy tail that looks like a plume of red feathers. When I lift my tail high, everything is going well and you must charge. But if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can." When the gnat heard this, she flew back and told the willow-wren everything.

At daybreak, the battle began. All the four-footed animals came running with such noise that the earth trembled. The willow-wren came flying with his army, humming, whirring, and swarming, so that everyone was afraid. Both sides advanced.

Then the willow-wren sent the hornet with orders to get under the fox's tail and sting with all its might. When the fox felt the first sting, he flinched and lifted one leg, but he held his tail high. At the second sting, he had to lower it for a moment.

At the third sting, he could take no more; he screamed and tucked his tail between his legs. When the animals saw that, they thought all was lost and fled to their holes. The birds had won the battle.

Then the King and Queen flew home to their children and cried, "Children, rejoice! Eat and drink to your heart's content. We have won the battle!" But the young wrens said, "We will not eat yet.

The bear must come to our nest and beg for forgiveness and say that we are honorable children." So the willow-wren flew to the bear's hole and shouted, "Growler, you must come to the nest and beg my children's pardon, or every rib in your body will be broken!" The bear crept there in great fear and begged their pardon.

At last, the young wrens were satisfied. They all sat down together and ate and drank and made merry until late into the night.