Part 1 (1/2)

The Adventures of a Bear

by Alfred Elwes

AT HOME

Yes, it is an ”at ho to introduce you; but not the at-home that many of you--I hope _all_ of you--have learnt to love, but the at-ho fireside, no pictures, no sofas, no tables, no chairs; nohalf so pleasant: but soft , tinted clouds, so, and now and then a fight With these points of difference, you reeable a entleman or lady; yet I have no doubt Master Bruin is much more at his ease in it than he would find hies of huht to do

But there is a quality that is quite as necessary to adorn one hohtful mansion and the warmest cavern can never be happy, and hich the sie and the ood temper Of what avail are coood temper to enjoy them with? How ood temper is present to cover them with a veil?

Perhaps you have not yet learnt what a valuable treasure this good temper is; when you have read the history of my bear, you will be better able to form an opinion

I cannot tell you when this bear was born, nor am I quite sure where; bears are born in so many parts of the world now, that it becomes very difficult to deterrowl, and they never think to preserve a memorandum of the circumstance Let it suffice that our bear was born, that he had a mamma and papa, and some brothers and sisters; that he lived in a cavern surrounded by trees and bushes; that he was always a big lump of a bear, invariably wore a brown coat, and was often out of temper, or rather, was always _in_ temper, only that temper was a very bad one

No doubt his parents would have been very willing to cure this terrible defect, if they had kno; but the fact is, they seehts to attend much to their faether sucking his paw; and his partner, Mrs Bruin, would sit in her corner sucking her pahilst the little ones, or big ones, for they were growing up fast, would round, or bite one another's ears by way of a joke, or cli trees to adain, to the imminent destruction of their clothes; not that a rent or tould have grieved their norant besides, to think ofthem In all these sports Master Bruin, the eldest, was ever the foremost; but as certain as he joined in the ro the consequence The reason was clear enough; his teh he was quite ready to play off his jokes on others, he could never bear to receive the, he cath to be considered as the enerations, and in his own fa-bear

Now I privately think, that if a good oaken stick had been applied to his shoulders, or any other sensitive part of his body, whenever he displayed these fits of spleen, the exercise would have had a very beneficial effect on his disposition; but his father, on such occasions, only uttered his opinion in so low a growl that it was impossible to orously than ever; and hishis rew apace, until his brothers and sisters icked enough to wish he ain, or that hethrough the cerean to be conjectured that some such event had occurred when, for three whole days, he never made his appearance The respectable fa, at this unusual absence; it evidently uess what they thought about: if one could form an idea from the attitudes of the different ht paw and his left paw alternately--it was a fahts were too deep for expression; but before their , the object of them made his appearance at the entrance of the cavern, with his coat torn, li altogether as disconsolate a brute as you can well conceive He did not condescend to say where he had been, nor what he had been doing; perhaps no oneno good, and had got his reward accordingly If, however, this great bear's ill tee what it must have been with such a sore head!

The experience of reeable beings in creation than ill-nurtured bears,--bears that have been ill-licked,--those great, fierce, sullen, cross-grained and ill-tempered beasts, that are, unhappily, to be found in every part of this various world; but when all these unhandsome qualities are found in one individual of the species, and that one happens to have a sore head into the bargain, it is easy to believe the _at home_ which he honours or dishonours with his presence can neither be very quiet nor particularly cos supportable which at first would seem beyond our powers of endurance Mr and Mrs B, and, indeed, all the other B's, ot so used to the tyranny of this ill-tempered anirowl; but there is a limit to sufferance, beyond which neither men nor bears can travel, and that boundary was at last attained with the B's As what I am now about to relate is, however, rather an iraphy, I must inform you how the matter occurred, and ere the circumstances which led to it

You are, perhaps, aware that bears, being of rather an indolent disposition, are not accustomed to hoard up a store of provision for their wants in winter, but prefer--in their own country, at least--sleeping through the short dreary days and long bitter nights, and thus avoid the necessity of taking food for sothened slue, but we give it the name of hybernation Now it happened that Mrs Bruin had taken it into her head to lay by this winter a nice little stock, which she very carefully buried at a short distance from the mouth of the cavern, when she felt the usual drowsiness of the season co covered the spot with a heap of dead leaves that she ain when she woke up, she crawled into bed, and turning her back to her old partner, as already in a coetfulness, went fast asleep

The whole family rather overslept themselves, for the sun was quite brilliant when they awoke, and it was very evident that they had been dozing away for sos, and kicking his two nearest brothers as he got up, just to hint to theain, he opened his reat extent it was, too--and stretching his li hi, and co, he scuffled to the entrance of the cavern and sniffed at the fresh air He sniffed and sniffed, and the more he sniffed, theelse besides fresh air which he was inhaling The s else_, caused hireater; and then it entered his bearish brain that where there was a s to occasion it Whereupon, following that great nose of his--and he could not have had a better guide--he scuffled out of the cavern and down the path, till he reached a little est, he squatted down With his great paws he soon demolished the entrance to hisout some of the dainties it contained, which, withoutMeanwhile his brothers, who had been aroused by the affectionate conduct of the eldest, were by this tiood appetites as Bruin hireat awe of that most ill-tempered brute, it must be admitted that this was an _extra_-ordinary occasion, and they acted accordingly Just fancy beingappetites fierce enough to devour one another!

So they rushed to the spot where Bruin was y than a short grunt or two, they seized upon some of the hidden treasures, and with little cerery jaws Bruin was thunderstruck! Never before had they ever presumed to dip their paws into his dish, and now they were actually before his face, converting the most delicatethe food out of his verywhich it see his jaws so full would choke hie paw, felled his younger brother to the ground Then turning to the second, he flew at him like a fury, and seemed resolved to make hi in courage, and as strengthened by the idea that there was so for, and which he would certainly lose if he ran aarded off his blows, and, by careful , kept his brother at bay, and avoided co to such close quarters as to subject hi: for he knew, if he once felt that e any appetite left hich to complete his half-finished breakfast

The noise of the combat had noever, roused the family Mrs B was the first to make her appearance, and she was soon followed by the rest

Explanations ensued, although the facts of the case were sufficiently clear, and Bruin's character ell known Old Ursus Major drew hinified demeanour

The ill-teh he h rejecting all interference

It is a pity I cannot relate to you as said upon this occasion, for Old Bruin is reported to have made a very eloquent discourse on the horrible effects of ill-te, whether uttered by a bear or any other ani his son on the enormity of his offences,--which probably he was hi many of his previous errors,--he bid him quit for ever his paternal roof, and seek his fortune elsewhere; cautioning hih the world with credit to his naood-te

Bruin took this advice ina ith any of the faed to hug hiible words, and set forth upon his travels

UPON HIS TRAVELS

There is no denying that when Bruin had got clear of the old fa where he had hitherto spent his days, he felt most particularly unco the past, he would, in his present state of feeling, no doubt have done so For the first time in his life, the sense of his ill-teliness; and as he sat down on a huge tree which was lying across his road, he looked such a picture of disconsolateness, that it was evident he would have felt great relief if he could have shed some tears Alas, howourselves! We give way to our bad tereeable, and our friends unhappy; we quarrel, if we do not actually fight; and e meet the reward of our ardness, and find ourselves abandoned by those ould have loved us had we acted differently, we then ht have avoided Alas, poor human nature! alas, poor bear!

I am truly sorry to observe that no act of repentance followed Bruin's sense of desolation His first feeling of sorrow over, he felt indignant that he should have been so treated; but, ret at being denied a closer search into his old ed in his various reflections he happened to cast his eyes up to a neighbouring hollow tree, where, at so in and out a great hole, with all the bustle and buzzing usual to those busy people Now, it is well known that bears are reat risks in order to obtain this dainty, and Bruin was very far fronorant to reflect that it was a great deal too early in the season to hope for any store, but, consulting only his own inclinations, he lost no ti up the tree; and when he had reached the spot where the now angry bees were hurrying to and fro reat paw into a hole with the hope of drawing forth a fanant insects now came out in a swarm, and attacked him with the utmost fury; three of them settled on his nose, and pricked hireat patch behind, where his trousers orn thin; and a whole troop fastened on to the sore place in his head--for it was not quite healed up--and so stung hie, he threw hi through the wood to get rid of his determined little enemies: they stuck fast, however, to their points of attack, nor did Bruin get clear of his tormentors till he dashed himself into a pool of water and buried his head for a ree of trepidation that he raised his nose above water and peeped about hione, so he crawled out of the ry shake or two, for his coat was quite wet, he resumed his journey