Why the Bear Has a Stumpy Tail
a Norwegian folk tale by P. C. Asbjbrnsen and J. Moe adapted from the
translation by G. W. Dasent
One winter day, the Bear met the Fox, who was slinking along with a
string of fish he had stolen.
“Hi, stop a minute, Mr. Fox! Where did you get those fish?” demanded the
Bear.
Now the Fox, as you know, is a sly one indeed. He didn’t want the Bear
to know that he had stolen the fish. So he said, “Oh, my Lord Bruin,
I’ve been out fishing and caught them.”
Well, the Bear was hungry and thought he would enjoy some fish. So he
asked the Fox to tell him how to go about catching fish.
“Oh, it is quite easy,” answered the fox, “and soon learned. You have
only to go down to the river and cut a hole in the ice. Then you put
your tail in the hole and keep it there as long as you can. Don’t mind
if it hurts a little. That will be the fish biting. The longer you keep
your tail in the hole, the more fish you will catch. Then, all at once,
pull out your tail. But be sure to give a good hard pull.”
Well, the Bear did as the Fox said. Before long, he was very cold and
his tail really hurt. But he kept his tail in the hole until he was sure
that he must have caught a great many fish.
Then, remembering what the Fox had said, he gave a really hard pull. But
what he didn’t know was that his tail was frozen in the ice. So, when he
pulled, his tail snapped off short. And that is why, to this day, the
Bear has a stumpy tail.
