Once upon a time, in a forest faraway, there lived a grizzly friendly bear. He was always polite with everyone. He helped those in need without hesitation and no one had ever heard an unkind word from him. He was a jovial bear and played with his forest friends everyday.
One day, the bear was hungry. He opened his honey cupboard. But alas! Instead of jars full of honey, he found an empty bowl.
‘Where did my honey go? Did I eat it all up?’ thought the bear.
‘I need to refill my stock or I will be a hungry bear!’ he worried.
But there was one problem. He had never bought any honey. Normally, Mama Bear, his mom would send it to him. But this time it seemed like she had forgotten. However, he couldn’t waste any time and decided that it was time he learnt to find his own honey. Plus, the idea of an adventure thrilled him.
Packing his bags promptly, he set out on his adventure to find honey. As he approached a clearing, he heard a cry,
“Help! Please someone help me!”
“Who is it?” asked the bear.
“It’s me the turtle! I am stuck in this ditch and can’t get out. Please help me!”, cried the voice.
Now, turtle and bear had been friends for a long time. They played everyday and shared food sometimes. Without hesitation, the bear picked a long stick and held it out to the turtle. The turtle held on the other end as the bear pulled him out to safety.
“Thank you my friend! How will I ever repay your kindness?”, inquired the turtle gratefully.
“Someday you will. For now I’m happy that you are safe my friend.”, replied the bear and set forth on his journey.
As he moved ahead, he met a snake. He seemed kind and spoke politely. He requested,
“Kind bear, would you like to take a walk with me?”
The bear happily obliged. But little did he know that the snake wanted to make him his lunch and gobble him up. The turtle saw the bear with the snake. He knew that the snake was evil and warned the bear of the snake’s true nature by using his secret signal; the whistle.
Listening to the turtle’s whistle, the bear, told the snake,
“My friend, it is time for me to resume my journey. I need to find my honey. Once I do find it, I will share it with you too.”
The snake realised that he had failed. The temptation of honey was too much to resist. So, he let the bear return to his adventure and return he did.
Luckily, he came across a honeycomb at the top of a tree. But, he did not know how to get it. He tried throwing a stone, but to no avail. He tried throwing all sort of things but, nothing helped. He tried climbing the tree. However, the bear was not very good with climbing and fell down immediately. By now, many of his friends had gathered to watch the feat.
They said to themselves, “We should help the bear. He is a kind fellow. He has always helped us!”.
They climbed on to each other and formed a pyramid to carry the bear closer to the honeycomb. Finally, the bear was close enough to break the honeycomb and collect honey to last for the next six months. Everyone was happy. Their kindness had brought them together and unity had helped them succeed.
TALLER TALES 