THE WILLOW WREN AND THE BEAR (011)_Grimms' Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm...^^..

THE WILLOW WREN AND THE BEAR (011)_Grimms' Fairy Tales
by The Brothers Grimm...^^..

Once in summer time the bear and the wolf were walking in the
forest, and the bear heard a bird singing so beautifully that he
said: " Brother wolf, what bird is it that sings so well ?" "That is
the King of birds," said the wolf, " before whom we must bow
down." In reality the bird was the willow wren (several small
active brown birds of the northern hemisphere with short upright
tails; they feed on insects). " If that’s the case," said the bear,
" I should very much like to see his royal palace; come, take me
there." " That is not done quite as you seem to think," said the wolf;
" You must wait until the Queen comes," Soon afterwards, the
Queen arrived with some food in her beak, and the lord King came
too, and they began to feed their young ones.

The bear would have liked to go at once, but the wolf held him back
by the sleeve, and said: " No, you must wait until the lord and
lady Queen have gone away again." So they took stock of the hole
where the nest lay, and trotted away. The bear, however, could
not rest until he had seen the royal palace, and when a short time
had passed, went to it again. The King and Queen had just flown
out, so he peeped in and saw five or six young ones lying there.
" Is that the royal palace ?" cried the bear; " It is a wretched
palace, and you are not King’s children, you are disreputable
children !"

When the young wrens heard that, they were frightfully angry, and
screamed: " No, that we are not ! Our parents are honest people !
Bear, you will have to pay for that !" The bear and the wolf grew
uneasy, and turned back and went into their holes. The young
willow wrens, however, continued to cry and scream, and when
their parents again brought food they said: " We will not so much
as touch one fly’s leg, no, not if we were dying of hunger, until you
have settled whether we are respectable children or not; the bear
has been here and has insulted us !"

Then the old King said: " Be easy, he shall be punished," and he at
once flew with the Queen to the bear’s cave, and called in:
" Old Growler, why have you insulted my children ? You shall
suffer for it we will punish you by a bloody war." Thus war was
announced to the Bear, and all four footed animals were summoned
to take part in it, oxen, asses, cows, deer, and every other animal
the earth contained. And the willow wren summoned everything
which flew in the air, not only birds, large and small, but midges,
and hornets, bees and flies had to come. When the time came for
the war to begin, the willow wren sent out spies to discover who
was the enemy’s commander in chief.

The gnat (small biting flies: midges; biting midges; black flies;
sand flies, mosquito), who was the most crafty, flew into the
forest where the enemy was assembled, and hide herself beneath
a leaf of the tree where the password was to be announced.
There stood the bear, and he called the fox before him and said:
" Fox, you are the most cunning of all animals, you shall be general
and lead us." " Good," said the fox, " But what signal shall we
agree upon ?" No one knew that, so the fox said: " I have a fine
long bushy tail, which almost looks like a plume of red feathers.
When I lift my tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must
charge; but if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can." 

When the gnat had heard that, she flew away again, and revealed
everything, down to the minutest detail, to the willow wren. When
day broke, and the battle was to begin, all the fourfooted animals
came running up with such a noise that the earth trembled. The
willow wren with his army also came flying through the air with
such a humming, and whirring, and swarming that every one was
uneasy and afraid, and on both sides they advanced against each
other. But the willow wren sent down the hornet, with orders to
settle beneath the fox’s tail, and sting with all his might.

When the fox felt the first string, he started so that he one leg,
from pain, but he bore it, and still kept his tail high in the air; at
the second sting, he was forced to put it down for a moment; at
the third, he could hold out no longer, screamed, and put his tail
between his legs. When the animals saw that, they thought all was
lost, and began to flee, each into his hole, and 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 the nest, and beg for
pardon and say that we are honourable children, before we will do
that." Then the willow wren flew to the bear’s hole and cried:
" Growler, you are to come to the nest to my children, and beg
their pardon, or else every rib of your body shall be broken." So
the bear crept thither in the greatest fear, and begged their
pardon. And now at last the young wrens were satisfied, and sat
down together and ate and drank, and made merry till quite late
into the night. 

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Norshahuddin Edited July 2014...^^..