and he curled up his paws, and he went to sleep again.
This time, he just slept, and slept, until it began to be very warm inside the log, and he heard in his dreams the footsteps of birds outside.
Then he awoke, and he stretched himself, and he shook himself. He rubbed his eyes with his paws, and he poked away the mud, and the leaves, and the dirt, and he went outside.
But was he not surprised?
It had been a frosty night when he had gone to sleep, and now the woods were green. Old Bear had slept all winter.
"That was a fine long sleep," said old Bear, as he set out for little Brother Rabbit's house to see if he had anything good for breakfast; "and I shall go to sleep again, next fall."
So every summer, old Bear plays tricks on little Brother Rabbit, but when fall comes, he creeps away to a warm, dark place to sleep until spring.
And so have his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren, and his great-great-grandchildren ever since.
