The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (Rackham)/The Wren and the Bear
The Wren and the Bear
NCE upon a time, in the summer, a Bear and a Wolf were taking a walk in a wood when the Bear heard a bird singing most beautifully, and he said, ‘Brother Wolf, what kind of bird is that singing so beautifully?’
‘That is the King of the birds, and we must bow down to it.’
But really it was a Wren.
‘If that is so,’ said the Bear, ‘I should like to see his royal palace. Come, you must take me to it.’
‘That ’s not so easy,’ said the Wolf. ‘You must wait till the Queen comes.’
Soon after, the Queen made her appearance, bringing food in her beak, and the King came with her to feed their little ones. The Bear would have liked to go in at once, but the Wolf held him by the sleeve, and said, ‘No; now you must wait till the King and Queen fly away again.’
So they marked the opening of the nest, and trudged on. But the Bear had no rest till he could see the royal palace, and before long he went back.
The King and the Queen had gone out again. He peeped in, and saw five or six young ones lying in the nest.
‘Is that the royal palace?’ cried the Bear. ‘What a miserable place! And do you mean to say that you are royal children? You must be changelings!’
When the young Wrens heard this, they were furious, and shrieked, ‘No, indeed we’re not. Our parents are honest people; we must have this out with you.’
The Bear and the Wolf were very much frightened. They turned round and ran home to their dens.
But the young Wrens continued to shriek and scream aloud; and when their parents came back with more food, they said, ‘We won’t touch so much as the leg of a fly, even if we starve, till you tell us whether we are really your lawful children or not. The Bear has been here calling us names.’
Then said the old King, ‘Only be quiet, and this shall be seen to.’
Thereupon he and his wife the Queen flew off to the Bear in his den, and called in to him, ‘Old Bruin, why have you been calling our children names? It will turn out badly for you, and it will lead to a bloody war between us.’
So war was declared, and all the four-footed animals were called together—the ox, the ass, the cow, the stag, the roedeer, and every other creature on the earth.
But the Wren called together every creature which flew in the air, not only birds both large and small, but also the gnats, the hornets, the bees, and the flies.
When the time came for the war to begin, the Wren sent out scouts to discover where the commanding generals of the enemy were to be found. The gnats were the most cunning of all. They swarmed in the wood where the enemy were assembled, and at last they hid themselves under a leaf of the tree where the orders were being given.
The Bear called the Fox up to him and said, ‘You are the slyest of all the animals, Reynard. You shall be our general, and lead us.’
‘Very good,’ said the Fox; ‘but what shall we have for a signal?’ But nobody could think of anything. Then said the Fox, ‘I have a fine, long, bushy tail, which almost looks like a red feather brush. When I hold my tail erect, things are going well, and you must march forward at once; but if it droops, you must all run away as hard as ever you can.’
When the gnats heard this they flew straight home and told the Wrens every detail.
When the day broke, all the four-footed animals came
At the third sting the Fox screamed, and down went his tail between his legs.
The Wren and his army also came swarming through the air; they fluttered and buzzed enough to terrify one. And then they made for one another.
The Wren sent the Hornet down with orders to seat herself under the tail of the Fox and to sting him with all her might.
When the Fox felt the first sting he quivered, and raised one leg in the air; but he bore it bravely, and kept his tail erect. At the second sting he was forced to let it droop for a moment, but the third time he could bear it no longer; he screamed, and down went his tail between his legs. When the animals saw this they thought all was lost, and off they ran helter-skelter, as fast as they could go, each to his own den.
So the birds won the battle.
When it was over the King and the Queen flew home to their children, and cried, ‘Children, be happy! Eat and drink to your hearts’ content; we have won the battle.’
But the young Wrens said, ‘We won’t eat till the Bear comes here to make an apology, and says that we are really and truly your lawful children.’
The Wren flew to the Bear’s den, and cried, ‘Old Bruin, you will have to come and apologise to my children for calling them names, or else you will have all your ribs broken.’
So in great terror the Bear crept to the nest and apologised, and at last the young Wrens were satisfied, and they ate and drank and made merry till far into the night.