The lady found the bear cub in the forest. At that time it was half-dead of hunger. It was so small and helpless when the lady found it. The lady brought it up on the bottle milk with the help of her old cook.
The bear was quite amiable animal. He did not harm anybody, man or beast. He would look amicably at the cattle grazing in the field. He also enjoyed being put in the stable. The children liked him very much and even rode on his back.
The bear would eat and enjoy bread, porridge, potatoes, cabbages and turnips. He had never tasted meat. He was not allowed to get on the tree for apples. He was also not allowed to break the beehives.
Bear was tied up with the chain at night. On Sundays also he was chained when his mistress went to spend the afternoon with her married sister. He sister lived in a solitary house or the other side of the mountain-lake. It was not supposed to be good for him to wander about in the forest with all its temptations. It was not thought to be safe to take him to the forest.
As usual, one Sunday the lady was going to her sister’s house. Suddenly she heard the cracking of a tree-branch. When she looked back, she was horrified to see a bear coming at full speed. The lady got very angry. She told the bear in severest voice to go back. She even hit him on the nose with her parasol. The bear opened its mouth several times to say something. Then the bear reluctantly went back while looking at the lady till he lost sight of her.
The bear was regretful and die appointed because he was all alone for the whole day without his mistress. Moreover, the lady was very angry because she felt that bear had disobeyed her by following her. The cook got angry with the mistress because he was well-behaved throughout the day. He had been sitting calmly “as meek as an angel.” The bear had been looking all the day towards the gate waiting for his mistress to come back.
From the times immemorial the people have been keeping pets. They keep pets for the sake of their love and affection. Most of the people keep dogs and cats as pets. Some people keep pets to remove their loneliness. Besides dogs and cats, many people also keep strange creatures likes snakes as pet. Some people also keep bear, monkeys, cubs, and birds as pets.
I don’t think the second bear was afraid of the lady. In fact she was under the false impression that the bear following her was her own pet bear. That is why she shouted at Em and even beaten him with her parasol. I think her confidence and authoritative attitude stunned and surprised the other bear. I think probably that was one of the reasons why the bear did not attack her. Most people are afraid of the bears. They don’t behave with them as the lady did.