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Dido, the Dancing Bear: His Many Adventures

<h1>DIDO THE DANCING BEAR</h1> HIS MANY ADVENTURES BY RICHARD BARNUM <h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I DIDO CUTS UP</h2> In the woods, on top of a mountain, in a far-off country there once lived a family of nice bears. I call them nice bears for they were. Of course they had long claws, and sharp teeth, but they never bit any one, or scratched any one, because there were no boys or girls, or men or women, living in that part of the woods. I suppose, though, if a boy went on top of the mountain, and began throwing stones or sticks at the nice bears, they might have run out and scratched him to make him go away. Mind, I’m not saying for sure, but maybe. But, as I have said, there were no boys in the woods to bother the bears who lived all by themselves in a den among the rocks. A bear’s house is called a den, because it is such a nice, cozy, warm place, just as your father or[8] brother may have a room of his own, all fixed up with the things he likes best, and he calls that his den. Well, in this den in the woods on top of the mountain lived the five bears. There was Mr. Bear, the papa, and Mrs. Bear, the mother, and there were three little bears, called cubs, just as little dogs are called puppies. One little bear was named Gruffo, because he had such a deep, gruff voice, though it was not at all cross. And another bear was named Muffo, because he had such big, soft furry paws that when he folded them together it looked just as if he were carrying a muff. And besides Gruffo and Muffo there was another bear, the smallest of the three, called Dido. Now I am going to tell you some of the many adventures Dido had. Adventures, you know, are what happen to you. “Gruffo and Muffo, you must take good care of your little brother Dido when you go off playing in the woods,” said Mrs. Bear, for though the bears could not speak in our language they had talk of their own which was just as plain to them as our A B and C talk is to us. “Take good care of Dido,” Mrs. Bear would say. “Don’t run away from him, or he might be lost. And don’t climb big trees and leave him on the ground, or something might happen[9] to him. And never take him too far out in the water of the lake when you go swimming, or he might be drowned.” “We won’t, Mother,” said Gruffo and Muffo. “We’ll take good care of Dido.” “Oh, I guess I can take care of myself,” said Dido, making a funny face with his queer, black, rubbery nose. “Now that wasn’t a nice thing to say,” said Mrs. Bear, holding up her paw and gently shaking it at Dido. “You ought to be glad your bigger brothers will look after you.” “Oh, so I am, Mother,” answered Dido. “I’m sorry I spoke that way. May they take me swimming now, down to the lake?” “I guess so,” answered Mrs. Bear. “Run along, little cubs. I have to go out and see if I can find some berries or sweet roots for your dinner.” Bears, you know, like to eat berries and the sweet roots of some trees and bushes. Bears also like fish, and honey. Say! if ever you have a pet bear, which might some day happen, you know, and you want to give him a special extra treat, just bring him some honey. He will love it so much that he will eat every bit of it up, box and all! So while Dido, with his brothers Gruffo and Muffo, walked on along the mountain path to the[10] lake, Mrs. Bear went off in the woods to find some roots and berries for dinner. Of course the little bears might have been able to find some for themselves, but you know how it is with children. Even though they know where the things are to eat they like their mother to get a meal for them. “I can run faster than you can!” cried Dido to his two brothers, as they went along through the woods. “Look!” And off he started, swinging from side to side, brushing the bushes out of his way as he went. “Pooh! I can go faster than that!” called Gruffo in his deep voice. “Watch me!” Then he began to run, and, as he was bigger than Dido, of course he ran faster, and soon passed him. “I can beat you, Gruffo!” cried Muffo. “See!” Then Muffo ran, and of course he easily ran ahead of the other two bear cubs. “Let’s have another race,” said Dido, a little later. “I think I can beat you both then,” and slipping up behind Gruffo he began tickling him in his ear with a piece of tree branch. “Ouch! What’s that, a bee?” cried Gruffo, brushing his ear with his paw, for his ear tickled. He did not see what Dido was doing. “Let me alone, bee!” growled Gruffo. “That is, unless you will show me the hollow tree where[11] you have some honey,” went on the bear cub. “If you do that you may tickle me all you please!” “Ha! Ha!” laughed Muffo at the funny way Dido was tickling Gruffo. “Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!” and he nearly fell down, he laughed so hard. Of course I don’t mean to say that bears laugh as we do, but they have their own way of making fun and laughing at it. So when I say, in this story, that a bear laughs, or talks or does anything, I mean he does it in a bear’s way, and not in our way. “Where is that bee?” asked Gruffo. And then, as he heard Muffo laughing, and Dido giggling, Gruffo turned quickly and saw that it was his little brother tickling him in the ear with the stick. “Here, you stop that!” cried Gruffo, and he reached out his paw to catch Dido. But Dido jumped back, and so quickly that he tripped over a tree root, and down he went, turning a back somersault. “Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!” laughed Gruffo this time. “That was very funny, Dido. Do it again!” “No,” answered Dido, “I will not, if you please. I did not do it on purpose, and besides, I bumped my nose when I fell.” “Oh, that’s too bad!” said Gruffo, for he remembered[12] what his mother had said about looking after little Dido. “I’m sorry you hurt your nose,” went on Gruffo. “Still, if you had not tickled me you would not have fallen. Never mind, here is some soft mud you can hold on your nose, that will make it well.” From a wet place, near a spring of water, Gruffo took up some soft mud, and put it on his little brother’s nose. “Does that make the pain better?” asked Gruffo. “Lots better, thank you,” answered Dido. For it is true that bears and other animals use mud as we do plaster and poultices. If ever your dog gets stung by a bee on the nose, you watch him hunt for some soft mud to put on the stinging place. “Well, come on if we’re going swimming,” said Muffo, after a bit. So the three bears went on through the woods on the mountain, until they came to the lake, where the water was blue and clear and cold. Without stopping to take off any clothes (for of course they did not wear any), the three bears plunged into the water and began swimming about. Bears love to play in the water, and that is why, in parks and other places where they keep tame bears, there is always a pool of water for them to splash in. And sometimes there is a[13] wooden ball in the water for the bears to play with, too, for bears love to play. “Watch me dive!” cried Dido, and down he went under the water. Up he came, a little later, right near Muffo, and with his paw Dido splashed some water in Muffo’s face. “Say, you’re cutting up a lot to-day, Dido!” cried Muffo. “What makes you do so many tricks?” “Oh, I just feel happy!” cried Dido, gayly. Then he swam about some more, splashing in the water of the lake, and lapping some water with his red tongue. “I wish we could catch some fish,” said Gruffo, after a bit. “I’m hungry.” “So am I,” said Muffo. “Let’s go fishing.” “I’m coming, too,” said Dido. The bears came up out of the water, with their fur dripping wet, and started to go fishing. They did not need poles or lines or hooks. All they had to do was to sit on a log, near the lake, and when, by looking down, they saw a fish swimming along they just put their claws quickly in and pulled the fish out. It was very easy for them, but it would have been hard for you or me. “Ha! I see a fish!” suddenly cried Dido. “Watch me catch him!” Down into the water he thrust his paw. But something was wrong. Either Dido did not see[14] the fish, and only thought he did, or he went after it too quickly. For he reached over too far, and the next thing he knew he was splashing in the lake again. He had fallen in. “Ho! Ho!” laughed Muffo. “That’s a queer way to fish, Dido.” “I—I didn’t meant to do that!” spluttered Dido, as he crawled out on the bank. “Try again,” said Gruffo, as he helped his little brother out on the log. “Maybe next time you will catch one. Now you watch how I do it,” for Gruffo knew that Dido was little, and had many things to learn that bears must know if they are to get along in the woods. Pretty soon Gruffo saw a big fish, and with one scoop of his paw he landed it on the bank. “Oh, that’s a fine one!” cried Dido. “I wish I could catch one like that.” “I’ll give you some of this,” said Gruffo kindly. “There is enough for all of us.” Then he divided the fish with his two brothers, and they ate it, not stopping to cook it as we would have to do. Bears like their meat and fish without being cooked. After they had eaten the fish, and had swam in the lake to wash their paws and faces, the three bears went back to the den in the rocks. “Oh, Mother, we had such fun!” cried Dido. Then he saw his father asleep in the sun, and,[15] taking up a leafy branch Dido went softly over and began to tickle Mr. Bear on the nose. “Wuff! Ker-choo!” sneezed Mr. Bear. “What’s that; a fly?” “Oh, it’s just Dido,” said Mrs. Bear. “He’s cutting up again. You must not be too funny,” she went on, shaking her paw at her little bear cub, “or some day something may happen to you.” And one day something did happen to Dido. <hr class="chap" /> [16] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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