Little Bear and Other Stories / Маленький медвежонок и другие рассказы. 3-4 классы

What Will Little Bear Wear?

It is cold. See the snow? See the snow come down?

Little Bear said, “Mother Bear, I am cold. See the snow? I want something to put on.”

So Mother Bear made something for Little Bear.

“See, Little Bear,” she said, “I have something, something for my little bear. Here it is. Put it on your head.”

“Oh,” said Little Bear, “it is a hat. Hooray! Now I am not cold.”

Little Bear went out to play.

Here is Little Bear.

“Oh,” said Mother Bear, “do you want something?”

“I am cold,” said Little Bear, “I want something to put on.”

So Mother Bear made something for Little Bear.

“See, Little Bear,” she said, “I have something, something for my little bear. Put it on.”

“Oh,” said Little Bear, “it is a coat. Hooray! Now I am not cold.”

Little Bear went out to play.

Here is Little Bear again.

“Oh,” said Mother Bear, “do you want something?”

“I am cold,” said Little Bear. “I want something to put on.”

So Mother Bear made something again for Little Bear.

“See, Little Bear,” she said, “here is something, something for my little bear. Now you cannot be cold. Put it on.”

“Oh,” said Little Bear, “it is snow pants. Hooray! Now I am not cold.”

Little Bear went out to play.

Here is Little Bear again.

“Oh,” said Mother Bear, “what can you want now?”

“I am cold,” said Little Bear. “I want something to put on.”

“My little bear,” said Mother Bear, “you have a hat, you have a coat, you have snow pants. Do you want a fur coat, too?”

“Yes,” said Little Bear, “I want a fur coat, too.”

Mother Bear took the hat, the coat, and the snow pants.

“See?” said Mother Bear. “There is the fur coat.”

“Hooray!” said Little Bear. “Here is my fur coat. Now I am not cold.”

And he was not cold.

A Kiss for Little Bear

Little Bear made a picture of a monster.

“This picture makes me happy,” he said.

Hen came to visit.

“Hello, Hen,” said Little Bear. “Look, this picture is for my Grandmother. Will you take it to her, Hen?”

“Yes, I will,” said Hen.

Grandmother loved the picture. She was very happy.

“This kiss is for Little Bear,” she said. “Will you take it to him, Hen?”

“Yes, I will,” said Hen.

So Grandmother Bear gave Hen a kiss.

Then Hen saw some friends. She stopped to chat.

“Hello, Frog. I have a kiss for Little Bear. It is from his Grandmother. Will you take it to him, Frog?”

“OK,” said Frog. “I will.”

But then Frog saw a pond. He stopped to swim.

“Hi, Cat. I have a kiss for Little Bear. It is from his Grandmother. Will you take it to him?”

“OK,” said Cat. “I will.” He came and got the kiss for Little Bear.

Then Cat saw a nice place to sleep.

“Little Skunk,” said Cat, “I have a kiss for Little Bear. It is from his Grandmother. Will you take it to him?”

“OK,” said Skunk. “I will.”

But then he saw another little skunk. She was very pretty.

He gave the kiss to her. And she gave it back. And he gave it back again.

But then Hen came. “This was Little Bear’s kiss from his Grandmother! And where is it now? Who has his kiss?”

Little Skunk had it. He gave it back to Hen.

Hen ran to Little Bear. She gave him the kiss.

“It is from your Grandmother,” Hen said. “It is for the picture you sent her.”

“Take one kiss back to her then,” said Little Bear.

“No,” said Hen. “Too much kissing!”

And the skunks soon got married. They had a lovely wedding. Everyone came.

Little Bear Goes to the Moon

“I have a new space helmet. I am going to the moon,” said Little Bear to Mother Bear.

“How?” asked Mother Bear.

“I’m going to fly to the moon,” said Little Bear.

“Fly!” said Mother Bear. “You can’t fly.”

“Birds fly,” said Little Bear.

“Oh, yes,” said Mother Bear. “Birds fly, but they don’t fly to the moon. And you are not a bird.”

“Maybe some birds fly to the moon, I don’t know. And maybe I can fly like a bird,” said Little Bear.

“And maybe,” said Mother Bear, “you are a fat little bear with no wings and no feathers. Maybe if you jump up you will come down very fast.”

“Maybe,” said Little Bear. “But I’m going now. Just look for me in the sky.”

“Be back for lunch!” said Mother Bear.

Little Bear thought: “I will jump from a high spot, up into the sky, and fly up, up, up. I will be flying too fast to look at things, so I will shut my eyes.”

So Little Bear climbed to the top of a little hill, and climbed to the top of a little tree, a very little tree on the little hill, and shut his eyes and jumped.

Down, down he came, and down the hill he rolled.

Then he sat up and looked around. “My goodness!” he said. “Here I am on the moon.”

“The moon looks just like the earth. Well, well,” said Little Bear. “The trees here look just like our trees. The birds look just like our birds. And look at this! Here is a house that looks just like my house. I will go in and see what kind of bears live there.”

Little Bear went into the house.

“Look at that,” he said. “Something to eat is on the table. It looks like a good lunch for a little bear.”

Mother Bear came in and said, “But who is this? Are you a bear from Earth?”

“Oh, yes, I am!” said Little Bear. “I climbed a little hill, and jumped from a little tree, and flew here, just like the birds.”

“Well,” said Mother Bear. “My Little Bear did the same thing. He put on his space helmet and flew to Earth. So I think you can have his lunch.”

Little Bear put his arms around Mother Bear.

He said, “Mother Bear, stop fooling. You are my Mother Bear, and I am your Little Bear, and we are on Earth, and you know it. Now may I eat my lunch?”

“Yes,” said Mother Bear, “and then you will have your nap. You are my little bear, and I know it.”

Birthday Soup

“Mother Bear, Mother Bear, where are you?” called Little Bear.

“Oh, dear, Mother Bear is not here, and today is my birthday. I think my friends will come, but I do not see a birthday cake. My goodness – no birthday cake! What can I do? The pot is by the fire. The water in the pot is hot. If I put something in the water, I can make Birthday Soup. All my friends like soup. Let me see what we have. We have carrots and potatoes, peas and tomatoes. I can make soup with carrots, potatoes, peas and tomatoes!”

So Little Bear began to make soup in the big black pot.

First, Hen came in.

“Happy Birthday, Little Bear,” she said.

“Thank you, Hen,” said Little Bear.

Hen said, “My goodness! Something smells good here. Is it in the big black pot?”

“Yes,” said Little Bear, “I am making Birthday Soup. Will you stay and have some?”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” said Hen. And she sat down to wait.

Next, Duck came in.

“Happy Birthday, Little Bear,” said Duck. “My goodness! Something smells good here. Is it in the big black pot?”

“Thank you, Duck,” said Little Bear. “Yes, I am making Birthday Soup. Will you stay and have some with us?”

“Thank you, yes, thank you,” said Duck. And she sat down to wait.

Next, Cat came in.

“Happy Birthday, Little Bear,” he said.

“Thank you, Cat,” said Little Bear. “I hope you like Birthday Soup. I am making Birthday Soup.”

Cat said, “Can you really cook? If you can really make it, I will eat it.”

“Good,” said Little Bear. “The Birthday Soup is hot, so we must eat it now. We cannot wait for Mother Bear. I do not know where she is.”

“Now, here is some soup for you, Hen,” said Little Bear. “And here is some soup for you, Duck, and here is some soup for you, Cat, and here is some soup for me. Now we can all have some Birthday Soup.”

Cat saw Mother Bear at the door, and said, “Wait, Little Bear. Do not eat yet. Shut your eyes and say ‘One, two, three.’” Little Bear shut his eyes and said, “One, two, three.”

Mother Bear came in with a big cake.

“Now, look,” said Cat.

“Oh, Mother Bear,” said Little Bear, “what a big beautiful Birthday Cake! Birthday Soup is good to eat, but not as good as Birthday Cake. I am so happy you did not forget.”

“Yes, Happy Birthday, Little Bear!” said Mother Bear. “This Birthday Cake is a surprise for you. I never forgot your birthday, and I never will!”

Little Bear’s Wish

It was late. Mother Bear came to kiss her Little Bear good night.

“Little Bear,” said Mother Bear. “You are not asleep.”

“No, Mother,” said Little Bear. “I can’t sleep.”

“Why not?” asked Mother Bear.

“I’m wishing,” said Little Bear.

“What are you wishing for?” asked Mother Bear.

“I wish that I could sit on a cloud and fly around the world,” said Little Bear.

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then I wish that I could find a Viking boat,” said Little Bear. “And the Vikings would say, ‘Come with us! Come with us! Here we go! Away! Away!’”

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then I wish I could find a tunnel to China,” said Little Bear. “I would go to China and come back with chopsticks for you.”

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then I wish I had a big red car,” said Little Bear. “I would go fast, fast. I would come to a big castle. A princess would come out and say, ‘Have some cake, Little Bear,’ and I would have some.”

“You can’t have that wish, my Little Bear,” said Mother Bear.

“Then,” said Little Bear, “I wish a Mother Bear would come to me and say, ‘Would you like to hear a story?’”

“Well, maybe you can have that wish. That is just a little wish,” said Mother Bear.

“Thank you, Mother,” said Little Bear. “That was what I really wanted all the time.”

“What story would you like to hear?” asked Mother Bear.

“Tell me about me,” said Little Bear. “Tell me about the things I did.”

“Well,” started Mother Bear, “once you played in the snow, and you wanted something to put on.”

“Oh, yes. That was fun!” cried Little Bear. “Tell me something more about me.”

“Well,” said Mother Bear, “once you put on your space helmet and played going to the moon.”

“That was fun, too!” cried Little Bear. “Tell me something more about me.”

“Well,” said Mother Bear, “once you thought that you had no birthday cake, so you made Birthday Soup.”

“Oh, that was fun!” cried Little Bear. “And then you came with the cake. You always make me happy.”

Mother Bear smiled and looked at her Little Bear. “And now you can make me happy, too,” she said.

“How?” asked Little Bear.

“You can go to sleep,” said Mother Bear.

And Little Bear shut his eye and went to sleep.

Little Bear and Owl

“Little Bear,” said Mother Bear, “can you be my fisherman?”

“Yes, I can,” said Little Bear.

“Good,” said Mother Bear. “Will you go to the river? Will you catch a fish for us?”

“Yes, I will,” said Little Bear.

So Little Bear went to the river, and there he saw Owl.

Owl was sitting on a log. “Hello, Little Bear,” said Owl.

“Hello, Owl,” said Little Bear. “Father Bear is not home. He is fishing on the ocean. But Mother Bear wants a fish now, so I need to catch one.”

“Good,” said Owl. “Catch one!”

Little Bear fished. “I have one!” he said. “Is it too little?”

“It looks good to me,” said Owl.

“Well,” said Little Bear, “Father can catch big fish. He sails in a big boat, too.”

Owl said, “Some day you will be a big bear. You will catch big fish, and you will sail in a boat like Father Bear.”

“You know what?” said Little Bear. “We can play. The log can be a boat. I will be Father Bear. You can be you. And we are fishing.”

“Where we are fishing?” asked Owl.

“On the ocean,” said Little Bear.

“All right,” said Owl.

“Hooray!” said Little Bear. “See what I have?”

“What is it?” asked Owl.

“An octopus,” said Little Bear.

“Oh,” said Owl. “But see what I have?”

“What is it?” asked Little Bear.

“A whale,” said Owl.

“But a whale is too big,” said Little Bear.

“This is a little whale,” said Owl.

Just then Mother Bear came. “Where is the fish?” she asked.

Little Bear laughed, “How about an octopus?”

“An octopus?” said Mother Bear.

“Well, then,” said Owl, “how about a little whale?”

“A whale?” said Mother Bear. “No, thank you. No whale.”

“Then how about this little fish?” said Little Bear.

“Yes, thank you,” said Mother Bear, “this is just what I want.”

Little Bear said, “You will see. When I am as big as Father Bear, I will catch a real octopus.”

“Yes, and sail in a real boat,” said Owl.

“I know it,” said Mother Bear.

Owl said, “Little Bear fishes very well.”

“Oh, yes,” said Mother Bear. “He fishes really well. He is a real fisherman. Just like his father.”

Little Bear and Emily

Little Bear sat in the top of a high tree. He looked at the wide, wide world.

He saw the green fields. He saw the river. And far, far away he saw the blue sea.

He saw the tops of trees. He saw his house. He saw Mother Bear.

He could hear the song of the wind. And he could feel the wind on his fur, on his eyes, on his little black nose. He shut his eyes and let the wind brush him.

He opened his eyes and saw two little squirrels. “Play with us,” they said.

“No time,” said Little Bear. “I need to go home for lunch.”

He began to climb down and saw four little birds. “Look at us,” they said, “we can fly!”

“I can fly, too,” said Little Bear. “But I always fly down. I cannot fly up.”

He climbed down some more and saw a little green worm. “Hello,” said the little green worm. “Talk to me.”

“Another time,” said Little Bear. “I need to go home for lunch.”

He climbed all the way down and saw a little girl. “I think I am lost,” said the little girl. “Could you see the river from the treetop?”

“Oh, yes,” said Little Bear, “I could see the river. Do you live there?”

“Yes,” said the little girl. “My name is Emily. And this is my doll Lucy.”

“I am Little Bear, and I can take you to the river. What is in your basket?”

“Cookies,” said Emily. “Take some.”

“Thank you, I love cookies,” said Little Bear.

“Me too,” said Emily.

They walked together. They ate cookies and talked. Soon they came to the river.

“I see our tent,” said Emily, “and my mother and father.”

“And I hear my mother. She is calling me,” said Little Bear. “I need to go home for lunch. Good-bye, Emily.”

“Good-bye, Little Bear. Come back and play with me.”

“I will,” said Little Bear.

Little Bear ran home. He hugged Mother Bear and said, “Do you know what I just did?”

“What did you just do, Little Bear?” asked Mother Bear.

“I climbed to the treetop and saw the wide, wide world. I climbed down, and I saw two squirrels, four little birds and a little green worm. Then I climbed all the way down, and what do you think I saw?”

“What did you see?”

“I saw a little girl named Emily. She was lost, so I helped her to get home. And now I have a new friend. Who do you think it is?”

“The little green worm?” said Mother Bear.

Little Bear laughed. “No,” he said, “it is Emily. Emily and I are friends.”

Duck, Baby Sitter

Owl had a party. Little Bear, Emily and Lucy were walking to Owl’s house.

They came to the pond where Duck lived. And there was Duck, baby sitting.

Little Bear looked at the ducklings. He asked, “Will the Mother Duck come back soon?”

“Oh, yes,” said Duck. “Wait for me. I can go to the party when she comes back.”

Emily put Lucy down and said, “Oh, what sweet ducklings! I want to hold one.”

“Just call them,” said Little Bear.

“Oh my goodness!” said Duck. “I think I have lost one!”

Little Bear and Emily began to look for it.

Little Bear looked at the tall reeds. He said, “If I were a duckling, I would swim there. It would be like swimming in a forest.”

He looked in the tall reeds. And there was the duckling, swimming and having fun.

“Hello, little one, I see you,” said Little Bear.

“Peep!” said the duckling and swam to the others.

Just in time, too, because his mother came back.

“Hooray!” said Duck. “Now I am free! Now we can go to the party.”

They went to the party.

Emily said, “I think ducklings are lovely.”

“Yes,” said Little Bear, “and owlets are nice, too.”

Emily laughed. “Oh,” she said, “I love all little animals.”

“Me too,” said Little Bear.

The Party at Owl’s House

Little Bear, Emily, Lucy, Cat, Duck, and Hen all came to Owl’s party.

Cat looked at Lucy. “Who is that?” he said.

“That is Lucy,” said Little Bear. “Lucy is Emily’s doll.”

“Yes,” said Emily. “And she tells me things. She wants to tell me something now.”

Emily put her head down to Lucy’s head.

“What?” said Cat. “I cannot hear her.”

“What is she saying?” asked Hen.

“Yes, tell us,” said Duck.

“She is saying,” said Emily, “that she wants to sit up there.”

And Emily put Lucy in a little tree.

“See?” said Little Bear. “Emily knows what Lucy wants.”

“Let’s eat,” said Cat.

Owl came out of his house. He said, “Here are the party hats. Put them on.”

So they all put on party hats and laughed at each other. Then they sat down to eat.

“Look at Lucy!” said Duck. “She wants to come down.”

They all looked, and there was Lucy, coming down all by herself.

“Oh-oh!” cried Emily. “Lucy will break!”

And Lucy broke. She broke her arm.

“Oh, Lucy!” Emily was crying. She picked up her doll and hugged her.

“Don’t cry, Emily,” said Little Bear, “we can fix her.”

“I will get some tape,” said Owl.

So Little Bear fixed Lucy. “There,” he said. “Ask her how she feels now.”

Emily put her head down to Lucy’s head.

“She says she feels fine,” said Emily. “And she says you are a very good doctor, Little Bear.”

“Tell her thank you,” said Little Bear. “If she breaks an arm or a leg again, I will fix her.”

Owl laughed. “Not today, please,” he said.

Emily sat Lucy at the table.

Hen asked, “Is she saying something?”

“Yes,” said Emily, “she wants us to begin the party.”

And that is what they did. It was a very fine party, even for Lucy.

“Your friend, Little Bear”

Summer ended, and Emily was saying good-bye. It was time to go back to school.

Mother Bear baked a cake. Little Bear made lemonade.

Mother Bear said, “Let us eat the whole cake. If we do, then it will not rain tomorrow.”

“Let it rain,” said Little Bear, “Emily will not be here tomorrow to play with me.”

“Oh,” said Emily, “we can eat the whole cake. And we can drink the lemonade.”

So they ate the cake, and drank the lemonade, and talked and talked.

Then it was time for Emily to go home.

Father Bear said, “Do not let Lucy break any more arms.”

“Oh, no,” said Emily. She hugged her doll and said, “Lucy wants to say good-bye, too. Say good-bye to Little Bear, Lucy.”

Emily gave Lucy to Little Bear. Then she said to him, “Little Bear, you can keep Lucy. I will give her to you.”

“Oh,” said Little Bear.

But then Emily took Lucy back. “Oops!” she said. “I forgot. Lucy wants to come to school with me.”

Then Emily opened her pocketbook. She took out a fine new pen.

“This is for you,” she said. “I want you to have it.”

Little Bear took the pen. “Thank you, Emily,” he said.

He ran to his room and came back with a pretty toy boat. “This is for you,” he said. “Keep it. You can play with it in your bathtub.”

“Thank you,” said Emily. “I will. Good-bye, Little Bear. See you next summer.”

Little Bear stood at the door until Emily was gone. Two big tears ran down his face.

Mother Bear saw the tears and took him on her lap. “My goodness, Little Bear,” she said. “You will go to school, too, and you will learn to write. Then you can write to Emily.”

“Little Bear can begin now,” said Father Bear.

He took out some paper and said, “Little Bear can write his name.”

“Yes,” said Mother Bear, “with his fine new pen.” She helped Little Bear to begin.

That made Little Bear very happy. He said, “When can I write to Emily?”

“Soon,” said Mother Bear.

And soon he wrote to Emily, like this:

“Dear Emily,

It is snowing. I love the snow. I want to send you some snow.

Owl, Duck, Hen, and Cat send their love. And the ducklings do, too.

I cannot wait for summer.

Your friend,

Little Bear.”

Grandmother and Grandfather Bear

One day Little Bear came to visit Grandmother and Grandfather Bear in their little house in the forest.

This was something Little Bear liked to do.

He liked to look at all the nice things, the pictures, Grandmother’s flowers, Grandfather’s toy goblin in a jar.

He liked to put on Grandfather’s big hat and say, “Look at me!”

And he liked Grandmother’s cooking very, very much.

He had some bread and jam, cake and cookies, milk and honey, and an apple.

“Have some more,” said Grandmother.

“Yes, thank you. I am not eating too much, am I?”

“Oh no, no!” said Grandmother.

Then Grandfather said to Little Bear, “We will have fun today, you and I.”

“Yes. But father told me not to make you tired.”

“Me? Tired? How can you make me tired? I am never tired!”

He got up and did a little dance. “Never tired!” Grandfather said and sat down.

Little Bear laughed. “You know what?” he said to his Grandmother and Grandfather.

“What?”

“I like it here,” said Little Bear. He hugged them.

Little Bear and Grandfather had all the fun. Then Grandfather Bear sat down.

“Now we can have a story,” said Little Bear.

“Good. Tell me a story,” said Grandfather Bear.

“No!” Little bear laughed. “You tell me one.”

“Then I must have my pipe.”

Little Bear ran to the house, took the pipe, and ran back.

But Grandfather was already asleep!

“Oh,” said Little Bear.

Little Bear was sad, but not for long. He found his Grandmother in the garden.

Could Grandmother tell him a story? Oh yes, she could.

She took Little Bear to the summer house. It was cool there.

They sat down in the summer house.

“Tell me a story about Mother Bear, when she was little. About Mother Bear and the robin. I like that story,” asked Little Bear.

“Very well,” said Grandmother Bear.

And so, she began.

Mother Bear’s Robin

One spring day, when Mother Bear was little, she found a baby robin in the garden. A baby robin, too little to fly.

“Oh, how sweet you are,” she said. “Where did you come from?”

“From my nest,” said the robin.

“And where is your nest, little robin?”

“I think it is there,” said the robin.

Mother Bear looked at one tree. No, that was a blackbird’s nest.

“Maybe it is there,” said the robin.

Mother Bear looked at another tree. No, that was a sparrow’s nest.

Mother Bear looked everywhere, but she could not find a robin’s nest.

“You can live with me. You can be my robin,” said Mother Bear.

She took the robin in the house and made a little home for it.

“Please put me by the window. I like to look at the trees and the sky,” said the robin.

Mother Bear put it by the window.

“Oh. It must be fun to fly out there,” said the robin.

“It will be fun to fly in here, too,” said Mother Bear.

The robin ate. It grew. It sang. Soon it could fly.

It flew about the house. And that was fun, just as Mother Bear had said.

But then one day, the robin was unhappy.

Mother Bear asked, “Why are you so sad, little robin?”

“I do not know. My heart is sad,” said the robin.

“Sing a song,” said Mother Bear.

“I cannot,” said the robin.

“Fly in the house,” said Mother Bear.

“I cannot,” said the robin.

Mother Bear was in tears. She took the robin into the garden.

“I love you, little robin. But I want you to be happy. Fly away, if you wish. You are free.”

The robin flew into the blue sky. It sang a sweet song.

Then it came back again, to Mother Bear.

“Do not be sad. I love you, too. I must fly into the world, but I will come back. Every year I will come back,” said the robin.

So Mother Bear kissed the robin, and it flew away.

“And it came back, Grandmother. Did it?” asked Little Bear.

“Oh yes, Little Bear. It came back. And its children came back. And its children’s children, too. Here is one now.”

Grandfather Bear came to the summer house.

“Hooray! Here is Grandfather,” cried Little Bear.

“Then it is coffee time,” said Grandmother Bear.

She went into the house.

Grandfather looked at Little Bear. Little Bear looked at Grandfather. They both laughed.

“How about a goblin story?” asked Grandfather Bear.

“Oh yes, but I may be scared,” said Little Bear.

“I will not be scared,” said Grandfather Bear.

“Oh, Grandfather!” cried Little Bear. “Please begin the story then.”

So Grandfather began.

Goblin Story

One day a little goblin went to an old cave. It was old, it was cold, it was dark.

And something inside the cave went ‘BANG!’.

What was that?

“Ooh-hoo!” cried the goblin.

He was so scared that he jumped out of his shoes.

Then he began to run.

PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT…

What was that?

SOMETHING was running after him.

Oh my goodness, what could it be?

The goblin was too scared to look back. He ran faster and faster.

But the SOMETHING ran faster and faster, too!

PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT…

The goblin saw a hole in a tree. He jumped in the hole to hide.

The PIT-PAT-PIT-PAT came closer, closer – CLOSER – until it stopped by the hole in the tree!

Then all was quiet.

Nothing happened.

Nothing.

It was SO quiet. The little goblin looked out.

Do you know what he saw?

He saw his SHOES! His little shoes!

“Oh my goodness,” said the goblin.

He climbed out of the tree hole. “I jumped out of my shoes. But they ran after me! And here they are!”

He picked his shoes, hugged them, and put them on.

“Good little shoes. You did not want to stay behind!” the goblin laughed and went away.

“Just like that!” said Grandfather Bear.

“I cannot jump out of my shoes, because I do not have any shoes,” said Little Bear.

He laughed. “That is how I like it.”

Not Tired

Little Bear lay on the sofa.

He was waiting for Mother Bear and Father Bear to come and take him home.

He said to himself, “I am not tired. I can shut my eyes, but I will not go to sleep. I am not at all tired.”

He shut his eyes.

He heard a door open.

He heard Mother and Father Bear say hello to Grandmother and Grandfather.

He heard them come to the sofa. But he did not open his eyes.

“Ah,” said Mother Bear. “He is sleeping. How sweet he is!”

Father picked up Little Bear and said, “Yes, he is a fine little bear. Tomorrow I will take him fishing.”

“Look at him,” said Grandmother. “He is such a good little one.”

“And clever, too,” said Grandfather. “Just like me.”

They all laughed.

Little Bear opened his eyes. He said to Father Bear, “Will you really take me fishing?”

“You! You were not really asleep! You heard about going fishing! You heard all we said about you! I can see it in your eyes!”

Little Bear laughed.

He said to his grandfather, “We had fun. And you are not tired, are you, Grandfather?”

“Oh, no, a little bear like you and a grandfather like me, we never get tired. We can sing and dance, and run and play all day, and never get tired.”

Little Bear smiled. He was feeling sleepier and sleepier.

Grandfather Bear said, “Yes, yes, yes! We can have many good times, you and I. But we never, never get tired! You are not tired, are you, Little Bear? Little Bear – are you tired?”

Little Bear was not tired! No!

Little Bear was asleep.