THE BEAR KING

And so goes the story of The Bear King…

A tiny infant bear, the runt of his litter, lay withering and abandoned by his mother. Not given a name, symbolically declared insignificant and useless to all, with no purpose, he lay in his misery prepared to enter his inevitable death.

Lying on the forest floor just outside a blossom-filled meadow he breathed in the scent of wildflowers lingering in the wind as a buzzing sound filled his ears.

Overhead was a honeybee. The bee buzzed around for a time attracting the notice of the tiny bear and then fluttered away to the trunk of a laurel oak.

With all his suffering and might, and though very near death, he clawed at the ground, slowly pulling himself towards that bee, persisting until he finally lay under the laurel’s shadow and the buzzing of the bees.

Near passing and with his final gasps, the tiny bear lay helpless until the bee appeared from inside the cavity of the tree and fluttered to his lips.

With honey on his knees, the bee fed the bear, providing him nourishment.

Soon, many more bees appeared, and one by one they nurtured the tiny and helpless bear.

Day after day, the bees brought life to their little one until he was tiny no more and had grown up to be great and enormous.

Tremendously thumping along the bramble path searching for berries one day, the bear thought of his mother, and all that he had lost, all he had never had. He pondered his insignificance and lack of a name, and as he sulked, he thought to himself, ‘What is the purpose of it all?’

Peering ahead of the brush was an extraordinary castle overgrown with brambles and weeds and vines.

Day after day, he saw the castle and experienced its gloom, emptiness, and evidence of its obvious abandonment and decline. He told himself if that castle were alive, he would know precisely how it felt.

Bouncing along the bear's path came a rabbit. It was the only other creature besides the bees that he had ever seen in the forest.

“Hello!”, said the bear.

Intimidated by the sheer enormity of the bear, the rabbit was incredibly apprehensive to utter a squeak or sound, but somehow, he conjured his courage and softly said, “Hello Bear.”

“How is it that I have wondered upon your presence today, little creature? I have never seen anyone here but me and the bees.”

“We are here, Bear. Many are here, and many are hiding.”

“Many? How many? Why are they hiding?”, said the bear.

“Because they are afraid of you and the snake”, replied the rabbit.

“There’s no need to be afraid of me”, said the bear, as he lay down on the forest floor shrinking his measure. “And, I know not of any snake”.

Slowly, the creatures of the forest began to peek from behind ferns and over branches and from the cavities of the trees. There were a great many of them, of different varieties, and the bear was amazed as he had never seen a site so curiously divine. The forest was full of many creatures, including skunks and fleas and opossums and porcupines.

He had always been alone, or so he had thought, save for the bees of course. He had known nothing in his life, other than solitude, and sadness and uneasiness. But today, these many creatures opened their hearts to him, and for the very first time, he felt friendship.

He told the rabbit his story of being near death, how his mother had abandoned him and left him for dead, and of his insignificance – not even having a name. He spoke of how he had pulled and clawed himself to the laurel tree, and how the bees had saved him and fed him their honey, and how they had rescued him in what would have been his final moments.

"What a magnificent story", said the rabbit.

The bear huffed, “Magnificent? It’s a horrible story! My mother left me for dead, and she didn’t even give me a name!”

"Yes, but the bees saved You. They don't save just anyone, you know". “Had you not noticed the bees are somewhat odd-looking?”, said the rabbit.

“Of course not, I had never seen bees before these bees or any other creatures of the forest for that matter!”, exclaimed the bear.

“Notice the skulls upon their faces? These are mortality bees! They decide if you live or die, and because you were so determined, they rewarded you with their precious honey. There must be something very special about you”, said the rabbit.

“Special about me?” The bear snorted. “I think not!”

“The bees think you are” The rabbit gently repeated.

Off and into the distance, the bear looked at the castle.

“I saw you looking at the castle,” the rabbit said curiously.

The bear said nothing but looked at the rabbit with anticipation hoping to hear the story of the castle.

The rabbit proceeded, “When the king died many years ago, all his creatures were driven off by the snake and forced to live outside its boundaries. The brambles and weeds and vines have since taken over and it’s become so dense that no one can live there anymore, not even the snake.”

Sadness filled the bear's heart. He had not realized others had been wounded by life’s iniquities too.

“Well, I’m off to eat clover now, I’m starving. Until next time!”, said the rabbit. And off he went, bouncing away.

The bear sat down propping his back to a sugar maple and thought to himself, “I’m big enough and strong enough to clear those brambles and weeds and vines. The labor would be easy peasy and cleared away in no time.”

A giant red snake slithered down from the tree dangling its head next to the bear. 

“Ssssss, I know what you’re thinking”, said the snake slyly.

“Really? What’s that?”, the bear said with a sneer.

“You are thinking of clearing those brambles and weeds and vines, but I wouldn’t do it, you’d be committing a crime. I wouldn’t listen to that rabbit if I were you. He knows not what he is talking about.”, the snake hissed.

The bear listened intently and said, “What crime?”

The snake did not say, but continued to hiss, “Ssssss, rabbit lied to you when he told you you’re special. You are right in thinking you have no gifts or talents anyone would miss.”

The bear gave the snake his attention but was skeptical as he knew the story of the castle and did not believe the rabbit had lied to him.

“Ssssss, you are no different from any other lowly creature of the forest, he wheezed. You're no better than the centipedes, or the fleas, or the termites, or those wretched bees!”, the snake shouted.

“Ssssss, those bees only took pity on you”.

The bear sat up from the tree and thanked the snake for his words and advice. He then thumped away, his feet pounding and punching the ground beneath him as he walked.

But the bear decided not to listen to the snake. He thought to himself, “If not for the bees, I would not be alive. If not for the rabbit, I would not have friendship. If not for the creatures of the forest, I would not have experienced a site so divine.”. So, he set off to the castle to evict the brambles and weeds and vines.

With determination and might, the bear began ripping away the brambles and weeds and vines until many were gone and there were no more signs of them.

Soon after, the giant snake emerged once again. "Ssssss who do you think you are? You can't help these creatures! You are not their sssssavior!"

“I understand snake, but I think I want to help them just the same!”. And so the bear continued to rip away the brambles and weeds, and vines regardless of the snake saying it was a crime.

The creatures of the forest began to gather and watch the grandness and beauty of the castle’s re-emergence and restoration. They began carrying away the broken brambles and weeds and vines until all were cleared and the castle was once again divine. 

The snake became very enraged. He began swallowing up the creatures of the forest, pausing as he got to the rabbit. "Ssssss this is your fault! I'm swallowing you next!" 

Rabbit then let out a cry, "Bear! Help me!"

The bear ceased tearing the brambles and weeds and vines. Hearing the muffled cries of his friend, he trampled out of the castle and saw the snake coiled around the rabbit, but it wasn’t to be his end.

Rabbit cried out and wailed.

Without a second thought, the bear snatched up the snake, taking its head into his powerful jaws, and chomping down hard, ripping the snake into pieces. The snake’s blood dripped from the bear's lips, proving his deed, but he did not care, for the creatures of the forest were now free from the snake’s torment.

The bear then went back to continue tearing at the brambles and weeds and vines, as the forest creatures pitched in and carried them away, and the work was done in no time.  

And once the work was done and the dream was accomplished, the bees hoisted up the crown and placed it upon the bear's head and crowned him ‘The Bear King’. 

The bear felt overwhelmed by the bees’ gesture but did not feel he deserved such an honor. “It’s no matter, bees. It was easy for me. I deserve no crown, and the creatures of the forest are now free.”

Rabbit approached his new king, “What you did mattered to me and all of the creatures of the forest. You are now our new king and will forever be cherished.”

Over and over the forest creatures incessantly repeated and powerfully declared. 

“All Hail The Bear King!”

The End

Moral of the story...

 ·      You can't be a victim and a champion at the same time. 

·      Focusing on the past will only rob you of your future.

·      You do have special gifts and talents and it’s time for you to start using them.

·      Everywhere, there are opportunities to do something great if you take the time to see them.

·      There’s always a chance to help others.

All The Best, 

Margeaux Wex ❤️

Thank you for stopping by. 😊 Be sure to share with your friends and leave me a comment below. I love hearing from my readers.

Credits: 

The Bear King Story – Written by Margeaux Wex
Edited By - KJ Wex