Bear Stories…
Bears are beloved worldwide, even in animal stories and folk tales…
How the Bear Lost its Tail & Other Bear Stories
From the classic “Silver Hair and the Three Bears” (which morphed into the kinder, gentler Goldilocks story) to the realistic, often tragic, animal fiction of Sir Charles G D Roberts, bears have shambled and fumbled and interacted with humans in our literature. And we love ’em all.
Even today, new Bear Tales find an avid new readership. My Civilized Bears are drawing appreciative followers.
Here, from Author Joan C is a look back at some of the most popular Bear Tales of yesterday around the globe…
“Bears Through Time: A Short Collection of Tales” A Guest Blog by Joan C
I was doing research on legends and folk tales not too long ago when I found that there are many such stories featuring my favourite animal of all time.
There’s the story with similar versions from Germany and North America — How the Bear Lost its Tail.
In this story, the bear is not a pleasant character. In fact, he’s a downright obnoxious show off!
The story goes that the “bear once had a beautiful long tail which he is really proud of. He would stretch it out behind him and proudly say to the other animals, ‘Don’t you think my tail is beautiful?’ The other animals took one look at his claws and agreed whole-heartedly that his tail looked fabulous. It’s no wonder that he didn’t have many friends….”
For the complete retelling of this story, with a kinder, gentler bruin for a hero, see Brian Alan Burhoe’s marvelous retelling of the tale of a tail: How the Bear Lost its Tail – A Classic Bear Folktale – Forest Folklore
Yes, this animal tale is still told worldwide, especially in Northern European households and among First Nations people.
And There Are More — Other Bear Stories…
“The Tiger and the Bear”
Here’s a myth from Korea where the bear played an instrumental role in the founding of that country.
The myth begins in Heaven where the god Hwanin resided. His son, Hwanung, had the habit of peering over the clouds and looking at the chaos that was Earth below. Hwanung saw the terrible plight of the people below and would feel sad and shed tears for them. When Hwanin found out why his son was so upset, he allowed Hwanung to descend to Earth to rule so as to bring about peace.
And that’s what Hwanung did.
He ruled over 360 human affairs (such as good, evil, life and illness) and was a great success. At this time, two animals, a tiger and a bear, approached him, wishing to become humans. Hwanung brought them to a dark cave in which they were to remain for a hundred days with only a handful of mugwort and twenty cloves of garlic for food.
The tiger was very impatient and ran off after a while. The bear was made of sterner stuff and on the twenty-first day, much to the bear’s delight, was transformed into a woman called Ungnyeo.
However, no one wanted Ungnyeo as a wife as she had once been an animal.
Sadly, she sat under a holy tree and prayed for a child. It was then that Hwanung pitied her. He transformed himself to human form and through him, Ungnyeo gave birth to a son, Dangun. Dangun later became the founder of the Korean people.
“Two Travelers and a Bear”
Here’s an Aesop tale in which the bear is wise. I enjoyed the fable as a child but forgot about until I re-encountered it the other day.
“Two Travelers and a Bear” tells of two men who were going on a journey together. While trekking through a forest, a ferocious bear crashed through the trees, straight into their path.
The travelers raced to a tree and started climbing it. One was sprier than the other and managed to scramble onto a high branch in record time. He refused to give his companion a hand for fear of his own safety. The other traveler had no choice but to lie on the ground at the bottom of the tree and play possum.
The bear lumbered over and sniffed at the ‘dead’ man for a few seconds before heading back into the trees. After several minutes, sensing that the coast was clear, the man stood up while his friend climbed down the tree.
The friend said, “The bear looked like it was whispering to you. What did it say?”
The other man looked at his friend and candidly replied, “Oh, he told me not to travel with anyone who would desert me in order to save his own skin.” With that, he picked up his knapsack and walked off, leaving his friend standing there dumbfounded.
Now, isn’t that a nice note to end with? 🙂
About Our Guest Talespinner: Author Joan C is “a bear collector and hosts a website for bear lovers to share pictures.” Her collection of bear stories has been a treat. At the time of this update, Joan’s story-link is no longer active. As soon as we learn of a new one, we’ll put it here…
“Live Free, Mon Ami!” – Brian Alan Burhoe
Do You Love Traditional Bear Folk Tales?
If so, then you’ve gotta read my own retelling of the oldest known Bear Story of them All! Listen!
“Long ago — when our Sacred Green Earth was young and much more alive — Bear, like his cousins the Wolf and the Fox, had a long beautiful tail.
“One chilled winter day, Bear shuffled down to the lake and saw that Fox was feasting on some fish. Licking his chops, Bear asked him, ‘Fox, ol’ friend, how did you manage to catch all those fish?’
“The cunning fox saw his chance to make a fool of Bear…”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE BEAR FOLK STORY: HOW THE BEAR LOST HIS TAIL
NOTE ON ARTWORK: Top image, “Two Travelers and a Bear,” painted by Milo Winter. Second image, “How The Bear Lost His Tail,” by Paul Bransom. Both from Project Gutenberg.
Updated Friday, Sept 29, 2023.
See Us on Our CELL PHONE FRIENDLY Format: BrianAlanBurhoe.com.
Keywords: animal stories, bear stories, civilized bears, famous bears, folk tales.
