The Bear and the Fox

Once upon a time, there lived a bear and a fox.
The bear had a small barrel of honey stored in the attic of his house.
The fox found out about it and started thinking about how to get to the honey.

One day, the fox ran to the bear, sat under his window, and said:
"Dear friend, you don’t know my sorrow!"
"What sorrow is that, friend?" asked the bear.
"My house is falling apart, the corners have collapsed, and I haven’t even lit the stove. Let me stay the night with you."
"Come in, friend, and stay the night."

So they went to bed on the stove. The fox lay there, wagging her tail, thinking about how to get to the honey.
The bear fell asleep, and the fox started tapping her tail—tap, tap.
The bear asked, "Friend, who’s knocking?"
"Oh, they’ve come for me, calling me to a christening."
"Well then, go, friend."

The fox left, climbed up to the attic, and started eating the honey from the barrel. Once she had her fill, she returned and lay down again.
"Friend, oh friend," the bear asked, "what did they name the child?"
"Little Patch."
"That’s a nice name."

The next night, they went to bed again, and the fox started tapping her tail—tap, tap.
"Friend, oh friend, they’re calling me to another christening."
"Then go, friend."

The fox climbed up to the attic and ate half of the honey. She returned and lay down again.
"Friend, oh friend, what did they name the child?"
"Little Half."
"That’s a nice name."

On the third night, the fox started tapping her tail again—tap, tap.
"They’re calling me to another christening."
"Friend, oh friend," said the bear, "don’t stay long, because I want to bake some pancakes."
"Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon."

But instead, she climbed up to the attic and finished the honey, scraping the barrel clean. When she returned, the bear was already up.
"Friend, oh friend, what did they name the child?"
"Little Scraper."
"That’s an even better name. Well, now let’s bake some pancakes."

The bear baked the pancakes, and the fox asked,
"Friend, where’s your honey?"
"In the attic."
The bear climbed up to the attic, but the barrel was empty—no honey left.
"Who ate it?" he asked. "It must’ve been you, friend—there’s no one else!"
"No, friend, I’ve never even seen your honey. You must’ve eaten it yourself and are blaming me!"

The bear thought and thought...
"Alright," he said, "let’s find out who ate it. We’ll lie in the sun on our backs. Whoever’s belly starts melting honey—that’s who ate it."

So they lay in the sun. The bear fell asleep, but the fox couldn’t sleep. She looked and saw honey starting to seep out of her belly. Quickly, she smeared it onto the bear’s belly.
"Friend, oh friend! Look at this! You’re the one who ate the honey!"
The bear had no choice but to admit it.

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The Bear and the Fox

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