16 The Bear and the Bees

One day, a bear was walking through the woods looking for fruit. He happened upon a log, which smelled very sweet.

“There must be honey inside, ” thought the bear. “This is super!”

He sniffed around the log very carefully, trying to decide whether any bees were at home. As he was sniffing, one of the bees came home with fresh nectar.

The bee guessed that the bear wanted to steal some honey. It acted quickly and stung the bear on the nose.

The bear lost his temper in an instant. He jumped on the log and beat it with his large paws.“I will punish all of you! ”he roared.

Now all the bees inside the log came out and attacked the bear. They stung him over and over again. The poor bear ran away, but the bees chased him everywhere.Finally,the bear had to jump into a river to get away.

“Now I know, ” said the bear. “Sometimes it's better to walk away than to fight.”