Little Boy and Brown Bear

In illo tempore, when miracles still happened, when you could look forward with prophetic clarity and see the great moving gears of the world and know just how things would end, a boy left his cabin in the woods, seeking immortality. The boy was an only child and preternaturally ugly. He received his looks from his father, a woodsman of sorts who engraved likenesses in tree trunks. Their cabin was isolated, so the only likenesses he could produce were their own. You could find their ugly mugs inscribed on about every tree within a 20-mile radius of their humble dwelling.

Before the boy left home, he said to his father, "I fear not, for I will not be alone. Your image will accompany me everywhere I go."

His father whittled as the boy spoke. "Look into the glass," his father said. "Tell me what you see."

The boy looked through the window, saw the lush, creeping wilderness, and said, "I see trees."

"I said the glass. You're missing something, boy," said he. "Go and find it."

The boy set out with a knapsack containing 3 items: a bone-handle knife, a loaf of bread, and a vial of poison. He navigated the dense woods in search of a trail, scraping passed branches, trudging through thick brush. Shafts of sunlight stole through the heavy canopy, affording him some visibility to find his way. He marched on until nightfall, and in the deep black of the forest, he cut a slice of bread from his loaf and ate the bread ravenously. Then he rested his head on his knapsack and drifted off to sleep.

The boy was awakened by a rustling not far off from his position. He peered through the dark and saw a little glowing orb of light dancing in the darkness. He thought it a will-o'-the-wisp, so he gathered his belongings and set off after the light. He was soon upon it and found that it was not a will-o'-the-wisp at all. He saw before him a mighty brown bear with a lantern in hand.

"Brown Bear," said the boy. "Why do you carry a light? I know it to be true that all bears can see at night."

"I'm searching for the trail," said the boy. "Can you help me?"

"Ay," said Brown Bear, "it is the trail I seek."

Brown Bear led the way, the boy following close behind. Shortly along the journey, Brown Bear stopped suddenly. "The company I keep, I must be able to see. Let me touch your face or else I will flee"

Brown Bear reached out with clawing paws and searched the air for the boy. The boy met his paws with his face. Brown Bear mashed his paws against the boy's face, feeling over every detail of the boy's flesh.

"My you are an ugly boy, but ugliness is a mark of virility. You need not be coy."

They continued on until Brown Bear came to another sudden halt. "I believe there to be a marker on one of the trees nearby." He began groping at the trees, trying to find the right one to lead them to the trail. During his groping, he chanced upon one of the woodsman's engravings.

"This tree bears the image of the one who blinded me. I've felt it, and how clearly do I see. You are the child of the man who carved my eyes. You will pay dearly. You will pay for his lies."

The boy slipped Brown Bear's grasp and fled from his presence, his shoulders bouncing off of trees, limps scratching at his face. Soon he was running in a great empty space and realized he was on the trail. There the dark was lighter. He was able to see by the light of the waxing moon. For fear of Brown Bear's pursuit, he continued on without rest.

He traveled until sunrise, and in the dust-speckled light of dawn, he could see that the trees no longer bore the mark of his father. He initially felt fear, but soon the fear transformed into comfort. The marks on his face had made him even uglier. He felt it a rite of passage.

He walked until he reached a fork in the trail. There, where the trail branched, stood an evergreen tree with a man nailed to the trunk. His hands, overlapped, reached to the heavens with a single metal stake driven through both of them. He was naked save for a loincloth clinging to his emaciated hips. The boy approached him and, with his bone-handle knife, inscribed a message on his chest. It read, "Place me in a cold, dark dwelling, roll over it a stone. Three days' light the darkness quelling, and then I'll take my throne."

The boy took no time to admire his work before setting off down the right path. In the distance, he saw a beautiful girl with dark brown hair. Her beauty only increased as he approached her. "Little girl," said he, "what are you doing all alone."

"I am waiting, boy, for the king to take his throne. I was encased inside a bear, you see, but I have been set free. Years ago, I saw 2 snakes entwined and sundered them with care. I learned that they were vines, and then I was a bear. This day, I formed the vines into a braid, and again I am a maid."

"You must help me," said he. "Let me drink this vial, then stake me to a tree. An inch will bear a mile, and then I'll be your king."

The boy drank the poison and died at the girl's feet. She staked him to a tree and left. Days later, she returned and found a man staked to a tree with an inscription on his chest. She was obedient to the message, and in 3 days' time, he became her king.