he to us, "now you see me teachee the bear dance:" so he began
jumping and shaking the bough, at which the bear began to totter, but
stood still, and began to look behind him, to see how he should get back;
then, indeed, we did laugh heartily. But Friday had not done with him by
a great deal; when seeing him stand still, he called out to him again, as
if he had supposed the bear could speak English, "What, you come no
farther? pray you come farther;" so he left jumping and shaking the tree;
and the bear, just as if he understood what he said, did come a little
farther; then he began jumping again, and the bear stopped again. We
thought now was a good time to knock him in the head, and called to
Friday to stand still and we should shoot the bear: but he cried out
earnestly, "Oh, pray! Oh, pray! no shoot, me shoot by and then:" he
would have said by-and-by. However, to shorten the story, Friday danced
so much, and the bear stood so ticklish, that we had laughing enough, but
still could not imagine what the fellow would do: for first we thought he
depended upon shaking the bear off; and we found the bear was too cunning
for that too; for he would not go out far enough to be thrown down, but
clung fast with his great broad claws and feet, so that we could not
imagine what would be the end of it, and what the jest would be at last.
But Friday put us out of doubt quickly: for seeing the bear cling fast to
the bough, and that he would not be persuaded to come any farther, "Well,
well," says Friday, "you no come farther, me go; you no come to me, me
come to you;" and upon this he went out to the smaller end, where it
would bend with his weight, and gently let himself down by it, sliding
down the bough till he came near enough to jump down on his feet, and
away he ran to his gun, took it up, and stood still. "Well," said I to
him, "Friday, what will you do now? Why don't you shoot him?" "No
shoot," says Friday, "no yet; me shoot now, me no kill; me stay, give you
one more laugh:" and, indeed, so he did; for when the bear saw his enemy
gone, he came back from the bough, where he stood, but did it very
cautiously, looking behind him every step, and coming backward till he
got into the body of the tree, then, with the same hinder end foremost,
he came down the tree, grasping it with his claws, and moving one foot at
a time, very leisurely. At this juncture, and just before he could set
his hind foot on the ground, Friday stepp
|