Page:Tales of the Punjab.pdf/62

40 think we have gone out and left his dinner for him Then he will throw down his bundle and come in. Of course he will rampage a little when he ﬁnds the pot is empty, but he can’t do much mischief, and I don't think he will take the trouble of carrying the wood away.'

So they made haste to lock up all the food and hide themselves in the garret.

Meanwhile the bear had been toiling and mailing away at his bundle of wood, which took him much longer to collect than he expected; however, at last he arrived quite exhausted at the woodcutter's cottage. Seeing the brass khichrî pot by the ﬁre, he threw down his load and went in. And thenmercy! wasn't he angry when he found nothing in itnot even a grain of rice, nor a tiny wee bit of pulse, but only a smell that was so uncommonly nice that he actually cried with rage and disappointment. He ﬂew into the most dreadful temper, but though he turned the house topsy-turvy, he could not ﬁnd a morsel of food. Finally, he declared he would take the wood away again, but, as the crafty old woman had imagined, when he came to the task, he did not care, even for the sake of revenge, to carry so heavy a burden.

'I won't go away empty-handed,' said he to himself, seizing the khichrî pot; 'if I can't get the taste I'll have the smell!'

Now, as he left the cottage, he caught sight of the beautiful golden pears hanging over into the yard. His mouth began to water at once, for he was desperately hungry, and the pears were the ﬁrst of the season; in a trice he was on the wall, up the tree, and, gathering the biggest and ripest one he could