THE EKMINE AND THE BEAR. 89 



must always be kept a close prisoner, while even then 

 it will bite the person that feeds it. It is said in Nor- 

 way to be so fierce that even the bear is afraid of it. 

 When the bear happens by chance to approach the 

 ermine's retreat, he meets with an unpleasantly warm 

 reception. His little antagonist rushes forth in quite 

 a storm of passion, its eyes sparkling with rage, and 

 springs at the bear's ear, where it hangs on, biting and 

 scratching with might and main. The bear expe- 

 riences a mixed feeling of astonishment and fear ; he 

 feels the pain, but is unable to rid himself of the tor- 

 mentor. The more he shakes his unwieldy head, the 

 closer clings the ermine, biting and scratching with 

 his sharp teeth and claws all the time. The bear is 

 ashamed at being vanquished by so contemptible a foe, 

 so he rushes away headlong, his head bent down, his 

 " eyes in a fine frenzy rolling/' stamping with his feet, 

 and howling with all his might, until at length, the 

 ermine working away at the unfortunate victim's ear 

 all the time, the bear becomes so exhausted with rage 

 and loss of blood, that he cannot see before him, but 

 falls over the nearest precipice in his course, and is 

 killed the ermine, of course, leaps off the bear's ear 

 just in the nick of time, that is, when Bruin conies to 

 the edge of the precipice. 



Sometimes the ermine meets with its fate in a singu- 

 lar manner. The little creature in its rambles falls in 

 with an eagle asleep, when it coolly springs on the 

 back of the king of birds, and works away rapidly with 

 teeth and claws. This, of course, awakens the eagle, 

 and feeling some disagreeable stinging thing on its 

 back, the noble bird soars aloft, the ermine still cling- 

 ing to it. Presently the eagle gives himself a shake, 



