194 ANECDOTES OF THE BEAR. 



After having lived about thirty-one years together, the 

 male was killed by a fall from one of the trees, and thus this 

 long and interesting friendship was destroyed. The female 

 appeared for a time fully sensible of her loss, and so great was 

 her affliction, that for several days she took little or no nour- 

 ishment. After this, however, she seemed to forget her former 

 companion, and took her food, and became lively as before. 



Another anecdote of the bear is related as follows: 

 Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, had a bear named Marco, which 

 was -kept in a small den, or hut placed in a barn. During 

 the winter of 1709, some very poor people, who had liked to 

 have perished with the cold, went into the barn for shelter. 

 Among these poor people there was a little boy, who being 

 very cold, and seeing that Marco's den was a snug and warm 

 place, went into it, without thinking of the danger of doing so. 

 Marco, however, instead of tearing the poor little fellow in 

 pieces, as might have been expected, took him between his 

 paws and hugged him up to his breast, and kept him warm 

 and comfortable until morning ; he then let him go to ramble 

 about the streets of the city. At evening the boy returned to 

 the bear, who was glad to see him, and took him between his 

 paws to keep him warm, as before. For several nights the 

 poor little boy had no other place to sleep, but with the bear, 

 and what was still more singular, the animal kept a part of 

 his food, to give him for his supper when he came. The 

 keeper of the bear knew nothing of this for a number of days. 

 At length, going one evening later than usual, to give the bear 

 his supper, he was surprised to see the animal roll his eyes in 

 a -very furious manner at him. The cause of this strange 

 conduct, the keeper did not at first understand, but on looking 

 more closely, he saw to his astonishment, that the bear had a 

 child clasped in his arms, fast asleep, and that his fierce looks 

 were intended to warn him, not to awake the child by making 

 a noise. The keeper found, when he placed the food before 

 r him, that the animal did not seize upon it as usual, but lay 

 'Still without touching it, for fear, as he supposed, of awakiag 

 the child. 



