The Bear and the Travelers
Encyclopedia
The Bear and the Travelers is a fable attributed to Aesop
and is number 65 in the Perry Index
. This was expanded and given a new meaning in Mediaeval times.
, the tale is one that educators recommend for teaching young children about moral values. The basic story is of two friends walking through rough country who are suddenly confronted by a bear. One of the travellers saves himself by scrambling up a tree while the other throws himself on the ground and pretends to be dead. The animal comes close and sniffs him over but then leaves, for bears are reputed not to touch dead meat. Then the man in the tree came down to his comrade and jokingly asked what the bear had been saying to him. "It was some good advice," said his friend; "he told me never to trust someone who deserts you in need."
Feigning illness or death is a core plot element in several of the fables. Author and San Francisco Examiner journalist Allen Kelly, writing in 1903, examines the idea of 'playing dead' to evade injury when confronted by a bear and gives his opinion that there is some truth in this fable.
to the Emperor Frederick III
in 1475 with a proposal to divide up the Burgundian territories. The Emperor replied with a story of how three friends obtain credit at an inn by promising to catch a bear and dispose of the skin but are eventually forced to flee; one of them falls to the ground, is sniffed by the bear but then left unharmed. Asked by his friends what the bear had to say, he replied "She charged me never for the future to sell the bear's skin till the beast was dead".
This is one of the earliest references to a proverb now found throughout Europe, 'Catch the bear before you sell his skin'. The heart of the story that the Emperor tells is Aesop's fable, but it has now been adapted to end with the lesson not to count one's eggs before they are hatched. A variation on the story appears in the Neo-Latin author Laurentius Abstemius
' collection of a hundred fables (Hecatomythium) written some time in the 1490s. This was titled De Cortario emente pellem Ursi a Venatore nondum capti (How a tanner bought a bear's skin from hunters before it was taken). But it was Jean de la Fontaine
who assured the continued popularity of this variation of the tale by including it in his Fables (V.20.) His version, L'ours et les deux compagnons, is much the same as that of Philippe de Commynes apart from the detail that only two men are involved, one of whom escapes up a tree (as in Aesop). Aesop, however, had reserved the moral of not anticipating success in an enterprise before it is accomplished for his fable of The Milkmaid and Her Pail
.
included it as the second episode in his ballet suite Les Animaux Modèles (1941) and it was Plate 63 of the hundred fables illustrated by etchings heightened with watercolour by the artist Marc Chagal (1952). In 2009 the young Scottish artist Martin Hill produced a large oil painting of the scene. In 1965 the composer Edward Hughes included the fable in a poetic version by Peter Westmore among his ten Songs from Aesop's Fables.
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
and is number 65 in the Perry Index
Perry Index
The Perry Index is a widely-used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC...
. This was expanded and given a new meaning in Mediaeval times.
The Classical Fable
First recorded in Latin verse by AvianusAvianus
Avianus, a Latin writer of fables, generally placed in the 5th century, and identified as a pagan.The 42 fables which bear his name are dedicated to a certain Theodosius, whose learning is spoken of in most flattering terms. He may possibly be Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, the author of...
, the tale is one that educators recommend for teaching young children about moral values. The basic story is of two friends walking through rough country who are suddenly confronted by a bear. One of the travellers saves himself by scrambling up a tree while the other throws himself on the ground and pretends to be dead. The animal comes close and sniffs him over but then leaves, for bears are reputed not to touch dead meat. Then the man in the tree came down to his comrade and jokingly asked what the bear had been saying to him. "It was some good advice," said his friend; "he told me never to trust someone who deserts you in need."
Feigning illness or death is a core plot element in several of the fables. Author and San Francisco Examiner journalist Allen Kelly, writing in 1903, examines the idea of 'playing dead' to evade injury when confronted by a bear and gives his opinion that there is some truth in this fable.
The origin of a European proverb
The late mediaeval chronicler Philippe de Commynes records that an embassy was sent by King Louis XI of FranceLouis XI of France
Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....
to the Emperor Frederick III
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...
in 1475 with a proposal to divide up the Burgundian territories. The Emperor replied with a story of how three friends obtain credit at an inn by promising to catch a bear and dispose of the skin but are eventually forced to flee; one of them falls to the ground, is sniffed by the bear but then left unharmed. Asked by his friends what the bear had to say, he replied "She charged me never for the future to sell the bear's skin till the beast was dead".
This is one of the earliest references to a proverb now found throughout Europe, 'Catch the bear before you sell his skin'. The heart of the story that the Emperor tells is Aesop's fable, but it has now been adapted to end with the lesson not to count one's eggs before they are hatched. A variation on the story appears in the Neo-Latin author Laurentius Abstemius
Laurentius Abstemius
Laurentius Abstemius was an Italian writer, professor of Belles Lettres at Urbino, and librarian to Duke Guido Ubaldo under Pope Alexander VI. Born at Macerata in Ancona, he distinguished himself, at the time of the revival of letters, as a writer of considerable talents...
' collection of a hundred fables (Hecatomythium) written some time in the 1490s. This was titled De Cortario emente pellem Ursi a Venatore nondum capti (How a tanner bought a bear's skin from hunters before it was taken). But it was Jean de la Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
who assured the continued popularity of this variation of the tale by including it in his Fables (V.20.) His version, L'ours et les deux compagnons, is much the same as that of Philippe de Commynes apart from the detail that only two men are involved, one of whom escapes up a tree (as in Aesop). Aesop, however, had reserved the moral of not anticipating success in an enterprise before it is accomplished for his fable of The Milkmaid and Her Pail
The Milkmaid and Her Pail
The Milkmaid and Her Pail is a folktale of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 1430 about interrupted daydreams of wealth and fame. Ancient tales of this type exist in the East but Western variants are not found before the Middle Ages...
.
Artistic interpretations
Because of the connection with La Fontaine, it is in France that one finds the fable most used. It was made into a nine-minute silent film by the film producer Marius O'Gallop in 1920. The composer Francis PoulencFrancis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
included it as the second episode in his ballet suite Les Animaux Modèles (1941) and it was Plate 63 of the hundred fables illustrated by etchings heightened with watercolour by the artist Marc Chagal (1952). In 2009 the young Scottish artist Martin Hill produced a large oil painting of the scene. In 1965 the composer Edward Hughes included the fable in a poetic version by Peter Westmore among his ten Songs from Aesop's Fables.