Serbian Fairy Tales

Excerpt: "Once upon a time a bear married a woman, and they had one son. When the boy was yet a little fellow he begged very hard to be allowed to leave the bear’s cave, and to go out into the world to see what was in it. His father, the Bear, however, would not consent to this, saying, “You are too young yet, and not strong enough. In the world there are multitudes of wicked beasts called men, who will kill you.” So the boy was quieted for a while, and remained in the cave. But, after some time, the boy prayed so earnestly that the Bear, his father, would let him go into the world, that the Bear brought him into the wood, and showed him a beech-tree, saying, “If you can pull up that beech by the roots, I will let you go; but if you cannot, then this is a proof that you are still too weak, and must remain with me.” The boy tried to pull up the tree, but, after long trying, had to give it up, and go home again to the cave. Again some time passed, and he then begged again to be allowed to go into the world, and his father told him, as before, if he could pull up the beech-tree he [2]might go out into the world. This time the boy pulled up the tree, so the Bear consented to let him go, first, however, making him cut away the branches from the beech, so that he might use the trunk for a club. The boy now started on his journey, carrying the trunk of the beech over his shoulder."