Beyond several villages and several rivers there was a deep forest. There were trees that had lots of leaves but also those who had needles. In the middle of this forest there was a feeder and a short distance from it there was a high seat. This is a kind of small lookout where the hunter goes to watch the animals and keep an eye on what is happening in the forest.
In this deep forest, a good hunter and his daughter, Barbara, kept an eye on the animals. They went into the forest together every day. They would refill the hay in the bird feeder, fix its roof, and then sit together looking through binoculars into the farthest parts of the forest and talking quietly about the animals they saw.
Barbara was very happy that her father was a hunter. He told her about which animals were dangerous and which she didn’t have to be afraid of. He taught her how to take care of them. Moreover, Barbara loved the forest. She liked the smell of the pine needles, and she liked to lie down in the moss and just imagine things. She knew this forest by heart. She knew where she could go and where she mustn’t.
One day when they were out for a walk, Barbara ran after a small squirrel. The squirrel jumped further and further into the woods, and little Barbara followed her. She completely forgot that she was far away from daddy.. As she whirled around, she noticed there was no seat nor a feeder in sight. She took a good look around and soon realized that she was too far away. She was in a part of the forest where it was already dangerous. She was standing on a forest path and there were only trees around her. She was alone. She was getting scared, but she knew she had to be brave and find her daddy. So she took the forest path.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, the hunter was looking for his daughter. He ran through the woods and called out: “Barbara, where are you? Can you hear me?” But there was no answer. Then the hunter’s father thought that he could see most of it from his high seat. He quickly climbed up, grabbed his binoculars and spun them around in all directions. He hoped to see his daughter. He was about to lose hope when he suddenly saw her. She was walking along the narrow forest path around the rock towards him. He was relieved. He was so glad to find her.
But when he was about to go meet her, he saw a bear walking towards her in the distance. The path was narrow. He knew that Barbara could not avoid the bear. And that she had nowhere to go. He froze. He stood on the perch, holding the binoculars tightly, breathing fast. He was really scared. After a while, the bear came to Barbara. It was standing right in front of her. Barbara didn’t move. She tried to be calm, even though she was very scared. She lowered her eyes to show that she didn’t want to hurt the bear. From a distance, the hunter saw the bear suddenly extend its big paws towards the little girl. He was so worried about her, but there was nothing he could do. Barbara didn’t move. She could feel the big paws lifting her up. The little bear picked her up as gently as it could and carried her to the other side of the road. It set Barbara on the ground and continued on its way. Barbara turned to the bear in disbelief. She didn’t understand what had happened, why it hadn’t hurt her, but helped her.
The hunter dropped his binoculars and ran to meet his daughter. When they met, they hugged each other, tears of happiness rolling down their cheeks. Daddy was glad his daughter was safe. He was also proud of her for being able to remain calm even when she was very scared. To this day, Barbara still loves to go to the forest and watch the animals with binoculars. And most of all she likes to learn how to treat nature and animals. She already knows that she can use it again sometime.
