Far away in the high mountains, where there was only snow and no people, lived a pack of wolves. They lived in a cave. It protected them from the wind and the cold that was all around them. It wasn’t easy living in the mountains, but it was better for them than living near people. Like a good pack, they did everything together. They were happy and they stuck together. The only thing that bothered them was the bear family that lived on the other side of the mountain. Wolves and bears didn’t like each other. Nobody knows why or when it started, but that’s what it was.
One day, a little cub was born. Little Niko. He was beautiful, clumsy and very curious. He was always jumping and falling. Niko wanted to try everything, to know everything, and if possible now. Most of the time he was watched by his mother wolf, but sometimes he would run away and want to explore everything on his own. There were so many things in his world that interested him. He loved to play in the snow. He tried to dig his snout in as deep as he could and then he would throw the snow over himself and jump in it.
One day when he was playing outside, he smelled something interesting. He looked up and tried to see where the smell was coming from. He kept following it. He didn’t even realize it that he came too far from his cave. The strange smell attracted him enough to keep following its trail. After a while he came to the source of that interesting smell.
It was orange, flaming, and gave off heat. It was fire, but Niko didn’t know it. Where there was fire, there had to be people. All of a sudden, someone threw a net over him. Niko couldn’t see anything and he couldn’t move. He just heard strange voices. “That’s a great catch, we’ll get a lot of money for it.” They were evil poachers who hunted animals and then sold them. Little Niko couldn’t get out of the net. He tried, but he was running out of strength. All of a sudden he was startled by a huge roar. He couldn’t see through the net, but he recognized the sound. It was a bear. He stood on his hind legs, waving his front paws and roaring like a real beast.
The poachers ran for their lives, as fast as they could. The bear got on all fours and came to the net. He looked at Niko and said: “Don’t worry, little one, I’ll help you and take you home.” He took the little wolf on his back and carried him up to the cave to his pack.
The mother wolf was already very worried about him. When she saw the bear approaching their cave, carrying her son on his back, she couldn’t believe it.
Since then, wolves and bears have gotten along well. They have forgotten all their hatred and joined forces to fight the poachers. This showed everyone else that it was better to forgive and make up than to be angry with someone. For there is strength in numbers.
