bambi was often left alone now. but he did not have the same fear of it as he had the first time. his mother would disappear, and then, however much he called for her, she did not come. but then she would reappear unexpectedly.
one evening, feeling very lonely, he wandered once more along the paths. he had not found gobo and faline even once. the sky had already turned to a light grey and it was beginning to get dark, so that the tops of the trees could be seen over the bushes and undergrowth. something rustled in the bushes, something hurtled its way between the leaves, and then his mother appeared close behind her another deer made its way in. bambi did not know who it was. auntie ena or his father or someone else. but bambi’s mother saw immediately who it was, despite the speed at which she had rushed past him. he heard the shrillness of her voice. she screamed, and it seemed to bambi that she did so only in fun, but then it occurred to him that there was a slight ring of fear in that scream.
another time, it happened in full daylight. bambi had been walking for hours through the dense woods and finally began to call. not so much because he was afraid, but because did not want to remain so alone any more, and he felt he would soon be in a terrible state. so he began to call for his mother.
suddenly there was one of their fathers standing in front of him, looking at him severely. bambi had not heard him coming and he was startled. this elder stag looked more powerful than the others, he was taller and more proud. his coat was aflame with a deep dark red, but his face shone silver-grey; and a powerful, black pearled crown extended high above his playful ears.
“what are you calling for?” the old stag asked severely. bambi trembled in awe of the elder stag and did not dare to make any answer. “your mother hasn’t got the time to spend on you now!” the elder continued. bambi was completely cowed by this imperious voice, but at the same time he felt admiration for it. “can’t you be by yourself for a while? you should be ashamed of yourself!” bambi would have liked to say that he could be by himself perfectly well, that he had often been by himself, but he said nothing. he did as he was told and became terribly ashamed. the elder turned round and left him. bambi did not know how the stag left, where he had gone, did not even know whether he had left quickly or slowly. he was simply gone, just as suddenly as he had arrived. bambi strained his ears, but he heard no steps moving away from him, no leaf being disturbed. that made him suppose the elder must still be quite near to him, and he smelt the air on every side. he learned nothing from that. bambi sighed in relief as he was once more alone, but at the same time he yearned to see the old stag again and to make sure he was not displeased with him.
then his mother arrived but bambi said nothing about his meeting with the elder. nor did he ever call for her, now, when she was out of sight. he thought about the old stag when he wandered about on his own; he felt a powerful wish to come across him. then he would say to him, “see? i’m not calling for anyone.” and the elder would praise him.
he did speak to gobo and faline though, the next time they were together on the meadow. they listened with excitement and they had had no experience of their own that could compare with this. “weren’t you scared?” asked gobo excitedly. yes! bambi admitted, he had been scared. just a little bit. “i’d have been terribly scared,” gobo told him. bambi answered that no, he had not been very scared, because the elder had been so majestic. gobo told him, “that wouldn’t have been much help for me. i’d have been too scared even to look at him. when i get scared everything flickers in front of my eyes so that i can’t see anything and my heart beats so hard that i can’t breathe.” what bambi had told them made faline very thoughtful and she said nothing.
the next time they met, though, gobo and faline rushed to him in great leaps and bounds. they were alone once more, as was bambi. “we’ve been looking for you for ages,” declared gobo. “yes,” said faline with an air of importance, “as now we know exactly who it was that you saw.” bambi was so keen to know he jumped in the air. “who ...!?”
faline took pleasure in saying, “it was the old prince.”
“how do you know that?” bambi wanted to know.
“our mother told us!” retorted faline.
bambi was astonished, and he showed it. “did you tell her about it then?” the two of them nodded their heads. “but that was a secret!” objected bambi.
gobo quickly tried to excuse himself. “it wasn’t me. it was faline who did it.” but faline cheerfully called, “oh, so what? secret!? i wanted to know who it was, and now we do know, and that’s much more interesting!” bambi was burning to hear all about this, and his wish was satisfied. faline told him everything. “he’s the most noble stag in the whole wood. he’s the prince. there is no second most noble, no-one comes near to him. no-one knows how old he is. no-one knows where he lives. no-one knows who his relatives are. very few have ever even seen him. now and then there’s a rumour that he’s dead because he hasn’t been seen for a long time. then somebody catches a glimpse of him and then everyone knows he’s still alive. no-one has ever dared to ask him where he’s been. he doesn’t speak to anyone and no-one dares to speak to him. he goes along the paths where no-one else ever goes; he knows every part of the wood, even the most distant corner. and nothing is a danger to him. other princes might tussle with each other, sometimes as a test or in fun but sometimes they fight in earnest. it’s many years since he fought with anyone. and there’s no-one still alive who did fight with him a long time ago. he’s the great prince.”
bambi forgave gobo and faline for having carelessly chatted about his secret with their mother. he was even quite satisfied about it as now, after all, it was him who had experienced all the all these important things. nonetheless, he was glad that gobo and faline did not know everything quite precisely, that the great prince had said, “can’t you be by yourself for a while?,” that they did not know he had said, “you should be ashamed of yourself!.” bambi was glad, now, that he had kept silent about these admonitions. faline would have told everything about that just like everything else, and then the whole forest would have been gossiping about it.
that night, as the moon was rising, bambi’s mother came back again. she was suddenly there standing under the great oak at the edge of the meadow and looking round for bambi. he saw her straight away and ran over to her. that night bambi had another new experience. his mother was tired and hungry. she did not walk about as much as she usually did but satisfied herself there on the meadow where bambi also usually took his meals. together there, they munched on the bushes and as they did so, in that remarkably pleasant way, they wandered deeper and deeper into the woods. there was a loud noise that came through the greenery. before bambi had any idea of what was happening his mother began to scream loudly, just as she did when she was greatly startled or confused. “a-oh!” she screamed, jumped away, then stopped and screamed, “a-oh, ba-oh!.” then, bambi saw some immense figures appear, coming towards them through the noise. they came quite close. they looked like bambi and his mother, like auntie ena and anyone else of their species, but they were enormous, they had grown so big and powerful that you felt compelled to look up at them. like his mother, bambi began to scream, “a-oh ... ba-oh ...ba-oh!.” he was hardly aware that he was screaming, he could not stop himself. the line of figures went slowly past, three or four enormous figures one after another. last of all came one that was even bigger than the others, it had a wild mane around its neck and its head was crowned with a whole tree. just to see it took your breath away. bambi stood there and howled as loudly as he could, as he felt more frightened and bewildered than he ever had been before. his fear was of a particular kind. he felt as if he were pitifully small, and even his mother seemed to be the same. he felt ashamed, although he had no idea why, at the same time the horror of it shook him and he once more began to howl. “ba-oh ... ba-a-oh!.” it made him feel better when he shouted like that.
the line of figures had passed. there was nothing more to see and nothing more to hear from in. even bambi’s mother became silent. there was only bambi who would whine briefly from time to time. he was still afraid.
“you can be quiet now,” his mother said, “look, they’ve gone away.”
“oh, mother,” whispered bambi, “who was that?”
“oh, they’re not really that dangerous,” his mother said. “they were our big relatives ... yes ... they are big and they’re quality ... much higher quality than you or me ...”
“and aren’t they dangerous?” bambi asked.
“not normally,” his mother explained. “but they say there are many things that have happened. people say this and that about them but i don’t know if there’s any truth in these stories. they’ve never done anything to me or to anyone i know.”
“why would they do anything to us when they’re relatives of ours?” thought bambi. he wanted to be quiet, but he was still shaking.
“no, i don’t suppose they’ll do anything to us,” his mother answered, “but i’m not sure, and i get alarmed every time i see them. i can’t stop myself. it’s the same every time.”
bambi was slowly soothed down by this conversation, but he remained thoughtful. right above him, in among the branches of an alder tree, an impressive tawny owl shrieked. but bambi was confused and forgot, for once, to show that he was startled. the owl, however still came down to him and asked, “give you a shock, did i?.”
“of course,” answered bambi. “you always give me a shock.”
the owl gave a quiet laugh; he was satisfied. “i hope you don’t blame me for it,” he said. “it’s just the way i do things.” he fluffed up his plumage till he looked like a ball, sank his beak into his soft, downy feathers, and put on a terribly nice, serious expression. that was enough for him.
bambi opened his heart to him. “do you know,” he began in a way that seemed older than his age, “i’ve just had a shock that was far bigger than the one you gave me.”
“what?” asked the owl, no longer so satisfied with himself.
bambi told him about his meeting with his enormous relatives.
“don’t tell me about your relatives,” declared the owl. “i’ve got relatives too, you know. but all i have to do is look round me anywhere in the daytime and they’re all over me. na, there’s not much point in having relatives. if they’re bigger than you they’re good for nothing, and if they’re smaller they’re even more good for nothing. if they’re bigger than you then you can’t stand them ‘cause they’re so haughty, and if they’re smaller they can’t stand you ‘cause they think you’re haughty. na, i don’t want to know anything about anything of that.”
“but ... i don’t even know my relatives ...” said bambi shyly and wishing he did. “i’d never heard anything about them and today was the first time i saw them.”
“don’t you bother about those people,” the owl advised him. “just take my word for it,” he said, rolling his eyes in a meaningful way, “take my word, that’s the best thing to do. relatives are never as good as friends. look at the two of us, we’re not related but we’re good friends, aren’t we, and very nice it is too.”
bambi was about to say something more, but the owl continued speaking. “i’ve got some experience in things like that. you’re a bit young, still. take my word, i know better about these things. and anyway, i don’t see why i should get involved in your family matters.” he rolled his eyes, and rolled them in a way that seemed so thoughtful, and sat with an expression that seemed so earnest and meaningful, that bambi was modest and said nothing.
