little bear cried, "boo-hoo! boo-hoo!"
he cried so hard that his tears fell into his bowl of bread and milk.
the tears made the milk taste salty!
"what is the matter?" asked papa bear.
little bear did not say a word, he only cried, "boo-hoo!"
mama bear said: "every one teases little bear because he has no name."
"why didn't you give him a name?" asked papa bear.
mama bear said: "there were not enough names to go round!"
if you could look in and see the whole bear family at supper, you would not wonder that there were not enough names to go round.
there, at the table, sat mama and papa bear and seventeen little bears. they all had bowls of bread and milk for supper. after supper the bears played a game of tag and went to bed.
they all went to bed but little bear. he sat in his little red rockingchair.
little bear was crying softly, "boo-hoo!"
at last, when the house was still and papa and mama bear had gone to bed, little bear crept down-stairs.
he opened the door and went hurrying down the road.
what do you suppose little bear was going to do?
he was going to find a name! little bear could read very well and by and by he came to an old sign. the words on the sign were partly rubbed off. there was only one word left. it was the word "fire."
"fire, fire, that is a fine name," said little bear, "i will call myself 'fire'!"
pretty soon he met an old owl. the owl said: "what is your name, little bear?"
"fire!" shouted little bear.
"how do you know it is your name?" asked the owl.
little bear ran on, shouting, "fire! fire!" and all the animals in the woods awoke, and they came running with buckets of water.
they wanted to put out the fire. little bear was so surprised that he did not look where he was going, and he ran right into an old bon-fire, and burned his dear little paws.
all the bear family came to help put out the fire.
little bear went limping home.
as he hurried along the old owl called: "when you want a good name, come to me; 'fire' is not a good name.
"to-whit, to-whit, to-whoo,
such a name will never do!"
little bear got home at last, and his mother tied up his paws. she put flour on them.
"it will help the burn," said mama bear.
little bear did not like to see his paws white, so he licked off the flour. i will find a new name to-morrow," he said, "but i will not ask the owl to help me."
then little bear went to sleep.
he had a fine dream. he thought he found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. he thought he tried to carry the pot of gold.
"it is heavy," he shouted. 'it is so heavy i cannot carry it!"
little bear shouted so loud he woke up. all the little bears woke up.
"what is the matter?" they cried. little bear said he had been dreaming about the pot of gold.
mama bear came in rubbing her eyes, she was so sleepy.
papa bear said, "it is too early to get up, go to sleep again."
they all went back to bed and fell asleep.
little bear did not dream this time.
