Grizzly King

Chapter 13

Thor took Mascar all the way north, continued the boring trip, and walked for another two full hours.The two of them had walked twenty miles since leaving the trail, and twenty miles seemed like a round-the-world trip to the cub.Usually, a cub is not two or three years old and does not travel this far from its birthplace.

On the way down the valley, Thor did not waste time on the slopes, but chose the quickest route along the creek.After leaving the old bear, they were three or four miles down the pond, when Thor turned to the west, changing his course.After a while they began to climb again, up the long green slope for a quarter of a mile.It was a fractured ground, but smooth and flat as if it were flat.

Compared with other valley slopes, Muska's limbs were lucky to walk on the green slope without much effort.It was in this valley, twenty miles to the southwest, that Thor killed the black bear.

When Thor catches sight of the northern border of his domain, it is all changed.

Suddenly, it was no longer in a hurry.It stood for 15 minutes, looking at the valley below, sniffing the air, and then, slowly, it made its way down.When it came to the green meadow and the bottom of the creek, it walked with its head up, facing the wind from the south and west.The wind didn't bring the smell he expected—the smell of his mate, but Thor's intuition told him that his mate was nearby, or should be.It never occurred to Thor that his mate might be in trouble, or that he might be sick, or that he might be shot by a hunter.Thor was always looking for his mate here, and sooner or later he would find it, and he knew what a mate smelled like.Thor walked up and down the valley floor so that the scent of his mate would not be missed.

Thor suffers from lovesickness, almost like a human being.That is, it gets silly, and everything else doesn't matter in the slightest.For a year its habits are as fixed as stars appear after sunset.But now, its habit is to retreat completely for the time being.It even forgets about hunger, so the groundhogs and gophers will be safe.In order to find his mate, Thor tirelessly walked around day and night.

It was only natural that Thor forgot about Mascar almost entirely during these exciting days.Thor crossed the stream at least ten times before the sun went down.The cub was so angry that he almost gave up.It waded, swam, and splashed in the stream with Thor, and nearly drowned.On Thor's tenth or No. 12 wading of the creek, Muska, uncharacteristically, stopped wading and walked along this side of the stream.Sure enough, after a while, the grizzly came back again.

Shortly thereafter, just as the sun was setting, the unexpected happened.Although the wind was weak down there in the valley, it suddenly turned to the east, and a scent was carried with it from half a mile away on the western slopes.The smell made Thor stand motionless for about half a minute; then he set off to a slow trot.Of all four-legged animals it runs the least gracefully.

Muska followed Thor. It was like a ball, running like a rolling ball, desperately refueling and chasing, but it was getting farther and farther away from Thor.The grizzly bear stopped near the first slope, and it was rediscovering the direction of the scent.If it didn't stop there, Thor might have lost Muska during that half-mile run.

Muska was only able to see the grizzly when it began to climb the slope.Muska screamed and told Thor to wait while he followed up the hill.

At a distance of two or three hundred yards above the mountainside, the slope gradually sloped away into a depression.There, a beautiful female grizzly was sniffing around in the hollow, looking for something in the air like Thor did.It comes from the mountains in the distance, with a cub born last year by its side.Thor reached the top of the hill, within fifty yards of the she-bear.It stopped and it looked at the she-bear.The female bear, Escoval, also looked at it.

Then, the bear's courtship officially begins.All the haste, all the longing, all the anticipation Thor had with his mate seemed to disappear.If Escoval once had longing feelings, then at this moment, it appears extremely indifferent.Two or three minutes passed, and Thor stood there, looking around casually.This gave Muska time to catch up to Thor, looking forward to another fight.

Escovar turned over a flat rock and began to look for grubs and ants. It seemed to him that Thor was thousands of miles away.Thor grabbed a handful of grass and swallowed it in one gulp.

Facing the indifferent scene, Thor took it calmly.Escovar moved a step or two, and Thor moved a step or two.As if by pure chance, the steps of both of them moved towards each other.

Muska was confused, as was the older cub—it looked three times his size.They squatted on the ground like two dogs.What will happen?They are all curious.

The distance between Thor and Escovar was less than five feet, but it took them five minutes to get to each other.Then, they sniffed each other's noses, politely.

The one-year-old cub has already integrated into his family circle.It was just the right age for a name, so the Indians called it Pipenascus, which means "one-year-old bear cub."The cub was so brave that he walked up to Thor and his mother.For a moment, Thor didn't seem to notice it.Then, Thor swung his long right arm quickly, and with a sudden uppercut, he lifted Pipenascus from the ground and threw him out.In the air, Pipenascus spun and rolled some distance in the direction of Muska.

Thor drove away the mother bear's cub, but the mother bear didn't care, she still sniffed her nose affectionately with Thor.Masca, however, thought this was the prelude to another terrible fight, and, with a scornful shriek, he rushed down the hill, and threw himself at Pipenascus with all his might.

Pipenascus was a good boy for his mother.That is to say, it is the kind of cub who is unwilling to venture out alone, but stubbornly wants to spend the second season with the mother bear.It suckled all the time and was weaned after five months.The female bear also continued to catch small animals for it, making it chubby, with smooth and soft fur.

Look at Mascar again. In just a few days, a lot of courage has been injected into it.Although it was much smaller than Pipenascus, and it still had a sore foot and a sore back, it rushed towards Pipenascus like a fired bullet.

Pipenascus, still dazed from Thor's blow, saw the sudden attack, and screamed for help to his mother, for he had never fought.Mascar's teeth were like needles, biting into its soft skin again and again.Pipenascus rolled on the ground, now sideways, now on all fours.It kicked and scratched and whined.

Luckily, Muska took Pipenascus's nose and bit it deep.If the "good baby" Pipenascus still has no courage to fight against Mascar, then its nose is likely to be bitten off.Mascar was biting his nose, and Pipenascus was screaming, telling his mother that something was wrong with him.The cry did not attract Escovar's attention, and it and Thor were still sniffing each other's noses.

In the end, Pipenascus broke free from Muska by virtue of his weight advantage, and kept his bleeding nose; Pipenascus ran away quickly, and Muska chased after him.They ran around the basin twice in a row.Despite his shorter legs, Mascar was in hot pursuit; Pipenascus, looking sideways in horror, bumped into a rock and fell to the ground, and Mascar threw himself on him again. body.If Masca hadn't happened to see Thor and Escovar slowly disappearing at the end of the hill and heading for the valley, he would still bite and growl until he was exhausted.

Almost instantly, Muska forgot to fight.Muska was surprised to find that Thor did not tear the bear to pieces, but went away with it.Pipenascus got up too, watching suspiciously.Then Muska turned to look at Pipenascus, and Pipenascus looked at Muska.

Mascar licked the bones of his chest, and he seemed to be hesitating: should he continue to enjoy the pleasure of torturing Pepenascus, or should he follow Thor?But the older cub left Mascar with no choice, and with a whimper, he ran after his mother.

Later, the two cubs had a great time playing.That night Thor and Escoval lingered either among the buffalo willows, or among the balsam bushes at the bottom of the brook.In the evening, Pipenascus sneaked up to the she-bear, but was picked up by Thor and thrown into the middle of the stream.The second time Mascar witnessed Thor's displeasure, it became clear to him that the older bears had no intention of keeping the cubs by their side just now.Therefore, Muska and Pipenascus carefully chose a truce.

The next day, Thor and Escovar were alone all day.In the morning, Masca went on a little expedition in search of food.It likes soft grass, but it doesn't get enough of it.Several times he saw Pipenascus digging in the soft ground by the stream, so Mascar drove him away and inspected the hole he had dug.After digging a few more times, it pulled out a spherical white brittle root.Mascar thought it was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten except fish, a delicacy called "spring beauty grass".There is another food that is comparable to it-the dog tooth pansy.These beautiful spring grasses grew luxuriantly all around, and Mascar kept digging and digging until his limbs ached.Even so, it feels heart-satisfying after a hearty meal.

Mascar and Pipenascus fight again, for which Thor is responsible.Later that afternoon, as the two bears lay side by side in the bushes, for no apparent reason, Thor opened his huge mouth and let out a low growl that sounded a lot like the day he took a straight shot at the big bear. The sound of the black bear's life.Escovar raised his head and roared excitedly after Thor.Before, the two of them had a good temper and got along very happily.Why do mating bears bark at each other?It sounds creepy.This may only be explained by the bears themselves.

The roaring lasted about 1 minute.At this particular time, Masca, who was lying outside the bushes, thought that the "hour of glory" must have come, and Thor was beating Pipenascus's mother.Mascar immediately set his sights on Pipenascus.

"Good Baby" Pipenascus was stalking along the edge of the bush, and he was so unlucky at the moment.Before it had a chance to ask a question, Mascar rushed towards Pipenascus like a fast black ball.Pipenascus was knocked over like a fat doll.They bit, dug, and scratched each other for several minutes.Mascar was mostly biting, digging, and scratching, but Pipenascus spent his energy and time moaning and yelling.

Finally, Pipenascus broke free from Masca and ran away again.Muska chased after them. They ran through the bushes for a while, ran to the stream and turned back, and ran up and down the half-hill slope for a while. They were so tired that Muska had to stop and lie on the ground to rest.

Just then Thor came out of the bush, without the she-bear with him.

Thor looked at Mascar, since last night, this seemed to be the first time he paid attention to Mascar.Thor sniffed the wind in the valley, then turned around and walked straight towards the distant valley, where they came from yesterday afternoon.Muska was both delighted and confused.He wanted to get into the bushes because he thought the dead bear must be there;But after hesitating for a moment, Muska still ran up to Thor and followed closely behind.

After a while, Eskvar also came out of the bushes, sniffing the wind like Thor did.Then it walked in the opposite direction to Thor, followed by Pipenascus, and they climbed the hillside, and walked slowly towards the setting sun.

Thus ended Thor's courtship and Muska's first fight.They listlessly headed east again.They will face the most terrible danger ever encountered by four-legged animals in the mountain forest. This danger is very cruel, this danger has no escape, and this danger can easily lead to death.

(End of this chapter)