In a small house in the woods lived Eric the bear, who loved not only honey, but his greatest hobby was fishing. So every Saturday he would prepare his bucket and rod and fish in a clear, small lake in the middle of his forest.
Although he would release the fish he caught back, he liked to try to see if he could catch any. The bear was big and many animals were afraid of him, but he was a great pure-hearted bear.
As Erik the brown bear was walking through the deep forest toward the pond, he met a small red squirrel on the way. The squirrel was just playing with cones in the leaves. “What’s up, what’s up?” Erik asked the little squirrel. “I’m going to the pond to fish, will you join me?” The bear asked timidly, not wanting the squirrel to be afraid of him. Erik was a big bear and didn’t have many friends in the forest. This was the first time someone had spoken to him and he was very happy about it. The squirrel joyfully jumped out of the leaves and joined the bear on his way to the pond. Erik the bear and the squirrel, who introduced herself to him as Red, walked merrily through the forest to the pond, talking the whole way. Erik was very happy. He told Red how he liked to fish and how he liked to bake honey cakes in his cottage. However, he was sad that he had no one to share it with. So the squirrel promised him that right after the fish they could bake cake together.
Erik prepared a fishing rod and together with the squirrel they tried to catch some fish. The sun in the sky smiled kindly at them and watched to see if they could catch something. And indeed, they succeeded! They caught two, then three and even four fishes and put them nicely in the bucket. When they caught enough fish, they decided to go home and bake a honey cake. They had a bucket full of fish, which the bear immediately threw back into the water. Finally he caught the last fish, but it wasn’t just any fish, it was a goldfish!
“I am a goldfish. If you let me go like the other little fishes and continue to be as good as you are, I’ll grant you one wish.” – said the goldfish to him. The squirrel tried to give the bear some advice, but no wish was good enough. So the bear thought for a long time about his wish, when it came to him!
“I got it!” – he said cheerfully. “I wish that the animals in the forest would not be afraid of me, that they would be my friends!” – said Erik.
“Your wish will come true!” – said the fish to him.
So Erik let her back into the pond, he and Red the squirrel went to the cottage to bake a honey cake, as they had previously agreed.
And did Erik’s wish come true? How did Red and Eric bake the honey cake? That, dear children, you will find out in the next story.
