A drought had begun. No one had seen clouds for a long time, and even the sun felt much hotter than usual. The animals in the forest hid in the shade of the pine trees and cooled off in the nearest stream. But the heat wasn’t the only thing that worried them. Since it hadn’t rained for a long time, fires could break out at any moment. And that’s exactly what happened in the pine forest.
It was a sunny afternoon, with the sun high in the sky. The animals were resting on the moss or dipping their paws in the stream when suddenly the badger smelled something. “It smells like something is burning,” he said aloud, sniffing the unpleasant smell. Before long, the squirrels spotted a thin plume of smoke in the distance.
“Hurry, quickly, we have to put it out!” cried the animals sitting by the stream. They quickly formed a line from the stream to the fire, passing along water using whatever they had. After a few minutes, they put out the fire. Only a small pile of leaves had caught fire, so it was quickly brought under control. Tired, the animals sat down by the stream to rest.
The badger began to think aloud: “We should be better prepared for this. Next time, someone’s house might catch fire and something might happen. We should make a portable fire hose. What do you think?” “That’s a great idea, badger, but where will we get the money for it?” asked the curious squirrels. “We’ll collect contributions. It’s for a good cause. I’m sure everyone will be happy to help,” decided the badger.
And so it happened. The badger and the squirrels immediately jumped up and started walking around the forest, collecting things money to build a portable fire hose. All the animals were happy to contribute, except for the richest one in the forest, the bear. He just turned up his nose and said proudly, “I won’t give you anything, I don’t have much myself. If my house catches fire, I’ll put it out myself. I don’t need your fire hose. It’s foolish and a waste of money.”
Even though the bear refused to contribute, they collected enough money to build the fire hose. They wasted no time and worked together. Every single animal in the forest joined in, except for the bear. Within a few hours, the hose was ready.
Barely a few days later, they had to use it. And do you know whose home caught fire? Of course, it was the bear’s home. The very one who refused to contribute or help build the fire hose. Now he stood helplessly in front of his burning house, calling desperately for help. Smoke poured from all the windows as he ran around in despair.
The animals heard his cries for help and rushed to his aid with the fire hose. The blaze was already large and difficult to control but in the end, they succeeded. The flames disappeared under the water that the fire hose spewed out tirelessly.
The bear stood in front of his house, staring sadly at the water streaming out of the door. At that moment, he realized that if he had been inside and the others hadn’t come, something much worse could have happened. He turned to his exhausted friends and said: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I mocked you and refused to give money or help. Thank you for helping me.”
The animals were kind and forgave the bear. They even helped him clean up his home so that he could live in it again. Then the bear invited them to the best lunch he could cook. From then on, he was no longer stingy or selfish. He was glad to have friends who knew how to forgive.