PROF. DR. CORNELIA PĂUN HEINZEL: „The Legend of the little bear from Braşov „

Translation: David Whelsh 

The storm unleashed impetously raged
furiously, as if all the elements of nature awoke suddenly to life here in the
Cheile of Râşnoavei. The trees were twisted and inclined branches almost to the
ground. The wind, the cold and fast rain tore defenseless bodies of trees.

At the forest edge, near a bushy shrub,
Martina The Mother bear was just giving birth. It seemed like the pains of
 labour were synchronizing with the relentless storm. The explosion of
bright lightning and bewildering thunders seemed like announcing the end of the
world, but a new life blossomed slowly and suddenly a delicate and cute little
head of a brown bear appeared. On his little forehead a tiny silver star could
be seen shining. The mother bear enjoyes her special cub around, sensing that it
shall become The King of the Brasov Forests but sadened at the
same time . She thought that because  of his unusual star, he will always
be a prey desired by some people. „I’ll call him Fearless” she told
herself. And soon, his little brother followed, acute little bear just as his
brother.

Wise Martina  soon began to slowly
teach them everything she knew about the forest, how to feed themselves, where
to find food, the fruits which are edible, where the mounds of ants and other
delicious insects, which they could enjoy were. But the small bear cubs only
wanted to play and spoil each other.

The cubs loved to eat raspberries and
climb to the highest peaks of the trees in the forest, although their mother
warned them how dangerous it can be.

Winter had shortly arrived and the
bears were preparing for hibernation. There was a break  in their
unsetteled lives . Spring sunlight found the two little bears, weak. Martina
thought she should find ample food to help them grow. She’s done brilliantly in
the forest and she thought that theirs will go the same way.

Soon, the two little bears met the
greatest danger of all, the human.

Martina thought to prepare, teach the
cubs how to sniff the human from a distance and advised the cubs to stay away
from him, warning them that he’s dangerous. But the little bears were not
really taking into account her advice.

The following summer, the forest in
which Martina and  the cubs  lived was ceded by The Forests Service,
and the owner, immediately organized a hunt for foreigners, so he can get
money. They were  mainly following wild boars, rabbits, pheasants in the
area. But a little bear would have not been bad either. Even if the
shooting nor the capture were legal. Who would notice?

One summer morning, one of the hunters
saw and followed the little bears. He saw the silver star on the little bear’s
head and chased them .They were lucky because of their smart mother bear .She
saved the little bears by taking them to a protected area, a cave hidden among
the rocks where they could not be found.

 Since that day, the hunter
could not get the little bears out of his head, especially the one with
the silver star on its forehead. He came back to Romania regularly for
hunting in the following summers too. But the mother bear was too smart,
fiercely guarding her cubs, so that people could find them.

The man did not succeed in seeing them,
although he wanted very much.

Always thinking about the bears the
hunter had a clever idea. He brought with him hunting dogs and skilled chasers.
The Mother Bear had no escape. She was cornered, like never before. There was
no escape. But she tried to save the little cubs which had grown , but not
enough to fend for themselves.  

After a long search, the hunters had
found her . The man skillfully aimed and pulled the trophy. The Mother Bear
fell to the ground. Her gaze turned desperate to the cubs. Her eyes told them
to flee. And they got the parental message and followed it diligently. But, the
small cub, The Mischievous, who  ran slower, was caught by the man . It
wasn’t the little bear desired by him, the one with the silver star in his
forehead, insteat it was his cute little brother.”I’m happy for now, just
with him and the The Mother Bear” the man thought.

– I will sell the cub to a zoo.
And  I will take the Mother Bear with me to England as a trophy. Her flesh
I leave it to you, the man said to the others hunters. I’m happy with that. For
me, such a hunt is something uinique. In England, it is not allowed to cut a
tree from the forest because authorities will immediately come and take drastic
measures. Hunting, not at all …

Fearless, ran and ran and found himself
alone. Only then he realized what had happened. Big  and painfull tears
flowed from his black eyes .

„What am I going to do alone? He said.
Will I handle it? I must ! I am the only son of Martina the smartest bear in
the forests of Brasov”

In the months to come  Fearless
fought  fiercely for his life and managed to survive . He was as smart as
Martina and grew rapidly. Becoming a fully grown brown bear and the majestic
silver star on his forehead  became bigger and brighter. At night,
it  reflected under the  moonlight and all the wild animals in the
area recognized him . Soon Martina`s certainties and forecasts came true 
. He became The King of Braşov forest.

One morning, he was awakened by
pounding  noise. He looked around and saw in the distance,
people were building a house. It was the first house in the area.

In the following days several
manufacturers appeared . The more trees were cut down in the forest and
stretched as more land cleared and  the houses appeared more and more,
just like the mushrooms after th rain.

Soon the woods of his childhood had
disappeared almost completely. There was nowhere to make dens, there was
nothing to eat. Birds, animals, all the creatures of the forest gradually left
the area.

Fearless thought to himself that he had
to move his lodge, migrate to more wild , more welcoming territory. This
territory was no longer his.

From  Cheile Râşnoavei, he bravely
took a stroll through the forests and soon reached an unknown area, with
vegetation, but also with many hotels. It was Poiana Brasov. He realized it was
a little risky for him to stay there so the folowing days he continued his
stroll. Towards the evening he came to some twisted serpentines. He had climbed
Mount Tampa. From there, there were many pale lights in the darkness. They were
right from the city center. From the first serpentine he saw that he could get
right on the street. „It’s not good at all here,” said The Fearless.
„I have to keep on going. This place is not a good solution. I’m not safe
here. ” But he did not find anything to eat on his journey. And he headed
for the opposite side of Tampa’s slope. In the valley of Răcădăului, where he
had reached, there were many blocks.

 And beside them, garbage
containers. „There will definitely be something to eat and frpm tomorrow I
will take care of myself”  said The Fearless famished.

He slowly descends to the containers.
He began to look fiercely at the first in his path, guided by the smell. He had
to find something.

 Suddenly, from the balcony
of the first floor of the building, near the garbage
containers he saw a person studing himcarefully . At
first  scared , thinking about his first meeting with a
man, who turned out to be a tragic, but his natural animal instict, something
inside him told him that this person is good and is not  going
to hurt him .

 It was Alexandru,
a ten year old boy who had just finished his lessons
and was recreating admiring the forest before him, from the
balcony. Alexandru was the smartest student in his class,
Olympic at mathematics. But  because of this, he was often very
lonely. His colleagues envied him and did not want to be friends with him. They
mocked him and treated him only with wickedness.”It’s the
price I have to pay for the mind with which  I am endowed,” he
thought. „There’s a little bear with a silver
star on his forehead”,  Alexander said to himself. „He
is special, just like me and that why he is a loner. From today on, he will be
my best friend „

The next evening, at dinner Alexandru
could  not hide the joy and told his parents:

– Dad, I saw a little bear
yestarday with a silver star on his forehead next to
the garbage.

– Be careful, it can be dangerous. For
sure he is not alone. If the Mother Bear sees you she
will attack you. This is not something to play with, said his father.

– But he is very cute.He can’t
hurt anyone, the boy explained.

In the coming days, Alexandru’s father
was invited by a friend of his, a business owner,  at a dinner held
in his villa in Râşnov.

• My old friend, from England, is coming. You will meet him too,
  „he said.

The party was in full swing and guests
busily telling about unusual occurrences from the hunts that they have
participated over time.

• The thing that struck me most in the woods was a little bear with
  a silver star on his forehead, the Englishman said, and no one thinks it
  exists. Everyone thinks I’m making stories up, but I’ve seen hi with my own
  eyes, a few summers ago.

 – A  little
bear with a silver star on its forehead? Said
Alexander’s father surprised. My son saw a little bear like that
the other day in  Răcădău, next to the garbage. And I thought he
was fooling. My Alexandr has a very vivid
imagination.So sometimes I dont  believe
what he tells me.

• It’s the bear I want for a long time! the Englishman exclaims.

 „That is not my land,
„said the owner. I can not help you at all. You can do it on your own if
you really want it.

 -I’ll go tomorrow in the
area only to see it, ‘said the Englishman decided.

And the next day,  he climbed up
on Tampa’s serpentines looking for Fearless. He carefully checked as he crossed
the serpentines, examined all bushes only if, onnly if he could find him.
And, at last, the miracle happened. The thirsty little bear , was just
trying to drink water from the creek that flowed from the mountain.

The englishman approached
the  bear and tried to – catch with a rope.
Fearless felt the danger he gpt scared and hit the man to defend
himself with his paws and began to run.

John, for this was the name of the
man,  was wiping off the blood that had risen from the scratches on his
face.

 -What happened to you ? Who
scratched you so hard? asked the owner when he met him.  

• The bear that i was looking for . I found him and look what he did
  to me, „said the Englishman. 

– We can use this. We will notify the
media that a bloody bear attacked ,an  English tourist in the
area. When it comes to foreigners, Romanians will to do anything. All
newspapers will take the news. We can get  legally consent to hunt him.

In the following days a group of
hunters were send  in the woods to track the bear.

– I want to go with you, said
the Englishman. Bcause I was the victim of him.

Fearless took refuge towards Dealul
Melcilor. It was not a pleasant area for him. It was territory that is
consistently pursuing pitbull fights, animals fierce and ruthless
that began barking immediately when they felt his
 presence nearby. But for now, there was no other solution.He ould
hide in one of the catacombs in the hills, designed during the
war, by the city’s population to shelter during bombing.
But now the homeless children live there. The only possible solution for
him, seemed to be the mysterious cave that his mother Martina had told
him about. There was an  underground water in which a little boy had
disappeared many years before. The firefighters who came to rescue him, never
came out of the cave. A group of foreign researchers, equipped with
sophisticated, state-of-the-art equipment, dove into the mysterious water, but
none of them came back to the surface. The Fearless decided that in the
infinite depth of water will be the place of his salvation, where he will not
be hunted and in which he may be free forever. 

He heard the barking of the hunting
dogs. And felt the people’s proximity. He moved faster, but in vain. The
hunters were getting closer to him. 

Then The Fearless walks into the cave,
advances to the infinite water and… jumped… 

The men were on the brink of entering
the cave when they saw the animal throwing himself into infinity. They looked
helpless. He had disappeared from their lives, but he had become free and no
one could ever haunt him. The news of the disappearance of the little bear was
transmitted very fast, orally.

 But Alexander was most
affected by it. He had lost forever the most faithful friend. He slept
unhappy  thinking about it.       

Suddenly, a loud noise woke him. The
furious wind and fast rain  had  quickly
opened the windows of his room. A sudden storm with terrifying
thunder and lightning flashed brilliant. Alexander heard a soft grunt and saw
into the valley, shining in the darkness, a silver star, falling
softly. „It’s  Fearless” thought the  boy happily.
„He missed me. He came to see me. But now no one can follow him to
hurt him. He is finally free…

Note:   This is a story.
Events, the characters are fictitious, and any resemblance to reality is purely
coincidental.

by

Referinţă Bibliografică

PROF. DR. CORNELIA PĂUN HEINZEL: „The Legend of the little bear from Braşov ” Translation: David Whelsh/ Revista Armonii Culturale, ISSN: 2247-1545. Adjud, Vrancea, RO/ Ediția: 13 februarie 2019