Page:Bambi A Life in the Woods (1928).pdf/130

Bambi’s mother said, “He throws his hand at you, my grandmother told me so.”

“Is that so?” asked old Nettla. “What is it that bangs so terribly then?”

“That’s when he tears his hand off,” Bambi’s mother explained. “Then the fire flashes and the thunder cracks. He’s all fire inside.”

“Excuse me,” said Ronno. “It’s true that He’s all fire inside. But that about His hand is wrong. A hand couldn’t make such wounds. You can see that for yourself. It’s much more likely that it’s a tooth He throws at us. A tooth would explain a great many things, you know. You really die from his bite.”

“Will he never stop hunting us?” young Karus sighed.

Then Marena spoke, the young half-grown doe. “They say that sometime He’ll come to live with us and be as gentle as we are. He’ll play with us then and the whole forest will be happy, and we’ll be friends with Him.”

Old Nettla burst out laughing. “Let Him stay where He is and leave us in peace,” she said.

Aunt Ena said reprovingly, “You shouldn’t talk that way.”