Misfortune Tests the Sincerity of Friends

“The Bear and The Travelers.”

1. One day, two travelers were on the road together, when a bear suddenly appeared on the scene.
2. Before the bear noticed them, one man made for a tree at the side of the road, and climbed up into the branches and hid there.
3. The other was not so nimble as his companion; and, because he could not escape, he threw himself on the ground and pretended to be dead.
4. The bear came up and sniffed all around him, but the man kept perfectly still and held his breath; for they say that a bear will not touch a dead body.
5. The bear took him for a corpse, and went away.
6. When the coast was clear, the traveler in the tree came down, and asked the other what it was the bear had whispered to him when he put his mouth to his ear.
7. The other replied, “He told me never again travel with a friend who deserts you at the first sign of danger.”
8. The moral of the story is - misfortune tests the sincerity of friendship.