“If they weren’t so lazy and shiftless,” said the Donkey.
“They are lazy,” the Bear admitted. “I have to keep poking them up all the time; but it doesn’t do much good.”
“I shouldn’t think you would need six servants,” Buddie spoke up. What could a bear without a family want with so many?
“Well, I hired only one,” said the Bear, “and he got five others to do the work. He won’t do a thing himself; though he does condescend to wait on table when there’s company.”
“He must get pretty high wages to be able to hire five assistants,” remarked the Donkey.
“Oh, he doesn’t pay them anything. He just boards and sleeps them—at my expense.” The Bear sighed in a resigned sort of way. Evidently the case was hopeless.
“I wouldn’t stand it!” Buddie declared. It was a shame to impose on such good nature.
“I have to grin and bear it,” was the reply. “That’s the motto of our family: Grin and Bear It.”
“And a very good motto it is,” said the Donkey. “Now, you never see a bear without a grin.”
“So Doctor Goose says,” said the Bear. “He claims the bear came first and the grin afterward. But Doctor Fox claims the grin came first. Otherwise, he says, the motto would be, Bear and Grin It.”