The Papa Bear came and tried, and he could not get the quills out. Then the Mamma Bear tried, and she worked ever so much longer than the Papa Bear, but she could not get the quills out of the little Cub Bear's foot. The Mamma Bear was very angry with the "miserable little porcupine," and wanted to give him a hard slap; but she knew that she would get her foot full of the quills, and that would be worse than ever.
The porcupine did not care at all, for he said to himself, "If they don't want to get hurt, let them leave me alone."
But I do not think that was right, do you? Of course, they did not want to get hurt.
Not long after, the monkey came and said, "What is the matter?"
The little Cub Bear then told the monkey how he had just touched that mean old porcupine and had got his foot full of quills, that no one in the whole world could ever get out.
But the monkey said, "I can get them out all right, for you know that I have two hands with fingers on them, just like a little boy."
So the monkey pulled out all of the quills, and after that the little Cub Bear could walk all right.
But he said to himself, "After this I will let other people alone, until I get acquainted with them."
I think that is a good rule, don't you?
That evening, after dark, the little Cub Bear heard the beaver go "Bang, bang!" and he rushed to the mouth of the cave to see who was coming. He saw a very strange looking animal coming up the path.