The meadow had long since lost its catkins. Everything began to turn green, although the young leaves on the bushes and the trees were still small. Shimmering in the tender light of early morning they showed a smiling freshness and seemed like little children when they have just woken up.
Bambi stood in front of a hazel bush, striking his new crown against the wood. That was so enjoyable. And it was also necessary, as the glory of his head was still wrapped in velvet and fur. They had to come off, that was a matter of course; and no-one with any sense of tidiness would just wait for them to fall off by themselves. Bambi swept his crown so that the coating of velvet was torn into shreds, and long strips of it dangled around his ears. While he struck up and down at the hazel bush he felt that his crown was harder than it had been. This feeling permeated his whole being and gave him an inebriating sense of pride and strength. He pushed himself harder against the bush and this coating was torn off in long pieces. The naked, white wood could be seen, and in the unfamiliar open air it quickly turned a rusty red. Bambi was not able to care about that. He saw the pale flesh of the wood flash up under his movements, and that enchanted him. Here in this round place there were many other hazel bushes and dogwood bushes that showed the marks of his efforts.
“Have you nearly finished then ...?” said a cheerful voice from nearby.
Bambi threw his head up and looked around.
There sat the squirrel with a friendly look on his face.
Bambi and the squirrel were nearly startled by the woodpecker who, sitting close in to the trunk of the oak tree, called down, “Oh, please excuse me ... I always ‘ave to laugh when I see the two of you like that.”
“What is it then that’s making you laugh so loudly?” asked Bambi politely.
“Well then,” thought the woodpecker, “you’re doing the whole thing wrong. For one thing, you ought to have chosen a tree that’s stronger, you won’t get anything from a thin little hazel bush.”
“What should I be getting, then?” asked Bambi.
“Beetles ...” the woodpecker laughed. “Beetles and grubs ... Look, this is how you do it!” He drummed on trunk of the oak. Tok, tok, tok, tok.