The elder stood relaxed next to him. He showed the direction with his eyes: There!
But there stood He!
He stood quite close nearby, pressed against the trunk of an oak tree, covered in hazel bushes, and the gentle call could be heard: “Come ... come ...”
All that could be seen was His back, His face was very unclear, and could only be seen at all when He turned His head slightly to one side.
Bambi was so completely confused, so shocked that he only slowly came to understand: He was standing there, it was Him who had been imitating Faline’s voice. It was Him who had been whistling, “Come ... come ...”
A pale horror ran through all of Bambi’s limbs. The thought of flight came up from his heart and pulled at him, tugged at him.
“Keep still!” the elder promptly commanded in a whisper, as if he wanted to pre-empt an outbreak of panic. And Bambi, with some effort, kept control of himself.
The elder looked at him; it seemed to Bambi at first, despite where he was, that the elder was gently mocking him. But then, straight afterwards, he seemed once more to be fully serious and benevolent.
Bambi blinked as he looked over to where He stood, and felt that he would no longer be able to stand being near something as horrifying as this.
The elder seemed to understand what Bambi was thinking and whispered, “Let’s go ...,” as he turned round and left.