She asked no questions, she did not ask for an explanation, not for any account of what had happened. Slowly, she kissed Gobo on his lips, kissed his cheeks, his neck; without cease, she washed him with her kisses, just as she had done when she had given birth to him.
Bambi and Faline had left.
[CHAPTER] 17
They stood together in the middle of a thicket in a small clearing, and Gobo told them about where he had been.
Their friend the hare sat there too, raised his ears in amazement as he listened tensely and let them sink again in his awe at what he heard, only to raise them again immediately after.
The magpie squatted on the lowest twig of a young beech tree and listened in astonishment. The jay sat uneasily nearby on an ash tree, sometimes screeching in his amazement.
A pair of pheasants they knew had found their way there with their wives and children. They craned their necks in wonderment as they listened, drew them back in, turned their heads here and there and remained speechless.
The squirrel bounded in and moved in a way that showed he was very excited. He soon slipped down the ground, ran up one or other tree, then leant back on his erected tail and showed his white breast. He continually wanted to interrupt Gobo, wanted to say something, but each time all those around him ordered him to be quiet.
He told them about how he had lain helpless in the snow and waited for death.
“It was the dogs who found me,” he said, “those dogs are terrifying. They’re absolutely the most terrifying things in the whole wide world. Their throats are full of blood, their voices are full of anger and without mercy.” He looked round at everyone there and went on. .”.. but, well ... afterwards I played with them as if we were all equal ...” He was very proud of himself. .”.. I don’t need to be scared of them any more because now we’re all good friends. Still though, when they start to get angry there’s a thumping in my head, and my heart gets quite stiff. But they don’t always mean it in such a nasty way and, as I’ve just said, I’m their friend now ... but there’s so much power in their voices it’s horrible.” He became silent.