“What is it?”
“Will we ever be nasty to each other too?”
“No, my child,” said his mother. “We don’t do that sort of thing.”
They carried on walking. Suddenly they saw light ahead of them, very bright light. The green confusion of bushes and shrubs came to an end, their path was at its end. Just a few steps further and they came out into the brightly lit free space that opened up ahead of them. Bambi wanted to jump forward, but his mother just stood where she was.
“What’s that?” he exclaimed, impatient and quite enchanted.
“The meadow,” his mother answered.
“What’s that, the meadow?” Bambi insisted.
His mother gave him a curt reply. “You’ll see that for yourself soon enough.” She had become serious and attentive. She stood there without moving, her head held up high, listening tensely, testing the wind with deep breaths, and she looked almost severe.
“Yes, everything’s alright,” she finally said, “we can go on out there.” Bambi was about to jump ahead but she blocked his way. “No, you wait until I call you.” Bambi did as he was told and immediately stood still. “Well done, Bambi,” his mother praised him. “Now, listen carefully to what I say.” Bambi listened carefully as his mother spoke and saw how agitated she was, he became very tense himself. “Going out onto the meadow is not as simple as it seems,” his mother continued, “it’s difficult and it’s dangerous. Don’t ask me why. You’ll learn that later on. For now, just do exactly what I tell you. Will you do that?”
“Yes,” Bambi promised.