"Oh me, oh my!" wailed the mournful caterpillar. "He said we should sleep in cradles of silk and wake up with wings of purple! It has been the dream of my life to be a butterfly with wings of gold and purple!"
"Cheer up," comforted Little Bear, "you just spin yourself a cocoon caterpillar fashion and go to sleep, and you will surely find yourself turned into a butterfly when you wake up! Mother said so! Now there! Why didn't I remember that caterpillars turn into butterflies, before I promised to give away my porridge bowl! I should like to have my playground full of butterflies! I wish I had thought of that! Now those poor old caterpillars are gone and I promised to give away my bowl! Maybe the Pied Piper will not come back!"
But he did. "I should like my bowl!" said he.
[Illustration: "Oh, you old humpty-humps">[
"I know that a promise is a promise," agreed Little
Bear promptly and sorrowfully. "You wait here until
I run home after it and I shall give you my little bowl!"
And he did. As the Piper took the bowl and turned away, Father and Mother Bear came into the clearing.
"What are you doing with Little Bear's bowl?" they demanded, and would have followed the Pied Piper, but he put the pipe to his lips and began to play a little tune -a soft little tune, sweet and strange. And the music made Father Bear and Mother Bear stand still as if their feet had been tied to the ground.
"Oh, Little Bear!" they cried in terror. "It is the
Pied Piper! Oh, Little Bear, do not follow him!"
"Indeed I could not if I wished to do so," answered Little Bear, "because my feet will not go! The music has made me stand still too, and I hear voices singing, 'Stay home with your father! Stay home with your mother! Stay home, Little Bear!'"
As the music grew faint in the distance, the Three Bears were once more able to walk about, and then Little Bear explained that he had promised to give his bowl to the Pied Piper if he would take away the caterpillars, and that he had kept the promise, sad as he felt about losing his treasure.