“Then the wind swept the snow away from my door and I awoke and looked about. I thought that spring had come.
“And that is where I made my mistake. I should have gone to sleep again. But I was hungry, having had nothing to eat all winter. So I crawled out.
“The roots and the berries are still asleep under the snow. The fish are under the ice. There is nothing for me to do but return to my cave and go back to sleep.”
“You must not do that,” said Father Thrift. “That would be wasting time. And time is the most precious thing we have.”
“Is it?” the bear asked in surprise.
“Indeed it is!” replied Father Thrift. “We may lose wealth, but by hard work and saving we may win it back.
“We may lose health, and with care and medicine restore it. But time that is lost is gone forever.”
The bear listened to Father Thrift’s wise talk, but he shivered and said: “Still, I am cold; and I can find no food to eat.”