Once there lived in Northern Germany a little boy named Kris. Kris loved music very much, but his mother and father were too poor to buy him an instrument on which to play. One day he went to walk in the woods, and while there he cut a piece of wood and made a pipe on which he could play.
It was a poor kind of an instrument, but what beautiful music he played on it! When his father and mother heard him they shouted for joy. Kris decided to go to town and play for the people there, in order to make a little money.
As he was going along the road to the forest, he heard some one cry, “Help! Help!” He listened and heard the cry again. He started in the direction of the cry, and when he had gone a little distance he saw a little girl named Christina, with whom he often played, standing on a high rock with a huge bear growling fiercely at the bottom.
Kris was terrified, but he did not run away. When Christina saw him, she exclaimed: “Kris, save me! Save me!”
Kris was a brave boy, but his courage almost failed him when he saw the huge bear. He wondered how he could save Christina. At last he thought of his pipe and began to play so as to attract the notice of the bear. The bear turned round to see where the music came from, and for the first time saw Kris. He started towards him, growling fiercely as he came.
When Kris saw the bear coming toward him he shouted to Christina: “Run home as fast as you can and get father to come and kill him. Maybe I can keep him off until father can get here. Hurry!”
Kris played on bravely in spite of the fact that the bear was coming towards him. He would not run while Christina was in danger. The bear stopped and listened to the music. He seemed delighted and ceased growling. Kris played his best, and the bear lay down and stretched out his paws as if he liked it. He got up afterwards and began to sway with the time of the music as if he would like to dance.
Christina climbed down from the rock and ran home and brought her father with his gun. They expected to find Kris eaten up by the bear, but when they came near they heard him still playing, and as they crept down and peered through the bushes, they saw the old bear get up from the ground, shake himself, and slowly disappear in the forest. The music had charmed him, and Kris had saved Christina’s life and his own by his sweet music.