ding, dong, ding, dong,
loudly rings the bell,
old grizzly bear is in the woods, --
and he has much to tell.
"a-kit-chew!" cried old grizzly bear.
"a-kit-chew!" cried all the little bears.
"a-kit-chew!" cried all the animals in the wood.
now, what do you suppose was the matter?
they had all been out in the rain, and had taken cold. my! how those animals did sneeze!
old grizzly went out into the woods and rang a great bell.
he rang the bell because he wanted to call all the animals together. pretty soon the animals came along, sniffing and sneezing, and wiping their eyes.
old grizzly said: "when we look for the rainbow end, we all catch cold, so we must stop looking at once."
"he wants the gold himself," said bushy tail. "he wants the gold himself."
old grizzly said: "if there had been a pot of gold at the rainbow end it would have been found long ago, and why should we get wet looking for it?"
"we will put it to vote," shouted bushy tail. "put it to a vote!" so they all voted, and all the animals except bushy tail agreed that they would rather stay at home when it rained.
little bear did not say anything, and bushy tail whispered to him: "we will keep on looking for the pot of gold, little bear!"
little bear felt very sad. he went home with curly bear, and he said: "if i don't find a name pretty soon, i shall grow up and still be called little bear."
curly bear kissed him on both cheeks and said: "i will love you just the same."
the old owl called after them: "little bear, you can find plenty of names, but you cannot be sure which is your name."
little bear cried, "boo-hoo!"
just then susan cotton-tail came along.
susan cotton-tail was an old grandmother rabbit, and all the animals loved her.
"you must not cry so much," she said.
"why not?" asked little bear.
susan cotton-tail said: "i have a great-grandchild who cried so much they named her 'little boo-hoo'!
"she would cry about everything. nothing seemed to please her. when it rained she would cry because she couldn't go out and play.
"when it was fine weather she would cry because nobody came to play with her. she could not be pleased.
"you should take things as they are and be happy, my little bear."
little bear laughed then and said: "may i go home with you, susan?"
susan said: "yes, if you will carry my market basket."
little bear took the basket and they went merrily down the road.
at last they came to susan cotton-tail's home.
they saw a light in the window, and susan said:
"bunny cotton-tail is sitting up late to read. do you like to read, little bear?"
little bear said "yes," and they went inside.
bunny cotton-tail was sitting up in bed, reading.
"whom have we here?" he asked. little bear made a bow.
"what is your name?" asked bunny cotton-tail. "we are glad you came." susan cotton-tail frowned at bunny and filled little bear's mouth with candy so he could not cry.
then susan whispered something to bunny and he shook his head.
"i like candy," said little bear, "and so does bushy tail."
"bushy tail likes cookies, too," said susan. "he takes them without asking."
"i have not seen bushy tail for a long time," said bunny.
susan laughed. she said: "perhaps he will call to-morrow!"
bunny cotton-tail said: "my fur and whiskers! where is my little red box?"
susan looked, but she could not find the little red box.
bunny looked all over the house, and little bear was as good as he could be; he never once said: "what is in the little red box?"
"ha! ha!" cried bunny at last, "here it is!"
he opened the box and took out three chocolate candies. the candies looked like cigars.
"have a smoke, susan, have a smoke, little bear," he cried.
they all took the candy cigars and ate them.
little bear was so happy he laughed until he cried.
"i am glad i am here," said little bear. "i like this home. i like candy and i like both of you. i shall come to visit you often."