Forest World (5 page)

T
AMBO HAD RUBBED THE VELVET off his antlers, as the wise stags did every year.

He could not see how richly pearled they were, nor how their twelve points glistened like ivory. But he knew his crown was beautiful, and the knowledge filled him with pride and strength.

Ever since his birth he had acted in obedience to his inner urge. He did not understand this whispering of instinct, but he obeyed it faithfully. It had guided him
while he had still been with his mother, and also after he had left her and had ranged around alone, a young stag with only the beginnings of horns. During the mating seasons of several years, too, these inner whisperings had told him that he must hide humbly from the Kings, and not arouse their jealousy by wooing does who belonged to the great stags' harems.

Finally had come his courageous struggle for self-assertion. At first he had been defeated by other stags, though by no means shamefully. He had never lost his confidence in himself and had known that some day soon he would conquer, once and for all. No longer timid, he continued to put forth his claim to rule.

In the next year, after a short but furious struggle, Tambo had wounded his opponent and put him to flight. And so the mighty warrior became the ruling stag. His boldly won position was not contested.

Now Tambo walked alone.

He came into the open only when darkness was complete and then only in out-of-the-way places. He grazed here and there, but never twice in succession in the same
clearing or meadow. And he always sought the thicket before the first sign of dawn. It was a life he loved. He was not bored, for animals of the forest are never bored.

Like all other stags, but more luxuriously, Tambo lived chiefly to take good care of himself, to gather choice food and build up his fine strength. In doing these things, he obeyed his whispering instinct. His gift of keen scent became more sensitive than ever, his hearing sharper, his caution a highly perfected sense.

Now the frightened cries of the roe deer who sometimes crossed his path did not bother him at all. He ignored them and simply passed by, a true king of the forest. His slender legs firmly supported his full, taut torso with its sleek covering of red. From his neck hung a black mane, thickly matted with burrs and leaves picked up as he carelessly roamed through bush and thicket. Above towered the noble, high-crowned head with its bearing of reserved and majestic dignity. The calm dark eyes shone magnificently.

His chief companions were the birds and the squirrel who came to him sometimes for a chat, for Tambo was
often awake even during the day. In midnight darkness the hoot owl would frequently visit him.

“Tambo! Tambo!” called the hoot owl one night. “Do I disturb you?”

“No, my little friend, I'm awake.”

“Did I frighten you?”

“No. I heard you fly in.”

Touched on a point of pride, the hoot owl plunged his crooked beak into the feathers of his breast. “Impossible! I fly without a sound.”

“I can hear you just the same. Or maybe I hear only the air that your wings stir up.”

“Maybe that's it.” The hoot owl was quickly mollified. “It's a good thing the little fellows I hunt can't hear as well as you do. Of course they're usually asleep when I go after them. But even if they wake up, as some do, I'm on them before they know it. That's the way to handle your prey.”

“Prey . . .” Tambo's slightly troubled gaze rested on the round featherball rocking on a branch. “Prey! It's not easy for me to imagine what that means.”

The hoot owl giggled softly. “Prey, my dear fellow, is something that writhes and squeaks—something that gives you pleasure and fills you up.”

“I'm filled up by leaves and herbs and grasses. I never kill anyone.”

“You're foolish,” croaked the other. “You with your pronged crown, and with your strength and great size—who could hold against you? Think of all you could catch!”

“I'm surrounded by plenty,” said Tambo placidly. “I'm never hungry and I wouldn't care for such murderous ‘pleasures.' ” He turned quietly away. “Good night.”

“Foolish giant!” mocked the hoot owl, and floated off to the treetops. “All giants are silly.” He laughed to himself.

Tambo only half heard these words and paid no attention to them. Noiselessly he moved through the brush, his step halting whenever he caught the tiniest sound.

Suddenly he came to a stop. Another owl, the great gray owl, had just perched close to him.

“Greetings!” she whispered in her thin but pleasant voice.

“Greetings!” whispered Tambo, who preferred the big owl to the hoot owl.

The bird started the conversation. “You know I live with Him.”

“What!” Tambo was gravely surprised. “You're friendly with Him?”

“Very intimate.”

Tambo stared at her. “Aren't you afraid?”

“Afraid?” The owl's laughter sounded like a melancholy song. “Every day He calls me and I go to Him. He always has some tidbit for me.”

“Mm, that's right,” Tambo remembered. “In the winter He lays out sweet clover and piles of chestnuts for us.”

“There! You see? He's good.”

“Still,” objected Tambo, “I can't help being afraid of Him. Not exactly afraid—but still—”

“Then you're very foolish. Why, I lie in His arms and let Him pet me. He knows just what kind of petting an owl likes best.”

Tambo looked at the speaker as if he could hardly believe her. “Amazing!”

The owl began singing to herself in low crooning hoots, remembering happily. The sound made Tambo drowsy.

“I think I'll go to bed now,” he said gently. “Good-by.” He walked quietly away.

The owl sang him a friendly farewell and swung gracefully up into the air.

It was still long before day and quite dark. Tambo lay down to sleep, not in his accustomed bed but in a remote part of the underbrush. He slept, but only in snatches. Again and again he opened his eyes, pricked his ears, sniffed cautiously, and then dozed off once more.

When he finally arose the morning was far gone. Feeling hungry, he began to graze, but fastidiously, choosing only the delicate grasses.

Then he had another visitor. Near his lowered head, the woodpecker knocked on a poplar trunk. “Good day! Beautiful weather!” the cocky bird greeted. “And it's a good day for me because last night again no one caught me.”

“Who would do anything to you?” scoffed Tambo.

The woodpecker laughed shrilly. “You're funny! Don't you know any great owls, any hoot owls, any martens?”

“They aren't all after you, are they?”

“Whether they're after
me
specially or not, I don't know. But if they can snap me up on the way it's all over for me just the same.” He laughed bitterly. “So far they haven't had a chance at me, though. I hide too well.”

“Aren't you afraid during the day?”

“Oh, much less then. Of course I must
always
be on guard.” He flew higher, ending the chat without formality. He drummed and laughed aloud now and then.

Tambo dozed standing. But a shaking and chattering in the branches again brought him wide awake.

Perri the squirrel dashed down, nearly tumbling. She stopped suddenly with a raised flag of tail on a beech branch. “Greetings, powerful one!” she called. “Oh, lucky you! No one dares come near you, but
I
meet so many dangers.”

“Who's after you now?” asked Tambo in concern.

“Oh, there's a robber at large in the forest! Nobody knows him. He's neither fox nor marten. But he climbs trees like a marten. I saw him! He just chased me. He's fast, but I'm much faster—lucky for me!” Perri bared her gnawing teeth.

“Too bad there must always be robbers,” Tambo sighed. “Of course you're right that I needn't be afraid.”

“But you act as if you were,” Perri said saucily.

“Yes, I suppose I do,” Tambo admitted. “But it's only caution. It's—I don't exactly know what. It's my nature to be wary. But I'm not afraid of robbers. I live peacefully and feed myself from the green plenty around us. I hate stealing and killing just as much as you do.”

“Don't say that, powerful one.” With her forepaw Perri wiped her face in momentary embarrassment, but then grew pert again. “Little birds taste wonderful. I just found some nests filled with—”

“I'd rather you didn't tell me such things,” Tambo interrupted. “The forest would be heavenly without you fellows who kill to please your stomachs.”

“Oh, you're mistaken, powerful one,” laughed Perri. “Without us the forest would be boring. Nobody could stand such a dull life! The way things are—with danger, with the need for courage, with the sweet relief of escape, with the well-earned success of staying alive at all—
that's
why I love the forest!”

“It's a matter of taste,” Tambo muttered uncomfortably.

“Nonsense! Even for you danger has charm. That ‘caution' of yours—you enjoy it. You know you do!” Perri leaped impudently over the great stag and with flirting tail dashed up an oak trunk. “Farewell—powerful and
gentle
friend!”

Tambo fell to grazing. He started on a new round, moving alertly through the trees, browsing in search of something especially tasty. Often he slowed his progress to listen and to catch passing scents. He avoided making any sound.

There! A footfall, very soft, very stealthy. It was He, trying not to make the least noise!

Sudden fright shot through Tambo's great body,
dimming his sight and paralyzing his legs. He whirled clumsily and broke into a run.

Presently he stopped to catch his breath, for he realized he was hidden by heavy foliage. He could hear Him moving somewhere far off. And he heard his own heart beat.

Hoofbeats close by frightened him again, so violently that his rear legs trembled. He heard the soft padding and the panting of some smaller animal. Poor Tambo fell into terrible confusion. He ran senselessly in the same direction as the horse and dog trotting outside on the forest road. He was hidden from Martin, out on an innocent pleasure ride, only by the thicket and a thin wall of trees.

Then, like thunder roaring down out of a clear sky, a shot crashed.

The sound went through Tambo like a blow. His body lifted as if he had been hit by a bullet. He leaped to one side, dashing here and there blind with terror. He broke through hedges, and stopped with gasping chest only when a jay swooped in his path, fluttered
around his nose and shouted at him with loud croakings:

“Be calm! Be calm, my friend! No danger!”

Tambo tried to conceal his trembling. He whispered in a low voice, “The thunder-stick—”

“The thunder-stick wasn't meant for you,” the jay soothed him. “It fetched the marten down off the tree. That was the older He—the one with the gray fur on his head.”

“And the galloping?” Tambo demanded, still anxious. “All that trampling—and the yapping?”

The jay smiled. “The younger He right over there behind the trees. He doesn't seem to have any thunder-stick at all. He rides only for enjoyment. Yes, on His horse. His dog runs along, just for fun too. All three of them are as innocent of any killing as you are.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm
very
sure.” The jay spread his wings. “Farewell! I'll watch, and I'll warn you if it's necessary.” He flew away.

Tambo breathed in deep relief. Perhaps the squirrel was right! The happiness of being safe burned fiercely in
him. He glided back through the bush and the thicket without a sound.

He went on pondering what Perri had said, and now he was convinced. “Yes,” he told himself, “it's beautiful in the forest just the way things are. For us they are as they should be!”

I
N THE EARLY-MORNING HOURS WHILE it was still dark, Lisa began to groan. She groaned softly at first, then louder and louder.

“Quiet!” neighed Devil.

But Lisa continued, always louder and more complaining.

“I want to sleep!” The stallion stamped. “Haven't you any consideration? Be still!”

“Be still yourself!” retorted the donkey. “Don't you know what's happening? The milk-giver is going to have her baby. It's we
who must have consideration for her.”

The stallion fell silent.

Witch went over to Lisa. “Is the pain bad?”

“Yes, very bad,” the cow replied. “And oh, I'm so worried.”

Manni too had pushed into Lisa's stall. “Worried? Nonsense. You'll be all right.”

“No, no—about my baby—because of Him.” Her groans started up again.

“Don't be afraid,” the donkey comforted her. “He won't take your baby. Not
our
He! I
know
He won't.”

But the cow moaned.