they stood together in the middle of a thicket in a small clearing, and gobo told them about where he had been.
their friend the hare sat there too, raised his ears in amazement as he listened tensely and let them sink again in his awe at what he heard, only to raise them again immediately after.
the magpie squatted on the lowest twig of a young beech tree and listened in astonishment. the jay sat uneasily nearby on an ash tree, sometimes screeching in his amazement.
a pair of pheasants they knew had found their way there with their wives and children. they craned their necks in wonderment as they listened, drew them back in, turned their heads here and there and remained speechless.
the squirrel bounded in and moved in a way that showed he was very excited. he soon slipped down the ground, ran up one or other tree, then leant back on his erected tail and showed his white breast. he continually wanted to interrupt gobo, wanted to say something, but each time all those around him ordered him to be quiet.
he told them about how he had lain helpless in the snow and waited for death.
“it was the dogs who found me,” he said, “those dogs are terrifying. they’re absolutely the most terrifying things in the whole wide world. their throats are full of blood, their voices are full of anger and without mercy.” he looked round at everyone there and went on. .”.. but, well ... afterwards i played with them as if we were all equal ...” he was very proud of himself. .”.. i don’t need to be scared of them any more because now we’re all good friends. still though, when they start to get angry there’s a thumping in my head, and my heart gets quite stiff. but they don’t always mean it in such a nasty way and, as i’ve just said, i’m their friend now ... but there’s so much power in their voices it’s horrible.” he became silent.
“go on then!” faline insisted.
gobo looked at her. “well, back then they would have torn me limb from limb ... but then he came along!”
gobo paused. the others could scarcely breathe.
“yes,” said gobo. “then he came along! he called the dogs off and they immediately became quite quiet. he called to them again and they lay motionless on the ground in front of him. then he lifted me up. i screamed. but he stroked me. he held me gently pressed onto his chest. he didn’t hurt me. and then he carried me off ...”
faline interrupted him. “what do you mean, ‘carried you’?”
gobo began to explain, in detail and with some self-importance.
“it’s very easy,” interjected bambi. “think of the squirrel, faline, what he does when he’s holding a nut and carries it away ...”
now the squirrel wanted a chance to speak at last. .”.. a cousin of mine ...” he began with enthusiasm. but the others immediately insisted, “be quiet! be quiet! let gobo carry on speaking!”
the squirrel had to say silent. he was cowed and bewildered, pressed his forepaws against his white breast and turned to the magpie to speak just to him. .”.. i was saying ... a cousin of mine ...”
but the magpie simply turned his back on him.
gobo told them of marvellous things. “it’s cold outside, and the storm is howling. but indoors, with him, there’s no wind and it’s as warm as in summer.”
“hach!” screeched the jay.
“outside, the rain is lashing down from the sky so that everything is in water. but indoors, with him, there’s not a drop of rain and you stay dry.”
the pheasants twitched their necks up high and turned their heads.
“when everywhere outside was deep in snow, i was inside and nice and warm, i was even quite hot, and he gave me hay to eat, chestnuts, potatoes, turnips, everything i could have wished for ...”
“hay?!” they all asked in one voice, astonished, incredulous, excited.
“fresh, sweet hay,” gobo repeated calmly, and looked triumphantly round at them.
the squirrel tried to squeeze in his voice. “a cousin of mine ...”
“just be quiet!” the others ordered.
and faline asked gobo vigorously, “where did he get hay from, and all those other things, in the winter?”
“he grows it,” answered gobo. “whatever he wants, he grows it, and when he wants it it’s there for him!”
faline continued asking questions. “weren’t you afraid, gobo, all the time you were with him?”
gobo thought himself very clever and grinned. “my dear faline, i wasn’t afraid, not any more. after all, i knew he didn’t want to do anything to hurt me. why should i have been afraid? you all think he’s very nasty, but he’s not nasty. when he likes anyone, when anyone does something for him, he’s nice. lovely and nice. there’s no-one in the whole wide world who could be as nice as he is ...”
suddenly, as gobo was speaking in this way, an elder emerged silently from the bushes.
gobo did not notice him and continued speaking, but all the others had seen the elder and held their breath in awe of him.
the elder stood there without moving and watched gobo with deep and serious eyes.
gobo said, “and it wasn’t just him, it was his children, they loved me too, and his wife and everyone. they stroked me, gave me food and played with me ...” he broke off. he had seen the elder.
everyone became silent.
then the elder, in his calm and authoritative voice, asked, “what’s that stripe on your neck?”
everyone looked at him and became aware, for the first time, of the dark stripe made up of compressed and eroded hair that went round gobo’s neck.
gobo answered the elder uncertainly. “that ...? that’s from the collar i wore ... it’s his collar ... and ... yes, and ... and it’s a great honour to wear his collar ... it’s ...” he became confused and stammered.
all were silent. the elder kept a sad and piercing look on gobo for a long time.
“you poor thing,” he said gently, then he turned round and was gone.
in the silence that followed from this disturbance the squirrel started to chatter. “you see ... a cousin of mine was there with him too ... he’d caught him and locked him in ... oh, for a very long time, till one day my cousin ...”
but no-one was listening to the squirrel.
they all went away.
