Fabled Bear Attack

While I've never ventured deep in dangerous forests, I've tread through a fair share of cities, and let me tell you, it's a jungle out there. 

Any city kid has grown up on a small diet of fair warnings of the risks lurking in the shadows.  

But growing, you learn danger doesn’t always reveal itself the first time around. 

So, if ever the thought crosses your mind that you might be facing imminent peril, chances are you may very well be. If in doubt, I advise you excuse yourself politely and immediately, then leave. 

Listen well to the stories those you know share, so that you may recognize a problem before it rears its head because, if you miss danger the first time around, I regret to inform you that you'll become all too familiar with it on the second encounter.

Once upon a time, Aesop wrote a tale of two travellers. The two men, while walking in the woods, cross paths with a bear. The first traveller swiftly climbed a nearby tree upon spotting it, while the other collapsed as if dead. Upon approach, the bear sniffs the the man on the floor, then leaves after a moment. 

When the traveller who played dead stands, the man in the tree asks what the to bear whispered in his ear and the traveller who played dead responds ‘do not travel with those who’ll abandon you’. 

I thought, from one perspective, the traveller who played dead evidently no longer wishes to be the friend the one in the tree. The phrase could simply be a clever joke, a retort the survivor might offer to his companion after surviving a bear encounter. A softer ‘thanks for nothing and screw you’

Alternatively, we could say the bear might actually have whispered such a warning as a foreboding of what's to come—"Do not travel with those who'll abandon you because either," said the bear, "I'll eat you, or I'll eat your friend. 

Or I'll eat you and then your friend. He can't stay up that tree forever." 

Don’t travel with anyone who'll abandon you, as they'll drop you at the first sign of danger to save themselves. 

Such individuals make poor friends and even worse travel companions. 

But why would a bear not simply devour the easy meal of the traveller who played dead?

Undoubtedly, this story speaks of friendship, yet there must be deeper truth to it, else it wouldn't have endured millennia. 

We could say the bear whispers to reveal a quiet truth to the fallen—the truth the traveller who played dead will face when deserted by his companion in the tree. 

That truth is, in the face of danger without his friend, he's as good as dead.

Now, what of the nature of danger in the woods? 

I’ll speak once more as the bear, so may better grasp its essence, for we know danger is not impartial. 

We see danger is not because she adorns; bestowing medals upon the chests of those who confront her. She makes for cowards, the glorious dead, and veterans.

"But… *sniff, sniff, sniff*," said the bear, checking for signs of life. "…but having mercy for those who perished at the mere sight of me, for you having offered yourself as my next meal, I might just spare you, so your companions can take you home. 

If you're alive enough, you'll take yourself home.

Go home. 

Go.

Home."

Knowing danger doesn't return for the dead, it's safe to say only veterans come back to face her again.

 We see now that this fable also speaks of cowardice and courage. 

Many may deride cowardice, but I genuinely believe it has its time and place, as it can be wise to exhibit cowardice when timed well and with foresight.

Let's delve further into cowardice and courage. 

The bear roared, "For you in the tree, you'll perish up there or down here! For those in the camp over yonder, I will see who is willing to die, who climbs the tree, and who is foolish enough to turn their back and flee. God forbid anyone dare fight me with their bare hands”

Here, we can conclude the traveller who played dead is courageous, while the one in the tree is a coward. 

Those who would turn their backs to flee are foolish cowards (for one should never turn their back on danger, as you cannot see what's coming), and those who would dare challenge a bear head-on are foolishly brave and are the only group of people guaranteed to be maimed.

So pick your battles wisely, and travel only in good company. Be a coward or be courageous, but please don’t be stupid.

With cowardice, luck may favour you, but with courage, you need prudence to survive.