A Billy goat had strayed away from his village towards the forest. He was grazing contentedly when he heard some movement. Looking up he saw a large bear peering through the trees at him.
The goat was frightened. But he realised that the bear would attack and kill him in a flash if he showed any fear. So, he decided to pretend that he was very brave and strong. He continued to chew the grass ignoring the bear.
‘That’s funny!’ thought the bear, ‘He doesn’t seem afraid of me, even though he looked at me. He’s busy munching the grass!’
He came stealthily closer to get a better look at this strange creature. It seemed to have two sharp dagger-like horns on its head. It had a short tail that was flicking constantly. And there were wens (growth on the skin) on either side of its neck. ‘I wonder what those things are for!’ thought the bear, ‘I had better ask him.’
“Hello!” he called out. The goat looked up at him enquiringly. “What’s that you have on your head?”
“Oh, the knives? They are for killing my enemies,” said the goat casually, before returning his attention to the grass. “And what’s that behind you?” asked the bear, “That flat thing which keeps moving?”
The goat said, “That’s a kind of an axe. I use it to chop off my enemy’s head.” And back it went to munch the grass. “And the white things hanging from either side of your neck?”
“I clean my mouth with those,” replied the goat, “especially after I have feasted on bear meat.”
This really terrified the bear, who ran right back into the forest. A cunning little fox, who had seen him talking to the goat and then running away, stopped him to ask what the matter was.
“Why did you run from that goat?” asked the fox.
“That’s no goat!” exclaimed the bear, “It’s a fierce animal with knives and an axe for killing bears!” “That’s a goat! Come; we’ll go and kill him and have a feast,” said the fox.
When the goat saw the bear returning with a fox, he was even more terrified. But he went on grazing calmly. When they were close, he called out to the fox, “Hello, my friend! I see that you have brought the bear for our feast as you said you would. Come; let’s kill him.”
The terrified bear ran into the forest. The fox saw the bear disappear among the trees and ran away as fast as he could!
