Once there were two friends. Both were poor. But they decided to change their fate. The first friend said, “Let us sell the bear-skin and get rich.” The second agreed. So, both went to the forest to look for a bear. But they did not know how to catch a bear. Suddenly, as they were walking in the forest, they came face to face with a bear. It was a huge bear and the two friends ran helter-skelter in fear. One friend ran up the tree while the second stumbled and fell down. The man pretended to be dead. The bear came near him and sniffed him. Then he walked away. Seeing the bear walking away, the friend on the tree came down. The friend on the ground said, “The bear spoke to me. It said never to sell the bear-skin without killing the bear first.” Both the friends felt foolish and went back home.
The Bear-skin
