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Bruno soon took to drinking milk from a bottle. It was but a step further and within a very few days he started eating and drinking everything else. And everything is the right word, for he ate porridge made from any ingredients, vegetables, fruit, nuts, meat (especially pork), curry and rice regardless of condiments and chillies, bread, eggs, chocolates, sweets, pudding, ice-cream, etc., etc., etc. As for drink: milk, tea, coffee, lime-juice, aerated water, buttermilk, beer, alcoholic liquor and, in fact, anything liquid. It all went down with relish.
The bear became very attached to our two Alsatian dogs and to all the children of the tenants living in our bungalow. He was left quite free in his younger days and spent his time in playing, running into the kitchen and going to sleep in our beds.
One day an accident befell him. I put down poison (barium carbonate) to kill the rats and mice that had got into my library. Bruno entered the library as he often did, and he ate some of the poison. Paralysis set in to the extent that he could not stand on his feet. But he dragged himself on his stumps to my wife, who called me. I guessed what had happened. Off I rushed in the car to the vet’s residence. A case of poisoning! Tame Bear — barium carbonate — what to do?
The bear became very attached to our two Alsatian dogs and to all the children of the tenants living in our bungalow. He was left quite free in his younger days and spent his time in playing, running into the kitchen and going to sleep in our beds.
One day an accident befell him. I put down poison (barium carbonate) to kill the rats and mice that had got into my library. Bruno entered the library as he often did, and he ate some of the poison. Paralysis set in to the extent that he could not stand on his feet. But he dragged himself on his stumps to my wife, who called me. I guessed what had happened. Off I rushed in the car to the vet’s residence. A case of poisoning! Tame Bear — barium carbonate — what to do?
Explanation:
Bruno's diet is strange as the narrator explains it. Unlike the wild bear cubs which are left to fend for themselves, in the wilderness, food is readily available for Bruno. His hunting instincts are not brought out. Instead, he is given milk in a feeding bottle. The same humans who shot his mother, thereby refraining him from being in the wilderness., provide him milk and nutrients. But as days pass, the bear totally comes away from his roots. A bear which normally eats meat, fruits and honey, goes about drinking aerated drinks, beer, tea, coffee and even alcohol. As for food, he eats fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat along with chocolates, ice creams, sweets, chillies, not pertaining to a particular diet but rather eating anything that comes along his way. He enjoyed eating everything.
Bear eating ice cream
The bear cub adapts to the new environment and home by making friends. Since he was taken in at a very young age, it is easy for him to mingle with everyone, as he still has not been exposed to the wild. He establishes a cordial relationship with the other tamed animals of the house, which includes two Alsatian dogs. He is also not a threat to the children of the narrator's neighbours who lived in the same bungalow. Nobody considers him dangerous as he is left to wander around and even sleep on the narrator's bed, since he was merely a cub.
Alsatian dog
The narrator explains about a horrible accident that Bruno encountered as a cub. He had placed poison (Barium Carbonate) in his library to kill the mice and rats that destroy and chew his books. Barium directly stimulates all types of muscles, including cardiac muscle, and causes a profound reduction in one's body. It is a poisonous chemical that has harmful side effects. The bear, upon entering the library, and having the habit of eating anything and everything, sees the barium carbonate. Considering it as an eatable, he gobbles it up, giving him immediate paralysis in his body. Since the barium influences the cardiac muscle, the major thriving factor of one's body, the paralysis sets in making his other body parts non functioning. Bruno exhibits great courage in spite of the situation and stands up on his feet making the narrator's wife alert. They rush him to the nearby veterinary doctor, who treats animals and in a panic explain to him that he was a tamed bear who had consumed poison accidentally.
Sick bear
Meaning of difficult words:
| SI.no | Words | Meaning |
1 | Porridge | A type of breakfast meal, where cereal is added to milk or water |
2 | Ingredients | Necessary items to cook a meal |
3 | Pork | Meat of a pig |
4 | Condiments | Anything that is used to add flavor to a dish such as salt, pepper, sauce |
5 | Relish | Enjoy and look forward to something |
6 | Alsatian | Often called German Shepherds, guard dogs |
7 | Tenants | People who pay rent to the owner to live in a house |
8 | Paralysis | The disability to move one's limbs or the whole body |
9 | Vet | A doctor who treats animals |
10 | Stump | The lower portion of the animal's leg |
11 | Gobble | Eating quickly |
12 | Aerated drinks | A soft drink that has sugar, carbonated water; Usually considered to be harmful |
13 | Refrain | Prevent from doing a thing |
14 | Cordial | Very friendly |
Reference:
National Council of Educational Research and Training (2006). Beehive. The Bond of Love - Kenneth Anderson (pp.113-118). Published at the Publication Division by the Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.
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