When they reached home they threw the bear down on the floor of the hut saying , ` Father , here is a bear which we killed ; now we can have some dinner . ' But the father , who was in a bad temper , only said : ` When I was a young man we used to get two bears in one day . ' The sons were rather disappointed at hearing this , and though there was plenty of meat to last for two or three days , they started off early in the morning down the same trail that they had followed before . As they drew near the fork a bear suddenly ran out from behind a tree , and took the path on the right . The two elder boys and their dogs pursued him , and soon the second son , who was also a good shot , killed him instantly with an arrow . At the fork of the trail , on their way home , they met the youngest , who had taken the left-hand road , and had shot a bear for himself . But when they threw the two bears triumphantly on the floor of the hut their father hardly looked at them , and only said : ` When I was a young man I used to get three bears in one day . ' The next day they were luckier than before , and brought back three bears , on which their father told them that HE had always killed four . However , that did not prevent him from skinning the bears and cooking them in a way of his own , which he thought very good , and they all ate an excellent supper . Now these bears were the servants of the great bear chief who lived in a high mountain a long way off . And every time a bear was killed his shadow returned to the house of the bear chief , with the marks of his wounds plainly to bee seen by the rest . The chief was furious at the number of bears the hunters had killed , and determined that he would find some way of destroying them . So he called another of his servants , and said to him : ` Go to the thicket near the fork , where the boys killed your brothers , and directly they or the dogs see you return here as fast as ever you can . The mountain will open to let you in , and the hunters will follow you . Then I shall have them in my power , and be able to revenge myself . ' The servant bowed low , and started at once for the fork , where he hid himself in the bushes . By-and-by the boys came in sight , but this time there were only two of them , as the youngest had stayed at home . The air was warm and damp , and the snow soft and slushy , and the elder brother 's bowstring hung loose , while the bow of the younger caught in a tree and snapped in half . At that moment the dogs began to bark loudly , and the bear rushed out of the thicket and set off in the direction of the mountain . Without thinking that they had nothing to defend themselves with , should the bear turn and attack them , the boys gave chase .
The bear , who knew quite well that he could not be shot , sometimes slackened his pace and let the dogs get quite close ; and XXXXX this way the elder son reached the mountain without observing it , while his brother , who had hurt his foot , was still far behind .
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