The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-01-29
THE BEAR OF BERNE.

Long, long ago, the pretty city of
Berne was only small burgh, par
TALLY fortified, and containing less
than two thousand people. At this
period, all the neighboring country
rang with the reports of the deeds of
powerful and very wicked nobleman,
whose sole pleasure seemed to con-
sist in sacking, killing and burning.
His name was Coeur-de-Fer (Heart of
from.
One fine day it happened that this
Coeur-de-Fer, with his army of rob-
bers, appeared before the burgh and
commanded the inhabitants to tear
down their houses and come to his
camp as slaves. In case they refused,
they were threatened with all sorts
of torture The people did not for
a moment think of obeying this or
der: they resolved to perish to the
last man rather than touch a stone of
their dwellings or give up their lib
erty. They therefore made reply to
the command by shower of arrows
from the top of their ramparts.
This declaration of war made
Coeur-le-Fer furious with rage. He
Immediately laid siege to the town
and led several attacks, which were
vigorously repulsed. He then de-
cided to reduce it by famine Four
months passed by, and, knowing that
! their provisions would not hold out
much longer, the people made few
| sorties on their part, but without re
suits.
Now, there was on the Aar, a river
| running near the town, whole fleet
of boats, laden with supplies of all
kinds and manned by friends of the
inhabitants. Coeurde-Fer's sentinels
kept SO close watch, however, that it
was impossible to get any of the sup
plies inside the walls.
| A short time before the appear
ance of Coeur-de-Fer and his army
the people of the town had given
hospitable welcome to youth who
came to them, worn out by fatigue
| and hunger, and whose business it
was to go about the country with a
trained bear. 1t was Mutzli. Trained
the animal certainly was. He would
obey when his master told him to lie
| down, to get up, bow or dance. He
had furnished so much amusement to
the people of Berne, both young and
old, that, in spite of the scarcity OF
provisions, they had not been willing
to have the poor beast killed.
Mutzli had little to eat, however,
and there was no more bowling and
dancing. But one night his young
master thought of a plan which he
knew Mutzli would be quite willing to
help him execute. He told the people
he must leave the town for a while,
and hoped to be of service to them.
But he would say nothing further.
We can imagine the establishment
of the besiegers the next day at see
Ing the gates of the town open to
allow a boy leading bear to pass
through. Without the least hesita.
ton, the two walked up to a crowd of
soldiers and bowed very gracefully
The first silence of surprise was now
broken by shouts of laughter.
Come, Mutzli," said the boy, shak-
ing tambourine to make music;
"show the honorable company that
you are no common BEAR
Mutzli at once stood on his front
paws, raising his hind legs high in
the air: and after balancing himself
in this position for time, he rolled
over on his back. Everyone applaud
ed. Soldiers ran from every direc-
ton, glad of any distraction to re-
lieve the monotony of the siege.
Meanwhile Mutzli continued to per-
form. He frisked about, danced;
and, amidst shouts of laughter, point
ed out the bravest, the most cow
ardly and the LATEST among the SOL
diers.
Seeing that he was becoming ex-
hausted his master tried to have him
| rest, but he would not Finally, to
complete the performance, he was
armed with helmet and sword,
and horse was brought up for him.
He leaped upon the animals back,
and rode up and down in front of the
line of men, as If reviewing an army.
This performance attracted all the
camp. Even Coeur-de-Fer, who was
never known to laugh, could not re-
sist the contortions of the animal at
j every step of the horse. Suddenly
j Mutzli reeled and fell from the sad
/ die. When they picked him up, he
/ was dead from weakness and over
i exertion.
i At the same moment great noise
i was heard within the walls of Berne.
4 This rejoicing was caused by the ar.
4 rival of supplies from the boats which
had drifted down the stream unmo-
Tested, as the sentinels were away
from their posts watching Mutzlis
antics. Thus the people owed their
salvation to the bear.
4 Winter at last came on, and Occur
defer was obliged to yield to the dis
content of his troops and raise the
siege.
4 This is why the city of Berne bears