Dick Kazan Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:00 pm
Once upon a time there was a giant of a bear who roamed the forest. Everyone called him Uncle Seymour.
Because he was so big and strong, Uncle Seymour did whatever he wanted. He ate his fill of fish to the point there wasn't always enough for everyone else. He pooped where ever he wanted and he often thrust his body around and destroyed the shrubs, with little regard to the environment.
In response, one day a pack of mountain lions got together and they brutally damaged Seymour's den and in the process, killed some of the little critters that were like family to Seymour. The whole forest was sickened by this terrible act.
When Seymour saw what they had done, he reared up onto his hind legs, thrusting his huge body upright to its tallest height, which cast a long, dark shadow. He pounded his chest with his front paws and in a roar that echoed throughout the forest, he bellowed, "You'll pay in blood for this and you'll be sorry you ever angered me!"
Anticipating his response, the mountain lions hid and Seymour couldn't find them.
Instead of harnessing the sympathy the whole forest felt for him so he could isolate the mountain lions, Seymour reacted with rage.
He looked around and he saw the pesky beavers building their dams upstream. "Those beavers threaten our existence," he hollered to the other bears. "They could restrict the water supply which is vital to us and they could cut off our supply of fish."
However, most of the other bears, although upset by the brutal loss the mountain lions had caused Seymour, didn't see the connection to the beavers and they said, "Please calm down and take your beaver grievances to the Conference of Animals. This Conference was created years earlier in part by Uncle Seymour to help resolve issues and keep the peace.
But Seymour wouldn't listen. "It's too late," he howled and urged the other bears to join him in preemptively attacking the beavers. Only one other large bear did, and they were joined by several small bears.
Uncle Seymour and his friends invaded the beaver territory, killing many of them as he destroyed some of their dams. The beavers were in chaos but Seymour assured them that under his watchful eye, everything would now be fine.
But some beavers rebelled against Seymour and his friends and began killing the cubs that Seymour had sent to do his fighting for him.
As the situation grew worse, Seymour kept sending more cubs but all that did was to kill more beavers and kill and injure more cubs. Some of the beavers continued to fight and they were joined by more beavers.
And the conflict spread as the beavers became emboldened by how effective they were in fighting giant Uncle Seymour and his friends. But soon, some of the beavers couldn't get along together and began fighting one another, killing the cubs that got in the way.
Trying to maintain morale, Seymour didn't allow the bears and the other animals to see the dead or seriously injured cubs. Instead, he told them that everything was going well.
Many of them thought this beaver war was insane but they remained silent. As one chipmunk said, "I'm just one critter. What can I do?" Not realizing he could make a difference, he remained silent.
Meanwhile, as the mother bears lost their cubs in ever greater numbers, their tears rained down on the forest. The beaver mothers also cried a river of tears but Seymour didn't seem to see or hear any of it.
Desperate for what he called "victory," Seymour decided to send a group of additional cubs. But their mothers didn't want them to go and so Seymour presented his case that the addition of these cubs would turn the tide. Peace and prosperity would follow.
"How will escalating the war bring peace?" asked the wise old owl. "Why don't we talk to the beavers and see if we can settle our differences. Won't that bring peace?"
But Seymour was determined to have his way. He didn't listen to the wise old owl and he persuaded more mothers to part with their cubs so Seymour and his friends could fight on.
Ironically, the two cubs closest to Seymour didn't join the fight, but little was ever said of this.
As a result of Seymour adding more cubs, the fight exploded in size and the death toll among beavers and cubs skyrocketed and many beavers fled. This led to many of the streams overflowing their banks as there were no dams to control them and many of the trees and shrubs were destroyed and the fertile soil was washed away.
Most of the fish died as well, leaving the bears hungry and sad and many other innocent animals left to forage for food as best they could.
Later, when the forest was largely destroyed and the bears, beavers, and the other animals couldn't withstand the suffering any longer, they spoke with each other and peace was restored. No-one could remember why this war was fought and everyone including Uncle Seymour vowed this would never happen again.
The moral to this story: It is vital for every animal that lives in the forest to ensure peace by selecting leaders like the wise old owl, and if things still go wrong, by making their voices heard, as well as to remember and to practice the oldest of animal codes, "do unto others as you would have done unto you."
And I'll leave you with a question: If you lived in the forest, and saw things go wrong, would you have the courage to make your voice heard in trying to correct them?
Dick
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