I was surprised to see the fellow so pleased. “You fool you,” says I, “he will eat you up.” “Eatee me up! eatee me up!” says Friday, twice over again; “me eatee him up; me makee you good laugh; you all stay here, me show you good laugh.” So down he sits, and gets off his boots in a moment, and puts on a pair of pumps, as we call the flat shoes they wear, and which he had in his pocket, gives my other servant his horse, and with his gun away he flew, swift like the wind.
The bear was walking softly on, and offered to meddle with nobody till Friday, coming pretty near, calls to him, as if the bear could understand him, “Hark ye, hark ye,” says Friday, “me speakee with you.” We followed at a distance; for now being down on the Gascony side of the mountains, we were entered a vast forest, where the country was plain and pretty open, though it had many trees in it scattered here and there.
Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up with him quickly, and takes up a great stone and throws it at him, and hit him just on the head, but did him no more harm than if he had thrown it against a wall. But it answered Friday’s end, for the rogue was so void of fear, that he did it purely to make the bear follow him, and show us some laugh as he called it.
As soon as the bear felt the stone, and saw him, he turns about, and comes after him, taking devilish [devilish〈adv.〉非常，十分] long strides, and shuffling [shuffle〈v.〉拖著腳走] on at a strange rate, so as would have put a horse to a middling gallop. Away reins Friday, and takes his course as if he ran towards us for help; so we all resolved to fire at once upon the bear, and deliver my man; though I was angry at him for bringing the bear back upon us, when he was going about his own business another way; and especially I was angry that he had turned the bear upon us, and then ran away; and I called out, “You dog!” said I, “is this your making us laugh? Come away, and take your horse, that we may shoot the creature.” He heard me, and cried out, “No shoot, no shoot; stand still, and you get much laugh:” And as the nimble creature ran two feet for the beast’s one, he turned on a sudden, on one side of us, and seeing a great oak tree fit for his purpose, he beckoned to us to follow; and doubling his pace, he got nimbly up the tree, laying his gun down upon the ground, at about five or six yards from the bottom of the tree.
The bear soon came to the tree, and we followed at a distance. The first thing he did, he stopped at the gun, smelt at it, but let it lie, and up he scrambles into the tree, climbing like a cat, though so monstrous heavy. I was amazed at the folly, as I thought it, of my man, and could not for my life see anything to laugh at, till seeing the bear get up the tree, we all rode nearer to him.
When we came to the tree, there was Friday got out to the small end of a large branch, and the bear got about half way to him. As soon as the bear got out to that part where the limb of the tree was weaker, “Ha!” says he to us, “now you see me teachee the bear dance.” So he began a-jumping and shaking the bough, at which the bear began to totter [totter〈v.〉搖擺，搖晃], but stood still, and began to look behind him, to see how he should get back. Then, indeed, we did laugh heartily. But Friday had not done with him by a great deal. When seeing him stand still, he called out to him again, as if he had supposed the bear could speak English, “What, you no come farther? pray you come farther;” so; he left jumping and shaking the tree; and the bear, just as if he understood what he said, did come a little farther; then he began jumping again, and the bear stopped again.
We thought now was a good time to knock him on the head, and called to Friday to stand still and we should shoot the bear; but he cried out earnestly, “Oh, pray! Oh, pray! no shoot, me shoot by and then”; he would have said by and by. However, to shorten the story, Friday danced so much, and the bear stood so ticklish [ticklish〈adj.〉搖晃不穩的], that we had laughing enough indeed, but still could not imagine what the fellow would do; for first we thought he depended upon shaking the bear off; and we found the bear was too cunning for that too; for he would not go out far enough to be thrown down, but clung fast with his great broad claws and feet, so that we could not imagine what would be the end of it, and what the jest would be at last.