The bear and the bee. Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there lived a one-eyed bear. This bear had a long, fluffy tail, resembling that of a fox. The bear loved honey very much. There was not a single day when he didn’t eat honey. Therefore, he spent all his time, day and night, thinking only about where to find honey. Whenever he saw a tree buzzing with bees, his heart would swell with joy. The bear would climb up the tree, break into the bees' home, and eat the honey they had gathered. Despite the bees' desperate attempts to protect their home and honey, they were no match for the bear. His skin was thick, and his fur was long. The bees, trying to sting him, would get tangled in his fur, which was exactly what the bear wanted. He would jump down from the tree, roll on the ground, and crush the bees. If that wasn't enough, the bear would dive into the river to reach the remaining bees at the bottom, and then he would climb back up the tree to enjoy the honey freely. One day, a man came to the forest to chop wood. He climbed up a tree and saw the bear greedily eating honey and scaring away the bees with his long, fluffy tail. "Ah! You wicked bear, you are breaking into the bees' nest and eating their food! I will punish you for bullying the bees!" the man shouted as he began to climb the tree. He reached the bear and swung his axe. The axe did not hit the bear's neck but instead struck his fluffy tail, cutting it off at the base. The bear, in great pain from the loss of his tail, fell off the tree and ran into the forest, bellowing in anguish. From that day on, the bear was left without a tail. The man then placed the bees' ruined nest back in its place and went home. The bees, witnessing this, were astonished and asked their Mother Bee, "Do you know why the man didn’t take the honey, or why he didn’t eat it, since no one stopped him?" The Mother Bee didn’t know what to say because she was also surprised. So she told her children: "Catch up with the man and ask him yourself." The bees caught up with the man and asked him why he hadn’t taken or eaten the honey. The man replied: "If I took or ate your honey, how would you survive the winter? You would starve before winter ended." The bees returned to their nest and conveyed what the man had said to their Mother Bee. The Mother Bee gathered all the bees in the forest for a meeting. In this meeting, the bees decided that they should go to the man and ask him to protect them from the bear's attacks and take care of them. The bees approached the man and said: "Man, please protect us from the bear's attacks! Otherwise, this wicked brute will not let us live in peace. We will be grateful to you for that and will offer you some of our fragrant, sweet honey." The man agreed. From that time on, the man and the bees became friends and helped each other. The hardworking bees worked day and night to gather honey and would offer their sweet honey to people. Meanwhile, the people took care of them, building warm nests and ensuring they survived the winter safely every year.