By this time they were far from the danger spot. “If he stops again,” thought Bambi, “it ought to be all right to speak to him by now, and I’ll thank him.”
But at that moment the old stag vanished under his very eyes into a thick tangle of dogwood shrubs. Not a leaf stirred, not a twig snapped as the stag slipped away.
Bambi followed and tried to get through as noiselessly, and to avoid every sound with as much skill. But he was not so lucky. The leaves swished gently, the boughs bent against his flanks and sprang up again with a loud twang; dry branches broke against his chest with sharp piercing snaps.
“He saved my life,” Bambi kept thinking. “What can I say to him?”
But the old stag was nowhere to be seen. Bambi came out of the bushes. Around him was a sea of yellow, flowering goldenrod. He raised his head and looked around. Not a leaf was moving as far as he could see. He was all alone.
Freed from all control, the impulse to flee suddenly carried him away. The goldenrods parted with a loud swish beneath his bounding hoofs as though under the stroke of a scythe.
After wandering about for a long time he found Faline. He was breathless, tired and happy and deeply stirred.
“Please, beloved,” he said, “please don’t ever call me again. We’ll search until we find each other, but please don’t ever call me … for I can’t resist your voice.”
XV
A few days later they were walking carefree together through an oak thicket on the far side of the meadow. They had to cross the meadow in order to reach their old trail where the tall oak stood.
As the bushes grew thinner around them they stopped and peered out. Something red was moving near the oak. Both of them looked at it.
“Who can it be?” whispered Bambi.
“Probably Ronno or Karus,” said Faline.
Bambi doubted it. “They don’t dare come near me any more,” Bambi said, peering sharply ahead. “No,” he decided, “that’s not Karus or Ronno. It’s a stranger.”
Faline agreed, surprised, and very curious. “Yes,” she said, “it’s a stranger. I see it, too, now. How curious!”
They watched him.
“How carelessly he acts,” exclaimed Faline.
“Stupid,” said Bambi, “really stupid. He acts like a little child, as if there were no danger.”
“Let’s go over,” Faline proposed. Her curiosity was getting the better of her.
“All right,” Bambi answered. “Let’s go, I want to have a better look at the fellow.”
They took a few steps and then Faline stopped. “Suppose he wants to fight you,” she said. “He’s strong.”
“Bah,” said Bambi holding his head cocked and putting on a disdainful air, “look at the little antlers he has. Should I be afraid of that? The fellow is fat and sleek enough, but is he strong? I don’t think so. Come along.”
They went on.
The stranger was busy nibbling meadow grass and did not notice them until they were a good way across the meadow. Then he ran forward to meet them. He gave joyful playful skips that made a curiously childish impression. Bambi and Faline stopped, surprised, and waited for him. When he was a few steps off he stood still likewise.
After a while he asked, “Don’t you know me?”
Bambi had lowered his head prepared for battle. “Do you know us?” he retorted.
The stranger interrupted him. “Bambi,” he cried reproachfully, yet confidently.
Bambi was startled to hear his name spoken. The sound of that voice stirred an old memory in his heart. But Faline had rushed towards the stranger.
“Gobo,” she cried and became speechless. She stood there silent without moving. She couldn’t breathe.
“Faline,” said Gobo softly, “Faline, sister, you knew me anyway.” He went to her and kissed her mouth. The tears were running down his cheeks. Faline was crying too, and couldn’t speak.
“Well, Gobo,” Bambi began. His voice trembled and he felt very bewildered. He was deeply moved and very much surprised. “Well, so you’re not dead,” he said.
Gobo burst out laughing. “You see that I’m not dead,” he said; “at least I think you can see that I’m not.”
“But what happened that time in the snow?” Bambi persisted.
“O then?” Gobo said thoughtfully. “He rescued me then.”
“And where have you been all this time?” asked Faline in astonishment.
“With Him,” Gobo replied, “I’ve been with Him all the time.”
He grew silent and looked at Faline and at Bambi. Their helpless astonishment delighted him. Then he added, “Yes, my dears, I’ve seen a lot more than all of you put together in your old forest.” He sounded somewhat boastful, but they paid no attention to it. They were still too much absorbed in their great surprise.
“Tell us about it,” cried Faline beside herself with joy.
“O,” said Gobo with satisfaction, “I could talk all day about it and never reach the end.”
“Well then, go ahead and talk,” Bambi urged.
Gobo turned to Faline and grew serious. “Is mother still alive?” he asked timidly and softly.
“Yes,” cried Faline gladly. “She’s alive but I haven’t seen her for a long while.”
“I’m going to see her right away,” said Gobo with decision. “Are you coming too?”
They all went.
They did not speak another word the whole way. Bambi and Faline felt Gobo’s impatient longing to see his mother, so both of them kept silent. Gobo walked ahead hurriedly and did not speak. They let him do as he liked.
Only sometimes when he hurried blindly over a cross-trail or when, in a sudden burst of speed, he took the wrong turning, they called gently to him. “This way,” Bambi would whisper, or Faline would say, “No, no, we go this way now.”
A number of times they had to cross wide clearings. They noticed that Gobo never stopped at the edge of the thicket, never peered around for a moment when he walked into the open, but simply ran out without any precaution. Bambi and Faline exchanged astonished glances
