“What’s the matter?” she called.
But Bambi was speechless. He could not find his tongue and only stammered, “Look over there.”
His mother looked over. “I see,” she said, “that’s my sister, and sure enough she has a baby too, now. No, she has two of them.” His mother spoke at first out of pure happiness, but she had grown serious. “To think that Ena has two babies,” she said, “two of them.”
Bambi stood gazing across the meadow. He saw a creature that looked just like his mother. He hadn’t even noticed her before. He saw that the grasses were being shaken in a double circle, but only a pair of reddish backs were visible like thin red streaks.
“Come,” his mother said, “we’ll go over. They’ll be company for you.”
Bambi would have run, but as his mother walked slowly, peering to right and to left at every step, he held himself back. Still, he was bursting with excitement and very impatient.
“I thought we would meet Ena sometime,” his mother went on to say. “Where can she have been keeping herself? I thought I knew she had one child, that wasn’t hard to guess. But two of them! …”
At last the others saw them and came to meet them. Bambi had to greet his aunt, but his mind was entirely on the children.
His aunt was very friendly. “Well,” she said to him, “this is Gobo and that is Faline. Now you run along and play together.”
The children stood stock-still and stared at each other, Gobo close beside Faline and Bambi in front of him. None of them stirred. They stood and gaped.
“Run along,” said Bambi’s mother, “you’ll soon be friends.”
“What a lovely child,” Aunt Ena replied. “He is really lovely. So strong, and he stands so well.”
“O well,” said his mother modestly, “we have to be content. But to have two of them, Ena! …”
“O yes, that’s all very well,” Ena declared; “you know, dear, I’ve had children before.”
“Bambi is my first,” his mother said.
“We’ll see,” Ena comforted her, “perhaps it will be different with you next time, too.”
The children were still standing and staring at each other. No one said a word. Suddenly Faline gave a leap and rushed away. It had become too much for her.
In a moment Bambi darted after her. Gobo followed him. They flew around in a semicircle, they turned tail and fell over each other. Then they chased each other up and down. It was glorious. When they stopped, all topsy-turvy and somewhat breathless, they were already good friends. They began to chatter.
Bambi told them how he talked to the nice grasshopper and the butterfly.
“Did you ever talk to the gold bug?” asked Faline.
No, Bambi had never talked to the gold bug. He did not even know who he was.
“I’ve talked to him often,” Faline declared, a little pertly.
“The jay insulted me,” said Bambi.
“Really,” said Gobo astonished, “did the jay treat you like that?” Gobo was very easily astonished and was extremely timid.
“Well,” he observed, “the hedgehog stuck me in the nose.” But he only mentioned it in passing.
“Who is the hedgehog?” Bambi asked eagerly. It seemed wonderful to him to be there with friends, listening to so many exciting things.
“The hedgehog is a terrible creature,” cried Faline, “full of long spines all over his body and very wicked!”
“Do you really think he’s wicked?” asked Gobo. “He never hurts anybody.”
“Is that so?” answered Faline quickly. “Didn’t he stick you?”
“O, that was only because I wanted to speak to him,” Gobo replied, “and only a little anyhow. It didn’t hurt me much.”
Bambi turned to Gobo. “Why didn’t he want you to talk to him?” he asked.
“He doesn’t talk to anybody,” Faline interrupted, “even if you just come where he is he rolls himself up so he’s nothing but prickles all over. Our mother says he’s one of those people who don’t want to have anything to do with the world.”
“Maybe he’s only afraid,” Gobo said.
But Faline knew better. “Mother says you shouldn’t meddle with such people,” she said.
Presently Bambi began to ask Gobo softly, “Do you know what ‘danger’ means?”
Then they both grew serious and all three heads drew together. Gobo thought a while. He made a special effort to remember for he saw how curious Bambi was for the answer. “Danger,” he whispered, “is something very bad.”
“Yes,” Bambi declared excitedly, “I know it’s something very bad, but what?” All three trembled with fear.
Suddenly Faline cried out loudly and joyfully, “I know what danger is—it’s what you run away from.” She sprang away. She couldn’t bear to stay there any longer and be frightened. In an instant, Bambi and Gobo had bounded after her. They began to play again. They tumbled in the rustling, silky green meadow grass, and in a twinkling had forgotten all about the absorbing question. After a while they stopped and stood chattering together as before. They looked towards their mothers. They were standing close together, eating a little and carrying on a quiet conversation.
Aunt Ena raised her head and called the children. “Come, Gobo. Come, Faline. We have to go now.”
And Bambi’s mother said to him, “Come, it’s time to go.”
“Wait just a little longer,” Faline pleaded eagerly, “just a little while.”
“Let’s stay a little longer, please,” Bambi pleaded, “it’s so nice.” And Gobo repeated timidly, “It’s so nice, just a little longer.” All three spoke at once.
Ena looked at Bambi’s mother. “What did I tell you,” she said, “they won’t want to separate now.”
Then something happened that was much more exciting than everything else that happened to Bambi that day. Out of the woods came the sound of hoofs beating the earth. Branches snapped, the boughs rustled, and before Bambi had time to listen, something burst out of the thicket. Someone came crashing and
