Black Bear Tales: The Story of Sweet William
could hope for, when one day, Sweet William slowly and carefully crept out of his corner and warily took a fig newton from her fingers. She was deeply moved and began to hope for him a little. He was soon taking cookies in the same way from her husband Ted. For over a year, this was all the contact Sweet William could accept from them, but both of them continued to visit him and talk lovingly to him. There is a photo in the book of the bear from this time, looking about himself with a hurt and suspicious expression, but aware and no longer catatonic.
Then, one day, she saw him slowly walking upright in his cage, carrying the old tire she had put in there for him to use as a plaything dangling from his front paw. He put the tire in his bathtub and got in and leaned back against the tire resting his feet up on the edge. He then started looking about himself calmly and licking his lips, a sign of contentment for black bears. She got her husband Ted and they both approached the cage carefully, talking to him in high, gentle voices, telling him what a good bear he was. He didn't retreat to his corner as he usually did. Instead, he got out of the tub and started bouncing his tire playfully while running around the cage. Ted decided to go into the cage with him. He well knew how risky that might be with a big black bear that had been as badly mistreated as this one. He told his wife to make noises and distract the bear if it attacked him.
He walked in and crouched down (the circus trainer had been a big, tall man). He spoke to the bear in childlike tones. Sweet William dropped the tire and backed away to his corner, making that soft musical moan black bears make when they are frightened. Ted got all the way down and carefully crawled across the cage to the bear. He kept up his patter of sweet- talk, telling him what a good bear he was. While his wife held her breath, Sweet William stopped moaning, lifted up his huge paw and ever so gently laid it on Ted's shoulder. This is a well-known signal among bears of friendship and an invitation to play. The couple then praised Sweet William delightedly in
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