A man had built a cabin in the forest and was quite happy with his life until one night in the summer he started hearing strong chipping noises that happened to originate under the house and created by a porcupine interested more in the pine of the house than in the noise he was making.
The man got under the house, aimed a flashlight to the face of the porcupine which immediately reflected the eyes back, he through a stone and the porky started going away scared off by the man. Porcupines are very slow movers, as they feel quite safe within their spiky armour, so it is quite easy to capture one as long as the quills are not touched. The hunter knew this and managed to capture the delinquent rodent. He was ready to give a deadly blow to the porcupine’s head when the latter spoke as follows:
“My master: I know you are ready to kill me so that I leave your home and your family in peace. But I also have a family and have to feed them. If you leave me alive I promise I will never again come to you to disturb your surroundings”.
The man, who was quite surprised to understand the porcupine’s voice, even though he spoke no English, answered him:
“I hear you and to my amazement I understand your plea. On this occasion I will let you go but you have to stand by your promise, so that I do not have to hurt you in the future.”
The porcupine left quite happy back to his family, up in one of the trees nearby.
A few weeks later, while cutting wood, the Man heard a growl behind him and, to his horror, a black bear, clearly emaciated and very hungry, was just beside him ready to strike the man with a deadly blow of his massive paws.
Running is not the best advice as the bear is much faster than man. Trying to attack with the axe is not a good option since the bear will kill the man with a single blow. Staying put and shouting strongly seemed the only option. However the bear was too hungry to listen to these charades from the good lunch in front of him. While waiting for his final moment, the Man all of a sudden saw a porcupine jumping from the nearby tree on the back of the bear. His quilts pierced through the skin and made the bear growl in desperation. The more he would rub against a tree the more the quills would penetrate the skin.
The man felt compassion for the hungry bear, went into the cabin, brought a piece of pork and gave it to him. “I know you are hungry. Here is some food that may satisfy your appetite. I will also remove your quills but you have to promise never again try to attack me or my family”. The bear was surprised to see such compassion. “Man, I am quite astonished to see the generosity of spirit and compassion that sits in your heart. I promise that I will never disturb you or your family and will pass your good deed to my family”
After the bear had left without the burden of the quills on his back, the man thanked the porcupine. He knew he had a good neighbor.
