A clearing in the Forest Grim
Where stands an ancient stone-built forge
Ev'ning has silenced the anvil's ring
And the Smithy has paused
To feed the boy, the hungry one
His only precious foundling son
'Smithy tell me once again
The tale of the heartless King'
Smithy knew he'd not restrain
The boy's incessant questioning
'The Queen that bore poor Eloise
Was Queen no more that day
The new Queen ruled in her stead
With scarce a month's delay
In scarce a year a Prince was born
Upon the date of his sister's birth
Eloise to supplant
Much to her father's mirth
Yet the Royal Advocate
Refused to be complicit
'Eloise must take the throne
The law is quite explicit''
How she lived these ten long years
Eloise without her mother
How many are the silent tears ...'
He tailed off to a mutter
He paused and listened - and without
A strange uncommon din
A muttering a whiffling
The crying of a little thing
A snuffling a sniffling
A silence fell o'er everything
The Smith strode out into the night
The boy sat still, eyes wide with fright
Waiting in the firelight
Without the window darkest night
Then suddenly the Smith returned
Anger in his dark eyes burned
'Take care of this I must away
Look not for me until the day'
Though in haste he paused a beat
And placed a bag at his feet
Within the Smithy's bag a pair
Of chestnut eyes that constant stare
Needle claws on each black paw
A bundle of bear rolls on the floor
Thus came Bruin to the pair
Thus started the kinship of boy and his bear
The Smithy smiled and understood
For he was kind and he was good
He returned at break of day
What he had done he would not say
He wearily smiled at the sleepy head
And to the boy he gravely said
'Boy you take good care of him
An orphan child of the Forest Grim
For what we give we shall receive
When the pain of others we relieve'
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