From the distance flowed in a stern and deep roar, yet full of tenderness and love, the mating call of the deer; while from the crags above came down the short and broken voice of the mountain buck.

Among the bushes frolicked the hares and often near them a red fox lay flattened to the ground watching his chance.

I never heard any wolves and they are usually not found in the Siberian regions covered with mountains and forest.
But there was another beast, who was my neighbor, and one of us had to go away.

One day, coming back from the hunt with a big heathcock, I suddenly noticed among the trees a black, moving mass.

I stopped and, looking very attentively, saw a bear, digging away at an ant-hill.
Smelling me, he snorted violently, and very quickly shuffled away, astonishing me with the speed of his clumsy gait.