It was very early in the spring that this occurred and the bear should not yet have left his hibernating place.

He was the so-called "ant-eater," an abnormal type of bear lacking in all the etiquette of the first families of the bear clan.
I knew that the "ant-eaters" were very irritable and audacious and quickly I prepared myself for both the defence and the charge.

My preparations were short.

I rubbed off the ends of five of my cartridges, thus making dum-dums out of them, a sufficiently intelligible argument for so unwelcome a guest.

Putting on my coat I went to the place where I had first met the bear and where there were many ant-hills.