– I will serve the table here, and you go down to gather some dead wood for the fire! We will drink some tea from the leaves of currant! Look, there are many bushes of currant growing near the stream, and the tea from its young leaves will be fragrant!

– OK! – Mikhail uttered without much enthusiasm, reluctantly putting on his kersey boots again. He rose on legs, aching from hours of walking, with a stifled groan, and wearily headed to the fallen pine. He gathered dry branches with sharp blows of the heels and, having taken them in his arms, brought to the camp. He stacked firewood like a pyramid, took from his jacket breast pocket a box of matches wrapped in cellophane and, using only one match, lit the fire. Watching the growing power of flame with acute fascination, he carefully wrapped the box and put in the inside pocket. A match in the forest was something special. It was cherished as the apple of one’s eye. This was the protection, warmth, and hot food. And God forbid, if they were weeping or lost due to negligence, then big troubles would be waiting for the hunter: bad weather or night attack of big predators. And in the taiga, there were many those, who would like to eat human flesh, including bears, wolves, and lynx.

Mikhail cut off two spears with a knife, sharpened them at the base, stuck in the ground, parallel to each other, and put a straight stick on top. He went to the stream, filled a pot with spring water, plucked the leaves of currants, and carefully hung the pot over the fire. Rainbow drops, nimbly slipping through the surface blackened from the soot, were instantly licked off by the searing flames, and in places, where water and fire were contacted, the eternal symphony of indomitable opponents, crack and an annoying hiss, was born.

– Join me! – Sergey Petrovich invited his fellow with a gesture. – Lunch is ready! However, do not count on a nosh-up! Getting down to the meal, he crossed as usual.

And thanks for that! – Mikhail thanked, sitting opposite the old man. – Certainly, now I would eat a whole bull, but if there is none, eggs are also a food!

And men began to eat with an appetite.

– You know, I wanted to hunt for bear for a long time, but there was no any good chance for it! I got tired of the hoofed and horned animals! I want adrenaline, risk, danger! Although, these animals can also get you in trouble, regardless the fact that they are herbivores! The elk kicks with such strength that it can break the skull of the wolf! And bills are the real fanged furies. They have nothing to afraid. Attacking, they destroy everything on their way, like tanks. They killed a lot of hunters! – Mikhail mumbled with the mouth full, carefully gnawing on a chicken bone. – But still, I want something new! And ‘predator’ sounds somehow more respectful! Hefty bear plays up, and you… – The hunter, exposing the index finger, slyly squinted his left eye, as if aiming at an invisible enemy, and excitedly exclaimed: – Bang from a gun! And there is a small neat hole between the eyes! Here is your souvenir! I will stuff beautiful bearskin, put it in the middle of the hall, throw the wolf skin on top, and they will warm my bare feet during the long winter evenings! Splendid! One does not need much for the happiness, only comfort and warmth! And a worthy trophy!

– You are very fast! You picked up the pace, and nobody would stop you! You already cooked a hare before catching him! What a dreamer! A bear is not a wolf, it is the much more serious enemy! You cannot defeat him with your bare hands! And it is useless to shoot in his head. His skull is armour-piercing. The bullet will only bounce off it! – Sergey Petrovich ironically objected, stretching his legs out with a crunch in the knees. – It is not so easy as you imagine it! You think there is nothing to do: you aim and shoot, but you still need to hit the target! The bear is a very nimble beast. The moment you gape, and it will get you! Be sure that it will attack you in the twinkling of an eye! It will affectionately press you to its chest! And all this tenderness will make you so sick that you will not gather your bones!

– Yes, really! – Mikhail confirmed, thoughtfully shrugging. – We heard about a bear hug! It is like being caught in a steel grip, and there is no escape!

– Believe me, old man, that it is not the most painful thing! – The old man slyly squinted his eyes and continued in a pressurizing voice: – You will be lucky to lose your life quickly! But if it will run wild, then you should hold on, as his every playful punch is a new broken bone for you! You will look like a broken doll, and it will be still playing with you! Your cries of pain will be a sweet melody for it. Being in rage, it will not stop until you will breathe your last! You will become its trophy, which it will bury for a week for the smell and softness! It loves decayed meat more than fresh! And it will take your scalp to its lair! – Smiling, he mimicked his friend, – And it will admire it during the long rainy autumn months, remembering a successful spring hunt!

Mikhail grimaced in disgust, vividly picturing himself a bare, riddled with whitish veins of blood vessels, the human skull. Imagination, as usual, did not disappoint him.

– Really, a bear eats a smelly meat?!

And a seasoned hunter began to prove this.

– Do not doubt. Once, I saw a bear digging up a decomposed carcass of a red deer! It was so stinky that I was holding my nose, and the bear did not care: champed, and even salivated! So, the would-be hunters lie, claiming that a bear is legible and does not eat everything but only fresh meat! Do not believe it. This is nonsense told by people, who saw taiga only on TV – ‘In the World of Animals’! Bears like to eat ‘fresh meat’, which has been in the ground for at least a week, gaining the unforgettable flavour!

– Man! Live and learn! I would never have thought! – Mikhail spat in disgust. – How can it be called the master of taiga? No grandeur! It eats trash, like a hyena! – he lost the desire to try this bear’s meat, vaunted for its softness and juiciness. – What can I say?! One word – animals! And why does it like to eat dead flesh? – the man shrugged with disgust. – What a crap!

– Everyone to his own taste! – smiling, the old man said. – One wants a boiled food, while others prefer fried! But a bear chooses a naturally spoiled food! Everybody have his or her own delicacies!

– The deer’s meat is nobler than the bear’s meat! – Mikhail concluded, though, an unpleasant story did not ruin his appetite. – Herbivores have a huge plus – meat dishes are completely excluded from their diet! – And he added thoughtfully: – Yes, and hunt for them is hardly a pleasant walk! If one applies this logic, then one should consider who will win – the elk or the bear. Both are strong enough! And a bill is a leader. It is also hard to fight it. Its teeth are like razor blades, and it will quickly cut open one’s belly! A year ago, a funny incident happened to me! In the autumn, I decided to hunt for the wild boar! I took the double-barrelled gun, 16 calibre, filled cartridges with bullets, and then, towards evening, sat down in the scatter in the Kuzmichyov pasture! You know, there are the Guryevsk salt marshes! – Petrovich nodded. – So, I was sitting there, on the tree stand for hours, the sun already disappeared over the tops of the trees! It was as dark as pitch. The clearing was visible only in general outline. The mosquitoes stung all over! I thought that I could kiss my hunt good-bye and it was time to go home! Suddenly, I noticed with my peripheral vision that the bushes began to sway slightly. I happily rubbed my palms: – ‘Speak of the devil!’ I thumbed back the hammer, ready to shoot, and patiently waited for the appearance of the boar! And it did not show up! I thought it was gone! Suddenly, from a very different side, a huge bill came out into the clearing, and in the darkness, it seemed even bigger! It looked around carefully and moved forward, in my direction! I took aim and shoot from two barrels! From a shot, I could not hear. My eyes dimmed because of the flash. The blow-back almost threw me from the tree! I waited for the smoke to clear. It would be foolish to rush to the wounded animal at breakneck speed. It was not worth the effort! But as soon as the breeze dragged a curtain of powder gases, I saw it lying motionless on the ground! I reloaded the gun, hurriedly went down out of the tree, and ran to it! Suddenly, I saw another man running to the boar out of the bushes! Imagine, it was Egor Sychyov! It turned out that we both shot at the same time, and the shots came together! You will not believe me, but it was he who rustled in the bushes, choosing a comfortable position! But when he approached the carcass of the animal, which we considered dead, the boar jumped up and rushed forward! Only God knows how Egor reacted. It can be called a miracle! He jumped to the side, and the boar hit the side of his kersey boot with the fangs, cutting hard skin like paper but without hurting the leg! And it fell dead! It was a harmless pig, but it played its trick. Another centimetre and the man would be with no leg!

– He was lucky! – Petrovich said. – And how did he get to the clearing, as you came first and did not meet him?!

– Just imagine, this cunning rogue crawled to the bushes not to spook the beast, coming to the clearing, ahead of time! And one could not see him in a camouflage suit in the grass!

– Cunning old fox! – Petrovich agreed, wiping greasy hands on the grass. – He made his way, like a lizard, and almost took your prey from under your nose! – And began to laugh: – And how did you share the trophy?

Mikhail, laughing, said in a deep voice:

– According to hunting laws – by the part of the shot! I got brisket, he got back thigh!

Petrovich, wiping tears with his palm, said merrily:

– You made the old man laugh. It has been a long time since I laughed that much! – And he added seriously: – You were lucky not to shoot each other by mistake!

– God protected! – Mikhail agreed.

Suddenly, a menacing bestial roar swept through taiga, causing an anxious shiver in the electrified air.

– Bear! – Sergey suggested, excitedly jumping to his feet. – It is certainly a bear. I will be hanged if I am wrong!

People, with bated breath, peered into the depths of the forest with watchful eyes, listening to the thundering roar with acute fascination.

– That’s right! – Sergey Petrovich perplexedly concluded, frowning thoughtfully. – But I can say one thing: it is very unhappy with someone! Someone trespassed on its hunting grounds, and now they sort out their relationship!

– It can be another bear! – Mikhail Kulanov suggested hopefully, rubbing his sweaty palms excitedly. – Two bears are much better than one! – He said happily. – Each of us will get the whole skin! What a luck! – The man’s eyes gleamed greedily in anticipation of the rich prey.

– Does not look like this! – Petrovich said, listening attentively. – Two bears would make so much noise that we would become deaf! It is something else… – And he waved his hand annoyingly. – And the number does not play any role at the moment! One beast provides plenty of meat! Well, we will take a hundred kilograms for two us. Still, we will not be able to carry the rest and will have to leave it! And if you need skin, then you can take it! – I already have one! – And keenly listening, he added perplexedly:

– We need to hurry while the beast comes to the hunter! If we miss this chance, we will have to run after it around taiga!

The man hurriedly uncovered a rifle and promptly put cartridges, filled with bullets, to the chambers with a trained hand. He snapped sharply the bolt and flicked off safety. Holding his rifle tilted forwards, he rushed to the forest, having selected a direction, focusing on the noise. And without turning, he said over his shoulder:

– Keep up!

Mikhail quickly joined his friend. They ran up the hill and, having stopped, listened. The beast was growling nearby.

– There! – The old men dabbed at crackle sideways with his finger in the direction of the stream. And they ran again.

– The main thing is not to hurry! Take a pause! Stop, recover your breath, and then fight! – more experienced Petrovich taught the younger fellow on the move. – Do not lose courage! The bear is an unpredictable beast. When it will rise up on its hind pads, you can act! Carefully aim exactly in the chest and gently pull the trigger! You will shoot right in the heart. One bullet is enough to kill it, regardless of its size! Only do not let it come close! Keep the distance!

– Yes, I know what to do! – Mikhail irritably snapped, being hot under the collar because of, as it seemed to him, the unnecessary guardianship. – I am not in taiga for the first time and have some experience! You dinned into the head! When I see it, I will kill it! That’s all!

– A bear is not an ordinary beast! – Petrovich cheerfully exhaled. – It is very smart and cunning beast, it likes to play with people! A person will have a high opinion of himself, will develop a plan of hunt taken from the book, and will certainly expect that everything will happen according to that plan! And a bear will surprise him! It has no idea of ABC, as it is an illiterate beast! And the result is well-known: either wounds or a funeral!

Mikhail shut his ears to the farewell speech of the old man for he had already made a certain conclusion, a beast would be a beast even in Africa. There was no difference – big or small, an elephant or a hare – the victory depended only on the calibre of the rifle and the mass of the bullet. The hunter would not try strength against the animal. Lost labour. The rifle would do all the hard work for the person. The explosive bullet is a forcible argument even for the most impenetrable skull, and two bullets – absolute fatal result. Only Mikhail did not take into account that overconfidence had ruined many experienced hunters, and did not think of the adverse concatenation of circumstances. After all, sometimes, fortune was capricious and left the hunter.

– Hush! – Petrovich warned in a whisper and switched to easy step, clutching a rifle. – We are close!

The man carefully looked around and listened keenly. On the edge, on the right side, he heard a faint scuffling. Mikhail gently parted the bushes of honeysuckle and curiously stared at the brown nubbin, joyfully exclaiming: