THE DEER IN THE WOOD Little House in the Big Woods By Laura Ingalls Wilder
the deer in the wood
the grass was dry and withered and the
cows must be taken out of the woods
and kept in the barn to be fed all the
bright colored leaves became dull brown
when the cold fall
rains began there was no more plain
under the trees
but paul was in the house when it rained
and he began again to play the fiddle
after supper
then the rain stopped the weather grew
colder
in the early mornings everything
sparkled with frost
the days were growing short and a little
fire burned all day in the cook stove to
keep the house warm
winter was not far away the attic and
the cellar were full of good things once
more
and laura and mary had started to make
patchwork
quilts everything was beginning to be
snug and cozy again one night when he
came in from doing the chores
paul said that after supper he would go
to his deer lick
and watch for a deer there had been no
fresh meat in the little house in spring
but now the fawns were grown up and paul
would go hunting again
paw had made a deer lick in an open
place in the woods
with trees nearby in which he could sit
to watch it
a deer lick was a place where the deer
came to get salt
when they found a salty place in the
ground they came there to lick it
and that was called a deer lick paw had
made one by sprinkling salt over the
ground
after supper paul took his gun and went
into the woods
and laura and mary went to sleep without
any stories or music
as soon as they woke in the morning they
ran to the window
but there was no deer hanging in the
trees paul had never
before gone out to get a deer and come
home without one
laura and mary did not know what to
think
all day paul was busy banking the little
house in the barn with dead leaves and
straw
held down by stones to keep out the cold
the weather grew colder all day and that
night
there was once more a fire on the hearth
and the windows were shut
tight and chinked for the winter after
supper
paul took laura on his knee while mary
sat
close in her little chair and paul said
now i’ll tell you why you had no fresh
meat to eat today
when i went out to the deer lick i
climbed up
into a big oak tree i found a place on a
branch where i was comfortable and could
watch the deer lick
i was near enough to shoot any animal
that came to it
and my gun was loaded and ready on my
knee
there i sat and waited for the moon to
rise and light the clearing
i was a little tired from chopping wood
all day yesterday and i must have fallen
asleep
for i found myself opening my eyes
the big round moon was just rising
i could see it between the bare branches
of the trees low in the sky
and right against it i saw a deer
standing
his head was up and he was listening
his great branching horn stood out above
his head
he was dark against the moon it was a
perfect shot but he was so
beautiful he looked so strong and free
and
wild that i couldn’t kill him
i sat there and looked at him
until he bounded away into the dark
woods
then i remembered that ma and my little
girls were waiting for me to bring home
some good fresh venison
i made up my mind that next time i would
shoot
after a while a big bear came lumbering
out into the open
he was so fat from feasting on berries
and roots and
grubs all summer that he was nearly as
large as
two bears his head swayed from side to
side
as he went on all fours across the clear
space in the moonlight
until he came to a rotten log he smelled
it
and listened then he parted apart
and sniffed among the broken pieces
eating up the fat
white grubs then he stood up on his hind
legs
perfectly still looking all around him
he seemed to be suspicious that
something was wrong
he was trying to see or smell what it
was
he was a perfect mark to shoot at but i
was so much
interested in watching him and the woods
were so
peaceful in the moonlight that i forgot
all about my gun
i did not even think of shooting him
until he was waddling away into the
woods
well this will never do i thought i’ll
never get any meat this way
i settled myself in the tree and waited
again
this time i was determined to shoot the
next game i saw
the moon had risen higher and the
moonlight was bright in the little open
place
all around it the shadows were dark
among the trees
after a long while a doe and her
yearling fawn came
stepping daintily out of the shadows
they were not afraid at all
they walked over to the place where i’d
sprinkled the salt
and they both licked up a little of it
then they raised their heads
and looked at each other the fawns
stepped over and stood beside the doe
they stood there together looking at the
woods in the moonlight
their large eyes were shining and soft
i just sat there looking at them until
they walked away among the shadows
then i climbed down out of the tree and
came home
laura whispered in his ear i’m glad
you didn’t shoot them mary said
we can eat bread and butter paul lifted
mary up
out of her chair and hugged them both
together
you’re my good girls he said
and now it’s bedtime run along while i
get my fiddle
when laura and mary had said their
prayers and were tucked snugly under the
trundle bed’s covers
paul was sitting in the fire light with
the fiddle
ma had blown out the lamp because she
did not need its light
on the other side of the hearth she was
swaying gently in her rocking chair
and her knitting needles flashed in and
out above the sock she was knitting
the long winter evenings of fire light
and music had come again
[Music]
wailed while paul was singing oh
susannah
don’t you cry for me i’m going to
california the gold
then paul began to play again the song
about old grimes
but he did not sing the words he’d sung
when ma was making cheese
these words were different paul’s strong
sweet voice was softly singing
shall
[Music]
to hold shall
old acquaintance be
forgot and the days
[Music]
shall
[Music]
when the fiddle had stopped singing
laura called out softly
what are days of old laying sein paw
they are the days of a long time ago
laura
paul said go to sleep now
but laura lay awake a little while
listening to pause fiddle softly playing
into the lonely sound of the wind and
the big woods
she looked at paul sitting on the bench
by the hearth
the fire light gleaming on his brown
hair and beard and
glistening on the honey brown fiddle she
looked at ma
gently rocking and knitting she thought
to herself
this is now she was glad that the cozy
house
and paw and ma and the fire light
and the music were now
they could not be forgotten she thought
because now is now it can never be
a long time ago