again.
âFine,â he said. âWell, youâll have to come with me now as itâs too dangerous to send you back. But I donât know what the Emperor will say.â
Little Bear smiled, then grinned, then beamed with joy.
âI knew youâd take me back,â he said. âYou say youâre tough, but underneath youâre just a great big softie!â
The first thing they needed to do was find somewhere safe and warm to spend the night. Now that there were two of them, Ping was no longer scared and he set off along the shaded path that disappeared into the forest. Little Bear scampered behind, chattering excitedly about what he would say to the Emperor when they met, while Ping gave some serious thought to what he was going to do when Little Bear discovered that there was no Emperor and that his new best friend was a liar.
âI canât let it happen,â Ping thought. âIâm going to look like such a fool.â
It was this that inspired him to think up believable ways to avoid meeting the Emperor. What were his options? He could fall over, pretend to break his leg, and say he couldnât walk any farther, but heâd have to make the broken leg look convincing and that might involve pain. He could go into the forest for a poo and pretend to fall down a big hole that he couldnât get out of. He wouldnât really fall into a hole because that would be dangerous. Heâd have to dig a hole first, then climb a tree and throw his voice so it sounded like he was in the hole. The problem was, he couldnât throw his voice. No. Far simpler to say heâd just lost his way, but then Little Bear would never believe that, because he thought Ping was perfect and could do no wrong. Eventually, Ping settled on a plan involving memory loss. When they didnât find a palace in the morning he would pretend to have banged his head in the night and lost his memory, which, amongst other things, had left him not knowing his own name, not knowing the words for frogs, fish, and flowers, and not knowing directions to the Emperorâs palace. It wasnât a great plan. In fact it wasnât even good, but it was the only one Ping had and it would have to do.
âLook!â shouted Little Bear all of a sudden. The shrillness of his voice snapped Ping out of his daydream. âThe palace!â
Ping shook his head in disbelief.
âThe what?!â he said.
âThrough those trees,â cried Little Bear. âThe Emperorâs palace!â
CHAPTER SEVEN
L ittle Bear was not wrong, or rather, Ping did not know whether he was or not. He could see several buildings through the trees, arranged on either side of a muddy street that opened out after fifty feet or so into a large square where a number of market stands were arranged in a circle. The buildings were all built from wood and painted in bright colorsâreds, greens, blues, and yellowsâand all of them had thatched roofs and smoking chimneys. Was this really the Emperorâs palace? For all Ping knew, it might be. It was not exactly big, but it was not exactly small, either. Just as heâd described it. The truth was, Ping was completely flummoxed. If this was the palace, had he just made it appear out of his imagination? That wasnât possible, was it? But there was no doubt that he HAD been thinking about the Emperorâs palace just before Little Bear had shouted, âLook!â So what was it? The Emperorâs palace or somewhere else? How was he supposed to know? Heâd never been to either. Heâd spent all his life at home.
Meanwhile, Little Bear was having no such doubts. He had rushed through the trees and was standing in the clearing on the other side, admiring the buildings.
âYouâre so clever, Ping!â he squealed. âI knew you knew the Emperor and now Iâm going to know him too!â
In truth it was just one of the villages in the nature
âFine,â he said. âWell, youâll have to come with me now as itâs too dangerous to send you back. But I donât know what the Emperor will say.â
Little Bear smiled, then grinned, then beamed with joy.
âI knew youâd take me back,â he said. âYou say youâre tough, but underneath youâre just a great big softie!â
The first thing they needed to do was find somewhere safe and warm to spend the night. Now that there were two of them, Ping was no longer scared and he set off along the shaded path that disappeared into the forest. Little Bear scampered behind, chattering excitedly about what he would say to the Emperor when they met, while Ping gave some serious thought to what he was going to do when Little Bear discovered that there was no Emperor and that his new best friend was a liar.
âI canât let it happen,â Ping thought. âIâm going to look like such a fool.â
It was this that inspired him to think up believable ways to avoid meeting the Emperor. What were his options? He could fall over, pretend to break his leg, and say he couldnât walk any farther, but heâd have to make the broken leg look convincing and that might involve pain. He could go into the forest for a poo and pretend to fall down a big hole that he couldnât get out of. He wouldnât really fall into a hole because that would be dangerous. Heâd have to dig a hole first, then climb a tree and throw his voice so it sounded like he was in the hole. The problem was, he couldnât throw his voice. No. Far simpler to say heâd just lost his way, but then Little Bear would never believe that, because he thought Ping was perfect and could do no wrong. Eventually, Ping settled on a plan involving memory loss. When they didnât find a palace in the morning he would pretend to have banged his head in the night and lost his memory, which, amongst other things, had left him not knowing his own name, not knowing the words for frogs, fish, and flowers, and not knowing directions to the Emperorâs palace. It wasnât a great plan. In fact it wasnât even good, but it was the only one Ping had and it would have to do.
âLook!â shouted Little Bear all of a sudden. The shrillness of his voice snapped Ping out of his daydream. âThe palace!â
Ping shook his head in disbelief.
âThe what?!â he said.
âThrough those trees,â cried Little Bear. âThe Emperorâs palace!â
CHAPTER SEVEN
L ittle Bear was not wrong, or rather, Ping did not know whether he was or not. He could see several buildings through the trees, arranged on either side of a muddy street that opened out after fifty feet or so into a large square where a number of market stands were arranged in a circle. The buildings were all built from wood and painted in bright colorsâreds, greens, blues, and yellowsâand all of them had thatched roofs and smoking chimneys. Was this really the Emperorâs palace? For all Ping knew, it might be. It was not exactly big, but it was not exactly small, either. Just as heâd described it. The truth was, Ping was completely flummoxed. If this was the palace, had he just made it appear out of his imagination? That wasnât possible, was it? But there was no doubt that he HAD been thinking about the Emperorâs palace just before Little Bear had shouted, âLook!â So what was it? The Emperorâs palace or somewhere else? How was he supposed to know? Heâd never been to either. Heâd spent all his life at home.
Meanwhile, Little Bear was having no such doubts. He had rushed through the trees and was standing in the clearing on the other side, admiring the buildings.
âYouâre so clever, Ping!â he squealed. âI knew you knew the Emperor and now Iâm going to know him too!â
In truth it was just one of the villages in the nature
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