Bambi: A Life in the Woods

In a hidden forest glade, a young deer named Bambi is born. He stands on trembling legs while his mother washes him, whispering his name and nursing him. As early summer arrives, Bambi explores the forest behind his mother, asking endless questions. He learns he is a deer and that many others live in the woods. When a ferret kills a mouse nearby, Bambi is horrified, but his mother assures him that deer never kill anything. She leads him to the meadow's edge and grows serious, warning him to run and never look back if he sees her flee or fall. Finding it safe, she calls him out, and Bambi is overwhelmed by the open sky, warm sunlight, and vast green space.

Back in their hidden glade, Bambi begs to visit the meadow at midday, but his mother reacts with alarm. She explains they may go only in early morning, late evening, or at night. The forest offers protection: Bushes screen them, dry twigs crackle as warnings, and fallen leaves rustle at any intruder's approach.

On an evening meadow visit, Bambi meets Friend Hare, a hare acquainted with his mother, and encounters his mother's sister, Aunt Ena, with her two fawns, Gobo and Faline. Faline is bold and lively; Gobo is timid and physically delicate. The three children play together until two stags burst from the thicket and stand in silent splendor. Aunt Ena tells the awestruck children, "Those were your fathers." Bambi's mother later explains that the stags come and speak only when they choose, but she promises Bambi could grow as strong as his father if he lives and avoids danger.

As time passes, Bambi matures, learning to distinguish the faintest sounds and scents. His mother begins leaving him alone more often. One day, wandering alone, he encounters a being standing upright on two legs, with a pale face that radiates cold terror and an acrid scent. When the being reaches toward him, Bambi flees in blind panic. His mother appears and confirms: "That was He." "He" is the animals' name for humans, the mysterious, deadly presence the forest creatures fear above all else.

Left alone again, Bambi calls for his mother. A powerful, silver-gray stag appears and rebukes him: "Can't you stay by yourself? Shame on you!" The stag vanishes. Aunt Ena later identifies him as the old Prince, the largest and most elusive deer in the forest. Bambi resolves to earn the old stag's approval.

One dawn, Bambi witnesses his first killing: A young stag near the great oak is struck by a thunderous crash and collapses dead with a wound in his shoulder. The forest creatures gather and conclude no one can escape Him. Bambi, wanting to hide forever, encounters the old stag. When Bambi asks who He is, the stag replies, "Listen, smell and see for yourself. Find out for yourself."

In an allegorical interlude, two leaves on an oak branch discuss mortality before one is torn away by the wind. Winter arrives, and the deer must paw through snow for food. They gather for company, sharing stories about Him: His pale face, His unmistakable scent, and His "third hand," a weapon that kills at a distance. Among the deer, "Prince" is a title for a mature, high-ranking stag. Bambi befriends old Nettla, a blunt doe, and admires two Princes: Ronno, who limps from an old gunshot wound, and the young Karus. Marena, a quiet young doe who has joined their winter gathering, predicts that someday He will live peacefully among them. Nettla dismisses Marena's prediction, but Marena replies that love must come.

Then a great organized hunt begins. Bambi's mother instructs him to run and not stop for her even if she falls. Chaos erupts: Hares and pheasants are shot down. Bambi seems to see his mother hit but keeps running. Bambi finds Gobo collapsed in the snow, too weak to stand, and is swept onward. That night, Aunt Ena arrives weeping: She returned to where Gobo fell, but he was gone, only His tracks remaining. Bambi never sees his mother again.

Spring arrives. Bambi strips the velvet from his first antlers and endures a brutal period of grief and harassment by older bucks. The old stag appears briefly, examines Bambi, and tells him, "Act bravely." In summer, Bambi meets Faline again, now grown beautiful. They confess their feelings. When Karus and then Ronno challenge him for Faline, Bambi defeats both in fierce fights. Faline tells Bambi she loves him, and they walk on together.

The old stag continues to guide Bambi. On a hot day, Bambi hears what he believes is Faline's voice calling him. The old stag blocks his path and leads him cautiously to the source, where they discover He is standing against an oak, imitating Faline's voice to lure deer. The old stag leads Bambi safely away.

Later, Bambi and Faline encounter Gobo, alive. Gobo explains that He took him from the snow and raised him, providing indoor warmth, food, and the companionship of dogs. The old stag appears, notices a strip of braided horsehair around Gobo's neck, part of a halter, and says with piercing sadness, "You poor thing!" Gobo insists he is lucky, but Bambi feels inexplicable dread on his behalf.

Gobo develops alarming habits, venturing onto the open meadow in broad daylight and claiming there is no danger for him. One morning, despite warnings from jays and magpies, Gobo walks boldly onto the meadow to greet Him. A thunderous crash sounds. Gobo staggers back with his entrails oozing from a torn flank and collapses. From the bushes, the hunter emerges and seizes Gobo. The other deer hear his wailing death shriek.

Bambi withdraws into solitary wandering. The old stag teaches him to detect snares set by Him and warns him to live cautiously. One dawn, Bambi is shot. The old stag appears, calls him "my son," a term that seems to slip out involuntarily, and leads him on a zigzag course to confuse trackers. The stag feeds Bambi medicinal plants and brings him to a hidden hollow, where Bambi heals over several days with the old stag staying nearby.

Bambi matures into a solitary, watchful figure. During a winter thaw, he glimpses Faline, now old and gray, but does not approach her. Then the old stag leads him to a body lying on bloodstained snow: a poacher, shot by another human. The old stag tells Bambi to look: "He isn't all-powerful as they say. Everything that lives and grows doesn't come from Him. He isn't above us. He's just the same as we are" (256). Bambi responds: "There is Another who is over us all, over us and over Him" (257). The old stag says his time has come and bids farewell: "I loved you dearly" (257). He walks away, and Bambi does not follow.

On a hot summer dawn, Bambi stands alone in a clearing, mature and gray. He hears two fawns crying for their mother, just as he once did. He steps before them and says, "Your mother has no time for you now" (262). He looks into the little brother's eyes and asks, "Can't you stay by yourself?" (262). The children stand silent. Bambi turns and vanishes into the forest, having assumed the old stag's solitary, watchful role as prince of the woods.