Project Gutenberg 1999-05-01 Public domain in the USA. 104 Davis, Richard Harding 1864 1916 The Nature Faker Produced by Aaron Cannon, and David Widger "The Nature Faker" by Richard Harding Davis is a satirical short story written in the early 20th century. It explores the relationship between man and nature through the lens of a wealthy man's misguided attempt to liberate three performing bears. The narrative addresses themes of friendship, nature, and the absurdity of human ambitions, all framed within an entertaining commentary on society's perceptions of wild animals and their roles. The story follows Richard Herrick, a wealthy young man who, after being spurned in love, becomes enamored with nature. He buys three bears from a vaudeville act with the intention of releasing them into a game preserve he has created. His friends, Jackson and Kelly, ridicule his idealistic views, warning him that the bears are too domesticated to survive in the wild. Nevertheless, Herrick insists on his noble ambition to free them. Upon their release, the bears initially wander into the woods, but unexpectedly, their instincts are overridden by their familiarity with the performing life, leading to an ironic and humorous conclusion as they entertain the guests with an impromptu waltz. The story ends with Herrick's realization of the futility of his actions, highlighting the ironic conflict between his noble intentions and the reality of the bears' nature. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 80.0 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Fiction Short stories PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Humour 56190 2025-07-01T10:40:24.186695 text/html 53606 2021-01-27T17:40:36 text/html; charset=utf-8 19750 2021-01-27T17:40:36 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 86290 2025-07-01T10:40:27.735686 application/epub+zip 85080 2025-07-01T10:40:25.742655 application/epub+zip 85080 2025-07-01T10:40:24.737702 application/epub+zip 175273 2025-07-01T10:40:29.204711 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 168562 2025-07-01T10:40:27.148683 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 144393 2022-09-01T12:25:49.371300 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 47000 2025-07-01T10:40:23.956666 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 46895 2016-09-26T12:13:42 text/plain; charset=utf-8 18468 2016-09-26T12:15:48 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 46234 2008-10-28T10:25:32 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18250 2008-10-28T10:32:24 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20321 2025-07-01T10:40:29.364629 application/rdf+xml 12774 2025-07-01T10:40:25.223715 image/jpeg 3409 2025-07-01T10:40:24.978694 image/jpeg 85407 2025-07-01T10:40:24.192677 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia