Bear out of hibernation

Jake, an acquaintance of Boris and Leonid, has been killed in a bear attack. In January.

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Boris: He was just taking a two-day holiday!

Leonid: We know that much. And that he was killed by bear. What is puzzling is how he came to be where he was, in a forest, and what a bear was doing out of hibernation in January.

Boris: According to the lodge owner, Jake goes skiing the first day. Then he goes back in the evening and says, “I’m getting too old for all this downhill speed. And these skifields are not very ecologically friendly. They cut down the trees and run those lifts. Isn’t there a gentler winter sport?” And the lodge-owner says, “I’m sixty, like you. Let me suggest an eco-friendly activity. Snowshoeing.”

Leonid: And that’s what he was doing when the bear jumped him?

Boris: Right. So he sets off snowshoeing through the forest on the second day. The winter is warmer than usual and a bear comes out of hibernation. But this is January. Never been seen before. The bear is hungry and jumps him.

Leonid: Bears run fast, even through snow. And Jake couldn’t run away on snowshoes.

Boris: Double punch. He's trying to do his bit to reduce levels of CO2 and gets caught by one of the results of global warming.

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Voiceover

Irony, in this case, signifies the incongruity of actions and results. Jake was trying to avoid non-green activities. What he was struggling to put right set off a chain of events which was his undoing. We feel for the victim but this lends a satisfying symmetry to the story’s causal chain.

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