Many, many years ago - too many to count, really - a strange & exciting occurrence happened on a clear blue sunny day in northern Alaska. This happens every hundred years or so since the beginning of time & will continue till time is no more.

A conclave of hundreds of polar bears forms a circle. Behind them is another circle of animals, sea creatures & birds. In the center of the circle are three polar bears: a young bear, a female mother bear & a very old grizzled polar bear. It is a time of reverence for all creatures great & small. The telling of "Polars Legend" & the creation of a new "The Polar Barr".

The female stands, the crowd quiets & she starts to speak. "Peace be unto you my fellow creatures, today we are blessed. A new "The Polar Barr" is among us. Our oldest & wisest polar bear will tell the Legend". All present can understand her words. The grizzled old bear sits on his haunches, clears his throat & starts to speak.

At the beginning of time, only the gods were on this great planet of ours. Each different part of the world had its own gods. The gods knew that to survive they would need creatures to live in this wonderful place. All the different creatures were formed, each with its own language, but with the ability to understand all.

This angered one of the petty gods who connived to take this understanding ability away. This angered a number of northern & Greek gods. Headed by the god Odin, they spent hours, days & weeks creating a new creature. Born of polar bears but much different. Bigger stronger & smarter than those before him, with a longer life & able to learn & converse with all creatures. The Polar Barr was on earth to care for the land, sea, air & all creatures.

The gods, not wanting just one more god, decided that this special Barr would live only three times longer than a normal polar bear, about 75 years, & there would be at least 25 years between Barr's. During the in-between years, havoc could reign. During the time of The Polar Barr, peace prosperity & good will would reign. The world would renew & the weather would help change the planet to a better place for all creatures great & small.

In time the gods went their own ways. Each winter, during winter solstice on a clear night, each & every family group will tell this story. At times during the past for one reason or another something has happened to kill the cub picked to be The Polar Barr. During these times terror has reigned. Creatures have disappeared & the world has suffered. The creature "man" is mostly to blame for this. But we may not retaliate on man. Only The Polar Barr can try to change man for the better.

"Now, my friends, rejoice as I present you with this little cub. 'The Polar Barr' once again walks among us. Help him & listen to him as he renews our wonderful world." With a shout of joy all the creatures bowed & rolled on their backs.

Polar Barr started life in January 1945 with a mom & twin sister, born in a snow den just outside of Barrow Alaska. In June Polar started his first adventure. Mom & Sis had just finished a caribou dinner & were napping. Polar decided that a walk on the ice was in order. As he loped along he spotted a seal & went to investigate. Since he was between the seal & the water the seal panicked. This was when our famous educated talking bear found out he was different.

The seal said, "Mr. Polar Bear please don't eat me I am a mother with two pups that need me". Polar could understand her; he did the polar giggle & rolled on his back to show her that she was safe. By signs & gestures he got Mrs. Seal to talk more. In just a few minutes he haltingly said his first words in seal. In less than an hour Polar could converse freely with Mrs. Seal. This started Polar on a quest that continues to this day.

By the age of two Polar could converse with all the animals & birds of the far north. One dark November day in the area of the village of Anaktuvuk Pass Polar heard funny sounds coming from a building. He carefully sneaked up under a window & started to listen. Mom had taught him that man would kill him, so he was scared. After a few minutes Polar realized that this was man talk, a quick peek in the window showed that it was man-children. This was the local school.

Polar carefully dug a snow cave with a hidden entrance & a little hole so he could see the blackboard. During the next two years in the dark winter Polar went to school. He learned how to talk, write, do ciphers, history science & that there was a very big world out there. During the summer he spent his time doing normal bear things with his mom & sister.

Polar was growing bigger & bigger & knew that this next winter he would be too big to hide next to the school. Polar was very sad about this & didn't know what to do. From a distance Polar saw a tracked snow cat, with people in it, come out & stop to watch the other polar bears. This happened day after day; the people never got out, but just watched. This gave Polar an idea; what would happen if I spoke to then in man speak?

The next day after the people stopped & it got quiet Polar said; "I am a young polar bear. Can you understand me?" From inside the snow cat Polar heard "ok who is the wise guy that is a ventriloquist?" Perplexed, Polar stood up waving his front paws saying, "It is me the polar bear," & then wrote a sentence in big bold letters in the snow. "Please help I want to learn more about man & go to school more."

This naturally surprised all the people in the snow cat, but a kindly white haired old man asked how he could help. Polar told his tail of animal speak & about his winters outside the schoolroom. The man explained that he was a doctor of zoology & head of this scientific expedition. "If you can give me a few days I will talk to some colleagues & will see if we can do something to help you".

Over the next few days Polar would wait for the men & then tell them about bear life, also what he knew about seal caribou moose & the small creatures of the far north. The men were as fascinated with Polar as he was with them. One of the men asked if he could dart Polar. Polar said he didn't understand, so the man pulled out his dart gun. Polar freaked ran & screamed, "Don't shoot me, don't shoot me I am a good bear & haven't hurt you!" The man explained that they wanted to measure weight examine & draw a little blood from Polar. You are a carnivorous animal we are scared of you. The dart will just put you a sleep for a few hours. We won't hurt you we promise.

Polar asked if he could think about it & the men agreed. The next day after chatting a little Polar said, "Ok, you can do this dart thing if you swear you won't hurt me.I know for me to be able to learn I also have to trust you." The men promised & the door opened & a dart was fired. Polar said it stings & then drowsily laid down & went to sleep.

Polar woke as the men drove away. He fretted until the next morning when the men arrived. The scientists started to tell him about himself. A young adult Ursus Maritimus male. Polar stopped them. "Big words I don't understand."

"All that means is that you are a polar bear. That is the scientific name. You stand 2 foot 11 inches on all fours. 9 foot 10 inches long & weight 986 pounds. We did find something different about your mouth. You still have fangs but your teeth are more like a mans. We would like to study you more."

The old white haired man then spoke up. "I have two possibilities for you. One is a zoo cage near my home where you could live, be seen & studied by a lot of people. The other is a conex next to the biology teacher's house in Barrow. The biology teacher will study you, teach you & let you go out to eat every few days. But you would have to promise that you would never go out when other people are about & never hurt anyone". Polar said; " I need to think about this but Barrow sounds real good to me".

A few days later Polar tied a red blanket around his shoulders & went to his new home in Barrow. This was the start of a most fascinating life & a formal human education. The reason for the red blanket was so that the Barrow men & women would not shoot Polar. Polar was told that he would be carefully watched & under the gun for his visit. The "trust" thing again.

The scientists & Polar went into town. There Polar met his new teacher & mentor to be, Mr. Wise, saw his new home & sat down to talk. As they started to talk Polar was uncomfortable because he could see more than a dozen guns pointed at him. Soon he forgot about them as the details of his schooling were worked out. This was to be a two way street. Polar would get a formal human education & the scientists would get to study him & learn about polar bears & other artic animals.

Polar would only be in school during the dark part of the year. It was yet to be decided what "grade" he would be in & how much education Polar could get. Mr. Wise would give Polar 2 hours a day 6 days a week. Polar would study a minimum of 6 hours a day. Scientists would study Polar 3 times a week for 2 hours each. Polar would wear his red blanket with a light for all of his comings & goings. Polar was to keep his distance from all people never closer than 100 yards. Polar agreed to this & thought it was a very fair deal.

The conex was attached to Mr. Wise's house by a short hallway in the middle. It was used for storage right now, heated & had a light. The stuff in it would be moved, more lights would be added, Bars would be added to the house & a separate outside door installed. Polar said, "Wow, you will do this for me? Won't it cost you to do this? I have learned that things cost & that money is not easy to get. I happen to know where there are some "gold nuggets," would that help?" Mr. Wise said; "yes there are costs I am not a wealthy man. Possibly we can find a "grant" to help with them, but it will have to be found & written. That will take time the gold would really help". The meeting was over & the group took Polar back to the tundra.

Polar had lots to think about & also needed to find & tell Mom about his good fortune. The next afternoon Polar found Mom & his sister sunning themselves. Mom was upset & told him that he was still way to young to be on his own. Polar told mom about what he wanted to do. Polar had never told his mother that he could speak to other animals. "Son, son this is wonderful" she said.

Puffed up with pride Mom said, "As a young pup my mother took me to meet my Great Grandmother, a very wise old bear. She told me the Polar's legend you are a very special & important person. This happens only every fourth or fifth generation. You will do many many great things in your life, I am proud to be your mother. You are no longer just a polar bear, you are "The Polar Barr" all bears & animals will revere you. Greatness is yours for the asking. Just wait till I tell your dad & the other polar bears I am so excited. I love you my son".

Mom & sis ran off to tell the bears. Polar sat there perplexed scratching his head, wondering what this "legend" thing was. Within a few hours there were hundreds of polar bears sitting in a circle around Polar. Mom & a grizzly old polar bear came to tell Polar his legend. This would be a story told under the northern lights to all polar bears until the time of the next The Polar Barr many many years in the future. The grizzled old bear started to talk. (Oops, sorry, readers, see Polar's Legend, by Wookie.) All bears listened with rapt attention for the next few hours to the old wise bear.

The next few weeks Polar had lots to think about. Daily he talked to his scientist's friends. He had another health exam. Night was coming to the north & school would start soon. Each & every polar bear he met would bow, roll on their backs & say; "greetings The Polar Barr may your life be long & fruitful, is there anything I can do to help you". This upset Polar greatly but he didn't know what to do. He thought about running away to a place where there were no polar bears, but school was too important to him.

Polar knew that winter would be long & hunting for food took lots of time. He almost always asked "food" for permission before he ate it. Now all animals he met would roll on their backs & ask "The Polar Barr" to eat them. This upset him again. Finally the first day of school started. As the night started Polar put on his red blanket & walked to Mr. Wise's house. Mr. Wise was outside waiting for him & showed Polar how to open the door. There were more lights, a desk with paper & pencils, a big chalkboard, books, pictures on the walls, two piles of straw one with a reading light, & a big dish of water. Mr. Wise said; "Polar I hope you like your new home, I added the straw for a chair & bed for you, if you need anything else please ask".

"Gee Mr. Wise this is wonderful thanks," Polar said.

"First we need to test you to find out what you do know so I can see where I need to start you in school. I was told that you can write & do figures, can you use paper & pencils or the chalkboard?"

Polar said, "No, I have never had the chance to do that but I can learn. It can't be that hard." Polar went to get a pencil but found that his paws didn't want to hold it. Polar was sad, but Mr. Wise said, "Don't worry, we can just talk the test, you may never be able to write." The hours passed quickly until finally Mrs. Wise came to the bars & said, "Honey its time for you to go to school, you & Polar have worked hard all night". Mr. Wise said, "Sorry, my love, it seems like it has just been a few minutes. Polar, I will see you this afternoon."

Polar stretched & then took two of the books, sat down on his straw chair & started to read. The books were way too easy & in just a few minutes he had read both. Polar went back to the stack of books & sorted through them until he found a sixth grade textbook. An hour later he was done. Polar got a drink & started to think about the pencil. After numerous tries he found out that if he held the pencil between two of his claws he could write somewhat. Polar carefully got paper & wrote all the alphabet & numbers. Then went to the blackboard & wrote the highlights of the sixth grade textbook from memory.

Polar lay down to take a short nap. He woke to Mr. Wise calling his name. "Polar what is that on the blackboard?" said Mr. Wise.

Polar replied, "The highlights from this book," & handed the book to Mr. Wise. Polar was asked what he knew about numbers. "Add, subtract, multiply, divide & fractions."

Mr. Wise said, "Wow, Polar, you know a lot more than I had even hoped. Do you think if I read you a test & write your answers you could do it?"

Polar with pride said, "No need; hand me the test & I can do it."

A few tests later & Polar was told he would be in the seventh grade. Thus started Polar's formal schooling. By the end of the school year Polar was ready for his junior year in high school. Our wonderful little bear had done great things & was learning at a tremendous rate. Polar had gone to court, got his legal name changed to Polar Barr & obtained citizenship papers. Scientists & famous people from around the world came to meet & study Polar Barr. It was decided that Polar would start high school in North Pole Alaska as a mainstream student.