Two travelers who meet a bear

Two travelers were on the road together, when a bear suddenly appeared on the scene. Before he observed them, one made for a tree, and climbed up into the branches and hid there. The other could not escape, so he threw himself on the ground and pretended to be dead. The bear came up and sniffed all around him, but he kept perfectly still and held his breath; for they say that a bear will not touch a dead body. The bear took him for a corpse and went away. When the coast was clear, the traveler in the tree came down, and asked the other what it was the bear had whispered to him when he put his mouth to his ear. The other replied,” He told me to never again travel with a friend who deserts you at the first sign of danger.” (The Book of Virtues by Wm. J. Bennett).