Pyrénée, cover art
by Philippe Sternis
Pyrénée is a French graphic novel (bande dessinée) written by Régis Loisel and drawn by Philippe Sternis.
Warning: Spoilers follow
The story is about a girl who is raised in the remote Pyrenees by a bear. The bear finds her as a newly-orphaned infant after escaping from a circus during an earthquake which has also killed her mother. Some paternal instinct causes him to take the girl and raise her as his own cub in the mountains where she learns to talk to animals like a female version of Mowgli. Also like Kipling's original Mowgli (as opposed to adapted versions) she is naked and unashamed. This has caused a few raised eyebrows, although Sternis insists that the nudity is tasteful.
The main part of the story takes place when Pyrénée is about 12 years old. At first her life with the bear seems quite idyllic. The bear explains that he named her after the mountain range; she wonders if that might not be confusing. They watch a thunderstorm together. The bear hates lightning, but Pyrénée finds it exhilarating. She picks flowers, which the bear considers wasteful, but she reminds him that he tramples flowers just as wastefully when he walks. Back at their cave, their neighbour the fox brings them a rabbit for dinner. Pyrénée asks him to bring her a boar next time.
Life in the wild is not all fun and games. Shortly afterward Pyrénée is badly stung by bees while trying to gather honey for the bear and swears she'll never do that again. Later, after rolling in some soothing herbs, she happens to sit on an anthill. And after this busy day she still has nothing to eat but rabbit.
Next day Pyrénée disturbs the bear while he is trying to catch salmon, and asks if she can have some. The bear "patiently" suggests she try catching her own.
While trying (and failing) to catch fish with her bare hands, Pyrénée notices something in the river. It is a glass bottle - apart from her teddy bear and the bear's collar, the first man-made artifact she has seen. The bear doesn't see the use of it, but she soon discovers that she can use it to carry water and make music by blowing over the top. She is so preoccupied with her new toy that at first she doesn't notice that the bear has also found a new interest.
Meanwhile the fox brings Pyrénée a mole (claiming that it is a baby boar), and tells her he has heard the call of nature and become a father. Pyrénée doesn't understand, but he tells her she will in time.
Noticing that the bear has become distracted, Pyrénée asks him what's wrong. He tells her he is in love with a female bear. Pyrénée is devastated, thinking that he does not love her any more. He protests that he does, just not in the same way. When he tries to explain that he has to mate and have cubs, Pyrénée demands to know why he can't have cubs with her. He tries to explain but does not have the words to describe the difference between them. Pyrénée becomes so frustrated that she smashes her bottle, then cuts her hand on the shards.
Next morning the bear wakes to discover that Pyrénée has fastened the collar about his neck. She thinks that if she holds his chain she can keep him with her, but he is so enraged at being treated like a captive once more that he comes close to killing her, only managing to restrain himself at the last moment. Sobered by the incident, Pyrénée removes the bear's collar and they sit together in silence.
The bear suggests that while he is otherwise occupied, Pyrénée should visit "The Ancient", who will be able to answer her questions about what she is. After a long and difficult climb, Pyrénée finds only a blind old eagle who lives in a cave behind a waterfall. The cave contains a number of strange objects which the eagle tells her once belonged to The Ancient.
Later, the eagle shows Pyrénée a weathered skeleton and tells that it was one of her own kind - a man. It then dawns on her that the man was in fact the Ancient, and that he has been dead for some years.
this article is incomplete and needs trimming; more to follow shortly
See also: Feral children in mythology and fiction
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