The Bear and the Gardener in this case keeping the flies off a friend, and the ultimate good of safeguarding his welfare. The story gained currency in England from the 18th century on through translations or imitations of La Fontaine. One of its earliest appearances was in Robert Dodsley's "Select fables of Esop and other fabulists" (1764), where it is given the title "The Hermit and the Bear" and a milder ending. In this version a hermit has done the bear a good turn; later still this was identified with taking a thorn from its paw, drawing on the story of Androcles and the Lion.
Paw Paw Tunnel Paw Paw Tunnel can be easily explored with a flashlight, as the towpath is still intact. Trekkers can return via the tunnel, or hike back over the Tunnel Hill Trail. This passes interpretive markers about the German and Irish workers who lived along the path during the tunnel's construction. A rockslide in January 2013 closed the trail east of the tunnel for four months, so the tunnel could not be reached from the east side. It reopened on April 17, 2013. The NPS started a two phase construction project to fix the scaling of rock on the downstream tunnel approach