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.
The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years a religious, rapid-talking gossip-bearer. Luke turns from a drunken womaniser who hangs around his mates all day to a loner who lives by himself on a farm. Father Ralph offers to leave the church and marry Meggie, something that he never implied in the original. She finally gets the love she was hungering for, and Father Ralph breaks his vow of chastity. Meggie has two surviving brothers in the original: Jack and Bob, while in the "Missing Years" Frank and Jack are mentioned. The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years is a CBS miniseries that