A giant bear had been terrorizing the primitive, Third World village for several months now, marauding for food on a nightly basis and mauling any person who dared stand in its way. The townspeople grew weary and finally had enough of this continuous torment; they arranged a communal powwow, and from this freewheeling confab an ingenious solution was hatched. Which was? Well, just outside the village on the route the monstrous bear religiously followed during its pillaging missions, the menfolk of the village dug a massive hole in the ground approximately twenty feet deep, or just shallow enough to avoid the subterranean water table. After completing this arduous task, the men of the hamlet next dragged fallen trees and fallen branches and anything else that would burn up to the hole and pitched the flammable stuff into the huge depression in the ground. Finally, these same men lit the humongous pile of brush in the hole on fire and allowed the debris to burn for several days thereafter. The end result of this peculiar activity? When the fire was ultimately done burning, a mammoth pile of ashes was left standing at the very bottom of the hole. Well, as it turns out that very evening the villainous bear came wandering along the well-worn trail on its way to the village to do some marauding and, as it approached the gigantic hole in the ground, curiosity naturally got the best of our massive beast. It walked right up to the lip of the hole and peered straight down at the enormous depression carved into the soil. Big mistake, Bruin!!! Because at that exact moment a brave villager–the guy had been selected beforehand in a democratic show of hands–snuck up behind the troublesome bear and gave it a swift kick in the ash-hole!
Fred's Soapbox 