# The Trials Of The Black Forest

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 19 Jan 2026, 18 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/69438655/at462_thetrialsoftheblackforest_mixdown.mp3

A Highland cow learns why they're always meeting adventurers, knights and heroes. Written especially for this podcast by Alice. If you enjoyed this story, please do leave us a review. And, if you'd like to suggest an animal for a future Animal Tales story, you can do so by emailing podcast@animaltales.uk. We would love to hear from you. Animal Tales Books! Collections of Animal Tales children’s stories are available to buy exclusively at Amazon. Simply search for Animal Tales Short Stories or follow this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJQZ9C9?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi Become a PREMIUM Subscriber You can now enjoy Animal Tales by becoming a Premium Subscriber. This gets you: • All episodes in our catalogue advert free • Bonus Premium-only episodes (one per week) which will never be used on the main podcast • We guarantee to use one of your animal suggestions in a story You can sign up through Apple Podcasts or through Supercast and there are both monthly and yearly plans available. Discover a brand new story every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – just for you! You can find more Animal Tales at www.animaltales.uk A Note About The Adverts In order to allow us to make these stories we offer a premium subscription and run adverts. The adverts are not chosen by us, but played automatically depending on the platform you listen through (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and the country you live in. The adverts may even be different if you listen to the story twice. We have had a handful of instances where an advert has played that is not suitable for a family audience, despite the podcast clearly being labelled for children. If you’re concerned about an advert you hear, please contact the platform you are listening to directly. Spotify, in particular, has proven problematic in the past, for both inappropriate adverts and the volume at which the adverts play. If you find this happening, please let Spotify know via their Facebook customer care page. As creators, we want your child’s experience to be a pleasurable one. Running adverts is necessary to allow us to operate, but please do consider the premium subscription service as an alternative – it’s advert free.

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Hell yeah, Hello. My name's Josephine and this is the
[0:17] Speaker 1: Animal Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in
[0:21] Speaker 1: our stories. There are new tales to enjoy every Monday
[0:25] Speaker 1: and Wednesday, with a third premium only story every Friday.
[0:30] Speaker 1: Please continue to share Animal Tales with your friends and
[0:34] Speaker 1: leave us reviews where you can. Sebastian is from Congleton
[0:39] Speaker 1: in the UK and he is asked for a story
[0:42] Speaker 1: featuring a highland cow, a sloth bear, and an otter.
[0:47] Speaker 1: You can learn more about these creatures in the animal
[0:49] Speaker 1: facts after the story. Okay, are you ready? That's good,
[0:55] Speaker 1: then I'll begin the trials of the Black Forest. For Sebasti,
[1:03] Speaker 1: most days were much the same. The highland cow would
[1:07] Speaker 1: graze in his field. He would stand by the fence.
[1:11] Speaker 1: He would watch the world go by. It was peaceful,
[1:15] Speaker 1: but it was also lonesome. Sebastian's field was on the
[1:19] Speaker 1: edge of the wasteland, a vast barren area of dry
[1:23] Speaker 1: dust and rock, almost entirely empty of plant life. Not
[1:28] Speaker 1: even the birds and insects liked to go there. Any
[1:32] Speaker 1: trees were long dead, dotting the landscape with their pale
[1:36] Speaker 1: white limbs. A small handful of animals did live out
[1:41] Speaker 1: there somewhere, but they were dangerous and nasty. For some reason,
[1:47] Speaker 1: humans kept wanting to enter the wasteland. It was always
[1:52] Speaker 1: the same sort of people, knights, indented armor, warriors with
[1:57] Speaker 1: sharpened swords, here with bows and hooded cloaks. These adventurers
[2:04] Speaker 1: would come to the wasteland with hopes to cross it,
[2:08] Speaker 1: and for some reason they always wanted Sebastian's help. They
[2:13] Speaker 1: wouldn't ask, of course. Instead they would enter his field,
[2:19] Speaker 1: catch him with a rope, then ride into the wasteland
[2:22] Speaker 1: while sat upon his back. This was frustrating for Sebastian,
[2:28] Speaker 1: although once the adventurer reached the dark forest beyond the wasteland,
[2:33] Speaker 1: they would set him free to wander home again. The
[2:37] Speaker 1: Highland cow had done this so many times that he
[2:40] Speaker 1: knew the wastelands very well, every dead tree, hidden pit
[2:46] Speaker 1: and pool of quicksand he knew the best trails to
[2:51] Speaker 1: follow and the worst. Even so, he always let the
[2:56] Speaker 1: adventurers choose the way. Just because they had caught him
[3:01] Speaker 1: didn't mean he needed to make life easier for them.
[3:05] Speaker 1: To day had been one of those days, meaning Sebastian
[3:09] Speaker 1: was again walking the wasteland with a new adventurer on
[3:13] Speaker 1: his shaggy back. She was grasping his fur tightly as
[3:18] Speaker 1: they neared the edges of the dark Forest. Have you
[3:22] Speaker 1: done this before? Asked the adventurer out of the blue.
[3:27] Speaker 1: Sebastian was taken aback. No adventurer had ever spoken to
[3:32] Speaker 1: him before. Quite a lot, actually, he replied, Why do
[3:38] Speaker 1: you ask? This seems to be quite a simple trial.
[3:43] Speaker 1: She continued, I understand that most people are able to
[3:47] Speaker 1: complete it trial. Sebastian repeated, what do you mean the
[3:55] Speaker 1: three trials of the Black Forest, The adventurer said, as
[4:00] Speaker 1: if it was obvious, pointing to the tree line ahead
[4:03] Speaker 1: of them. Any adventurer who can complete the three trials
[4:08] Speaker 1: is granted a wish by the Wizard of the Woods.
[4:11] Speaker 1: At least that's how the story goes. This was all
[4:16] Speaker 1: news to Sebastian. What exactly does this first trial require?
[4:22] Speaker 1: He asked? Catch the bull of the barren land, that's you,
[4:28] Speaker 1: she said, helpfully, and ride you across the waste land
[4:32] Speaker 1: before nightfall. Well I never knew that all this time
[4:39] Speaker 1: I've been a starring role in a trial, said the
[4:42] Speaker 1: amazed Highland cow. What did the other two involve? The
[4:49] Speaker 1: woman was happy to explain. The second trial is to
[4:53] Speaker 1: navigate the caves of the beast without getting caught, and
[4:58] Speaker 1: the third is to outsmart the river guardian by crossing
[5:02] Speaker 1: the river. When all that's done, you get to meet
[5:05] Speaker 1: the wizard for your wish, apparently, and you're going to
[5:11] Speaker 1: try to do this, Sebastian asked. Oh, yes, only the
[5:16] Speaker 1: bravest can complete all three, the adventurer said, as they
[5:21] Speaker 1: neared the trees. Supposedly, not everyone makes it, but I'm
[5:27] Speaker 1: going to just you wait, I'm going to wish for
[5:31] Speaker 1: treasure beyond my wildest dreams. Sebastian rounded a fallen tree
[5:38] Speaker 1: to stop at the very edge of the wasteland, allowing
[5:41] Speaker 1: the adventurer to slip down from his back. Thanks for
[5:45] Speaker 1: your help, she said, you can go home now, and
[5:50] Speaker 1: so Sebastian walked home. It occurs to me, thought Sebastian
[5:57] Speaker 1: as he walked that, despite being cow, I have successfully
[6:02] Speaker 1: completed the first trial more times than I can count,
[6:07] Speaker 1: and that makes me wonder if I shouldn't have a
[6:09] Speaker 1: go at the other two. He was still thinking about
[6:13] Speaker 1: it when he got back to his field, and again
[6:17] Speaker 1: when he woke up the next morning. I'm going to
[6:20] Speaker 1: give it a try, he decided at last, and so
[6:25] Speaker 1: back out into the waste land he went. The first
[6:29] Speaker 1: trial for him, at least, was easy. He reached the
[6:33] Speaker 1: tree line in record time, then stopped as he considered
[6:38] Speaker 1: his next step. I can do this, said the Highland cow, positively,
[6:45] Speaker 1: taking a deep breath. Sebastian walked beneath the trees. Unsurprisingly,
[6:52] Speaker 1: the black forest was dark, although Sebastian was able to
[6:56] Speaker 1: follow a path worn down by years of adventurers feet.
[7:01] Speaker 1: He followed this until the trees parted, revealing a gaping
[7:05] Speaker 1: cave in a wall of rock. This was trial too
[7:11] Speaker 1: navigate the caves of the beast. He had to do
[7:15] Speaker 1: so without getting caught. Immediately, the Highland cow identified a problem.
[7:22] Speaker 1: There was an animal asleep just inside the mouth of
[7:25] Speaker 1: the cave. Could this be the beast? If so, it
[7:30] Speaker 1: seemed unlikely he could sneak past without being noticed. He'd
[7:35] Speaker 1: fail instantly. The beast appeared to be some kind of
[7:40] Speaker 1: shaggy black bear. Sebastian had no desire to fight a bear,
[7:46] Speaker 1: and he was too big to sneak around. He would
[7:49] Speaker 1: need to find another way. Sebastian, being a smart and
[7:55] Speaker 1: thoughtful cow searched the surrounding area for a solution, eventually
[8:01] Speaker 1: coming across a bees nest suspended from a low branch.
[8:06] Speaker 1: Hoping his thick, shaggy coat would protect him from any
[8:09] Speaker 1: angry bees, he knocked the nest to the floor with
[8:13] Speaker 1: his horns, then rolled it to where the bear slept.
[8:18] Speaker 1: What's going on, griped the bear as she stirred, what
[8:23] Speaker 1: are you doing? I would like safe passage through the
[8:28] Speaker 1: caves in return for the honey in this bee's nest.
[8:32] Speaker 1: Sebastian replied, as sloth bears do like a bit of honey,
[8:39] Speaker 1: said the bear, with a lick of her lips. But
[8:42] Speaker 1: why would a cow want passage through the caves? I'm
[8:47] Speaker 1: trying to complete the trials, explained Sebastian. What trials, asked
[8:54] Speaker 1: the sloth bear as she licked up some of the
[8:56] Speaker 1: escaping honey. So Sebastistian explained everything. Do you mean to
[9:04] Speaker 1: tell me that all those people have been stomping through
[9:07] Speaker 1: my home on some kind of quest? Said the slothbaar angrily,
[9:13] Speaker 1: without so much as I please or a thank you?
[9:17] Speaker 1: I should complain to some one, then come with me,
[9:22] Speaker 1: Sebastian suggested, you could mention it to the wizard and
[9:26] Speaker 1: asked him to change the second trial to something else
[9:31] Speaker 1: good idea. The sloth bear agreed, wait there while I
[9:36] Speaker 1: finished this delicious honey. Once done, the sloth bear led
[9:42] Speaker 1: the way, meaning Sebastian successfully navigated the caves faster than
[9:47] Speaker 1: any one had ever done before. He'd now completed the
[9:51] Speaker 1: second trial. They exited the caves in a part of
[9:56] Speaker 1: the forest where the trees grew less thickly. Continue along
[10:00] Speaker 1: the ancient path, Sebastian could soon hear rushing water ahead.
[10:07] Speaker 1: It was a river cutting through the forest. It was
[10:10] Speaker 1: a deep, fast moving obstacle with no obvious way to cross.
[10:16] Speaker 1: The path appeared to continue on the far bank, but
[10:20] Speaker 1: it was too wide to jump and the water too
[10:23] Speaker 1: fast to swim. This is the third trial, explained the
[10:28] Speaker 1: highland cow, out smart the river guardian. Somehow we have
[10:34] Speaker 1: to cross over. I don't see a river guardian, said
[10:39] Speaker 1: the sloth bear as she looked about. As she spoke,
[10:44] Speaker 1: a sleek, brown animal climbed onto the bank before them.
[10:49] Speaker 1: It was a river otter, and he eyed them with suspicion.
[10:54] Speaker 1: Are you the river guardian? Sebastian asked, I am replied
[11:00] Speaker 1: the otter. For a moment, I thought you were more adventurers.
[11:05] Speaker 1: They're always bothering me. Ah, yes, about that, said Sebastian, cautiously.
[11:14] Speaker 1: Have you heard about the three trials before? Of course,
[11:18] Speaker 1: I have, said the otter, surprising them both. They don't
[11:23] Speaker 1: call me the River Guardian for nothing, you know. I
[11:27] Speaker 1: ask each adventurer three riddles, and each one they get
[11:31] Speaker 1: right lifts a stepping stone out of the river's depths.
[11:35] Speaker 1: If they get them all right, they can cross. If
[11:39] Speaker 1: they get just one wrong, they get washed away, and
[11:43] Speaker 1: I win. Fancy that, cried the sloth bear. You seem
[11:49] Speaker 1: to know all about it, whereas this cow and myself
[11:53] Speaker 1: have been included without anyone bothering to ask. It's why
[11:58] Speaker 1: we're going to complete the trials and talk to the Wizard,
[12:02] Speaker 1: Sebastian explained to the otter. Talk to the Wizard, repeated
[12:08] Speaker 1: the otter. I don't want to miss out on that,
[12:12] Speaker 1: not if the two of you from the other trials
[12:15] Speaker 1: are getting to go, I'll come along if you don't mind.
[12:20] Speaker 1: And to show willing, he flicked his tail and the
[12:23] Speaker 1: row of stepping stones emerged, allowing them to cross safely.
[12:29] Speaker 1: Once across. Sebastian took a moment to look back. He'd
[12:34] Speaker 1: somehow completed all three trials, although not in the way
[12:38] Speaker 1: he was supposed to, no doubt. Nonetheless, all they had
[12:43] Speaker 1: to do now was find the wizard. The path sloped
[12:47] Speaker 1: upwards through the trees, taking them on a long walk
[12:51] Speaker 1: to the top of a hill. Here they found a
[12:54] Speaker 1: large circle of tall, ancient standing stones. Is this where
[13:00] Speaker 1: we'll find the wizard, asked the sloth bear. I've no idea,
[13:06] Speaker 1: confessed Sebastian, before calling out a hello. There was a rumble,
[13:12] Speaker 1: The sky darkened and lightning flashed as a man in
[13:17] Speaker 1: long green robes and a pointy hat appeared in the
[13:21] Speaker 1: middle of the circle. Greetings, adventurers, the Wizard of the
[13:27] Speaker 1: Woods said, in a booming voice. You have passed the
[13:31] Speaker 1: three trials of the Black Forest, and now hang on
[13:36] Speaker 1: a minute. You're not adventurers, You're a bunch of animals.
[13:42] Speaker 1: The dramatic clouds faded to let the sun through again,
[13:46] Speaker 1: leaving the Wizard looking disappointed. He'd wasted his dramatic entrance
[13:51] Speaker 1: on a highland cow, a sloth bear, and an otter.
[13:57] Speaker 1: But we did complete the trials. Sebastian said, fair and square,
[14:02] Speaker 1: sort of, So we'd like our wishes, please, The sloth
[14:07] Speaker 1: bear demanded. Wait a moment, the Wizard said, his eyes narrowing.
[14:15] Speaker 1: You three are part of the trials, we are, admitted
[14:21] Speaker 1: the Highland Cow. But at least two of us weren't
[14:24] Speaker 1: even aware we were until to day. I did, said
[14:29] Speaker 1: the otter, raising a paw. Oh yes, said the wizard,
[14:35] Speaker 1: looking guilty. I uh, I apologize, So I suppose I
[14:40] Speaker 1: should perhaps grant you each your wish. I wish that
[14:45] Speaker 1: the second trial is changed so it leaves me in peace,
[14:50] Speaker 1: the sloth bear said. The Wizard nodded, granted. He said,
[14:58] Speaker 1: I wish to write my own riddle instead of using
[15:01] Speaker 1: the ones you gave me, said the otter. The Wizard nodded, granted,
[15:08] Speaker 1: he said, and what would the cow like? Sebastian shifted
[15:14] Speaker 1: uncomfortably under everyone's gaze. Um, I'm not sure, he admitted.
[15:22] Speaker 1: I don't really want anything. I just wanted to see
[15:25] Speaker 1: what this was all about. Well, now that you do,
[15:30] Speaker 1: does it change anything, the wizard asked. Sebastian thought about it,
[15:37] Speaker 1: about how the otter wanted a change and the sloth
[15:40] Speaker 1: bear wanted peace, and made his decision. It was two
[15:46] Speaker 1: weeks later when the next adventurer reached the edge of
[15:49] Speaker 1: the wasteland. Once upon a time he'd have had to
[15:54] Speaker 1: enter Sebastian's field and capture him with a rope, but
[15:58] Speaker 1: this time things were different. Sebastian was waiting for him,
[16:03] Speaker 1: his long horned head poking out of a small information booth.
[16:09] Speaker 1: Good morning, said Sebastian. I'm here to help you cross
[16:13] Speaker 1: the barren lands. Am I supposed to ride you? The
[16:18] Speaker 1: adventurer asked, Oh no. Sebastian replied, I'll be staying right
[16:25] Speaker 1: here in my field where the grass is green. So
[16:31] Speaker 1: how do you help? Asked the adventurer. I've got maps
[16:36] Speaker 1: showing the safest route, smiled the Highland cow. Would you
[16:42] Speaker 1: like to buy one? Animal facts? Highland cows have impressive horns, which,
[16:52] Speaker 1: in their native Scotland, are an excellent tool for clearing
[16:56] Speaker 1: snow to reveal the plants underneath. Female cows have thinner
[17:01] Speaker 1: horns with a more obvious upward curve. Sloth bears feed
[17:06] Speaker 1: mainly on ants and termites, and have unusually long lower lips,
[17:11] Speaker 1: which allow them to suck up the insects. They're also
[17:15] Speaker 1: partial to a bit of fruit as well. Potters feed
[17:20] Speaker 1: mostly on fish, but they'll also eat frogs and other amphibians.
[17:25] Speaker 1: Crustaceans such as crayfish and shellfish such as clams. Worms,
[17:32] Speaker 1: insects and eggs also form part of their diet, and
[17:36] Speaker 1: they have even been known to take the young of beavers.
[17:40] Speaker 1: Thank you for your suggestion, Sebastian. We hope you enjoyed
[17:44] Speaker 1: the tale, and thank you to all of you across
[17:47] Speaker 1: the world for listening to it. If you prefer your
[17:50] Speaker 1: story's advert free, then please consider our premium service through
[17:55] Speaker 1: Apple or supercarst find out how in the text that
[17:59] Speaker 1: accompanies this episode. For a tiny fee, it's advert free.
[18:05] Speaker 1: Join us next time for another great animal tale. Good Bye,

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.