Once upon a time in a jungle, there lived four friends – a deer, a mouse, a crow and a tortoise. They were very good friends and would spend most of their time with one another.
One day, they saw a hunter approaching the clearing where they stayed. Quickly, the deer ran away into the trees, the crow flew to the highest branch of the closest tree and the mouse darted into a hole nearby. The turtle, being a slow creature, could not escape as fast as the others. The hunter trapped him in his net. Though the hunter was disappointed on not being able to catch the deer, he was happy that he had the tortoise and would not go hungry.
The deer, the mouse and the crow were very worried to see their friend caught. They came up with a plan to save him.
The crow flew high up in the sky to locate the hunter. Then, the deer overtook the hunter, unseen, and went and lay at a little distance on the path, pretending to be dead. When the hunter saw the deer lying on the ground, he thought the deer must be dead. He was very happy at having found a deer finally. He dropped the bag carrying the tortoise and went towards the deer. As soon as the hunter left the tortoise’s side, the mouse cut through the net of the bag and freed the tortoise.
The hunter, unaware of what the mouse had done, walked towards the deer. As soon as he came near the deer, it suddenly got up and bolted into the forest. The hunter was completely taken by surprise.
Disappointed, the hunter went back to pick up the bag containing the tortoise. But surprise! The bag was open and the tortoise was gone.
Shaking his head at his bad luck, the hunter went back home. The four friends lived together.
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