An old stag lived in a big forest. The forest was very big and provided for all the animals. The stag stayed on top of a small hillock. The hillock was always covered with tender, green grass. The stag was very happy as he always had plenty of green grass to eat.
The stag was always kind to other animals and so all of them loved and respected him. Every morning, after eating his breakfast, he would roam in the jungle and meet all his friends.
One day he fell very ill and it became difficult for him to even move. He somehow managed to drag himself to a safe place which had a thick cover of tender grass and some rocks to provide shelter. Every day, he would eat a little grass around him, enough to give him strength to recover.
The stag could now no longer meet his friends as he was very weak. Knowing this, the other animals started visiting him from time to time. They all wished him speedy recovery and a healthy life. But before leaving, many of them would eat the fresh grass growing all around the hillock. They had never eaten such tender grass before.
The word soon spread that the grass on the hillock is better than the one found elsewhere in the forest. Many animals started visiting the stag more frequently to find out about his health. But their real motive was to have a feast on the hillock.
The stag recovered a little from his illness but was disheartened to see that the hillock had lost its green cover. The incessant grazing by the animals had made it barren!
He was still too weak to move to any other place in search of food and shelter. His old age made it all the more difficult for him to move and the stag thus perished. The insensitivity of his so-called well-wishers became the reason for his death.
No animal ever visited the hillock after the stag’s death.
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