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. The hunter saw the deer and rubbed his hands in glee, “Today I will be catch this deer, and take it home! It’s meat will last me for days, and I can even sell its beautiful hide in the market for a good price!” So saying, the hunter pulled out his bow and arrow, and shot an arrow towards the deer. But the arrow missed its mark.

Seeing the hunter with his bow and arrow, 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.

BUT!

The tortoise, being a slow creature, could not escape as fast as the others. The hunter thought, “Tortoise meat might taste as good too!” and quickly 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. He heaved the bag containing the tortoise and set off towards his hut.

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 ahead on the path, pretending to be dead. When the hunter saw the deer lying on the ground, he thought, “My arrow did hit the deer after all! The deer must have died while running away.”

He was very happy with his success. He dropped the bag carrying the tortoise and started 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. 

“Today is an unlucky day. I lost both the deer and the tortoise. It is best that I go back home.” Shaking his head at his bad luck, the hunter went back home.

The four friends were back together and happily lived after that.

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