Mouse Deer and Crocodile
One
day, Mouse Deer went down to the river to take a drink. But he knew that the
crocodile might be waiting underwater to eat him, so he said out loud. “I
wonder if the water’s warm. I’ll put in my leg and find out.” Of course Mouse
Deer didn’t put in his leg. He picked up a stick instead and put one end into
the water. Chomp…! Crocodile grabbed the stick and pulled it underwater. Mouse
Deer laughed. “Ha… ha…ha… Stupid crocodile! Cant you tell the difference
between a stick and a leg?” Then Mouse Deer ran off to drink somewhere else.
In
the next day, Mouse Deer wanted to cross the river. He wanted to eat the fruits
on the other side of the river. He saw a floating log in the river. He knew
that Crocodile looked like a log when he floated. Mouse Deer didn’t want to be
eaten by Crocodile when he crosses the river. He had an idea. He called out
loud, “Crocodile!” Crocodile rose from the water, “Hello, Mouse Deer. Have you
come to be my lunch?” Mouse Deer smiled. “Sorry, not today, Crocodile. I have
orders from the King. He wants to invite all the crocodiles in this river to a
party. He wants me to count all the crocodiles so he could prepare enough meal
for you.”
“Really…?
Tell us what to do,” said Crocodile. “You must line up from this side of the
river to the other side,” said Mouse Deer. Crocodile then got all his friends
and family. They lined up across the river. Mouse Deer then jumped onto
Crocodile’s back. “One,” he counted. He jumped onto the next crocodile, “Two.”
And the next crocodile, “Three.” Mouse Deer kept jumping until he arrived on
the other side of the river. “How many are there?” asked Crocodile. “Just
enough,” said Mouse Deer. He laughed as he ran to the forest.***
