THE LEOPARD AND THE DEER
THE LEOPARD AND THE DEER
A Short Moral Story.
One day, a pregnant and lazy deer went to a leopard and said to her.
“Oh leopard, I will be due to give birth in a few days, but I’m too lazy to do it by myself. I really need your assistance on that day. You will be with me constantly when I’m actively pushing and you will press on my stomach and gently pull out my babies. And when my babies fully emerged, you will clean them up and gently massage them with your tongue. By then, I’ll be too weak to walk, so you’re going to find me some fresh green grass and some guava leaves to eat in order to get back my strength”.
The leopard asked.
“What will be my reward when I do all that for you?”.
The deer responded.
“I have three pieces of gold. I promise to give you one piece of gold for your service”.
Upon hearing that, the leopard whistled.
“I am more than willing to do the job”.
A few days later, the pregnant deer went into labour, and with the assistance of the leopard, she became a mother of two healthy fawns. The leopard cleaned and massaged the fawns, and then brought food for the mother deer to eat. After which she said.
“Okay, healthy mother, can I get the piece of gold now?”.
The deer bleated.
“Not yet. I still need you around to do a few things for me. I spend so much time sleeping, so you’ll be watching and protecting my newborn fawns from predators. You will also take them around the meadow and search for food. You will let them chew and swallow their first clover flowers until they are about ten days old”.
The leopard grunted.
“Isn’t that a lot of work? By the way, what do I get in return for all my services?”.
The deer exclaimed.
“Two pieces of gold!”.
The leopard agreed at once. She watched over the fawns every minute, and she took them around the meadow for them to eat every morning and evening. Later on, she met the mother deer and asked.
“Could you give me the two pieces of gold now?”.
The deer said.
“Oh, almost. Just a few more things you need to do and you’re done. I need you to take my fawns to the field everyday and teach them how to run and jump, until they become good at it. And then, you’ll take them to the river for a few weeks and teach them how to drink water and have their bath. Don’t worry about your reward, I’ll give you all my pieces of gold. Three pieces of gold!”.
The leopard would want to finish what she had begun, so she didn’t debate about it. After weeks of training the fawns on how to run and jump, and then bathe in the river, she met the mother deer and asked for her reward. However, the deer said.
“I’m so sorry, but I’ve got no gold for you. My three pieces of gold are so precious to me and I just can’t give them to you”.
The leopard became so angry that he pounced on the deer, killing her with a single bite and began eating her flesh. As she drank her blood and cracked her bones, she said to herself.
“I never knew that deers could taste so nice. Henceforth, deers would be my favourite meal. Your flesh would be my reward for all my services to you. I will always wander about the forest, hunting deers”.
MORAL LESSON: Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.