In the forest, among the herd of deer, was the wise old teacher. He taught all his students the tricks and strategy to survive in the forest. If the students were attentive, they would learn a lot from the teacher.
One day, his youngest sister brought her little fawn to him and asked him to teach him the tricks. The next day, the little fawn joined his class. He was very attentive and friendly too. But he went out to play with his friends only after the class, was over. During the class he sat quietly, listening to everything that the teacher said carefully.
Unfortunately, when all the deer were playing in the forest, the little fawn got caught in a trap. He cried out in pain. The other deer hearing his cry knew there was trouble and so they ran away immediately to tell everyone else.
The fawn’s mother asked the teacher to save her child. The teacher looked at her calmly saying, “Don’t worry. He has been a very attentive student. He has learnt all the tricks. I am sure he will find a way out of the trap.”
In the forest, the little fawn lay in pain, wondering what to do. Then he remembered his teacher who had taught him all the tricks. The fawn thought carefully and decided to use the trick called ‘the dead deer’. He began to prepare himself in order to act as if he were dead.
First, he scraped the ground with his hooves to show that he had struggled to escape. Then he covered himself with his own urine and excrement so that he might seem to have died in agony. The dirt and smell would attract flies and birds of prey too. Then, making his legs stiff and rigid, he turned up his eyes and hung his tongue out. Finally, filling air in his belly, he lay still, breathing only through one nostril.
It was dawn when the hunter came looking for him. By then flies and birds of prey were circling the fawn, ready to attack. The hunter thought the fawn had been dead for long, so he could not eat it. But he decided to skin the fawn and use it. He made a place for skinning the fawn and then opened the trap. In a flash, the fawn was up and running swiftly into the forest, leaving the hunter stunned.
When he reached the teacher, he bowed. The teacher smiled with pride at his attentive student.
