Deep in a forest lived an antelope. He wandered around looking for food. He had found a tree with very sweet fruit on it. He waited for the fruit to fall and ate it with great relish. Every day he would come there to eat the fruit.
A hunter who came to the forest saw that the deer would often eat the fallen fruits. So, he prepared a loop with a rope and hung it on that fruit tree. When unwary deer came to pick the fruit, they would be caught in the trap which the hunter would tighten sitting on the tree. One day, he saw that the antelope as usual was coming to the tree. So, he set a trap for him and climbed into the tree to wait.
That day, the antelope came along to his favourite tree to eat. But the antelope was a careful creature. He looked around and sniffed the air. He could not see either the rope or the hunter. But he was puzzled because all the fruit lay on the ground. No other animal seemed to have eaten it. There was neither any squirrel nor any bird.
“Something is wrong,” he thought. He waited. Then suddenly, a fruit came whizzing towards him from the tree. The hunter, hiding in the branch above, had become impatient. He had decided to lure the antelope with the fruit, so he had thrown a fruit towards him. As the antelope was a clever fellow, he knew that trees do not fling their fruits; the fruits usually fall straight down to the ground below the tree.
He looked cautiously at the tree and saw the hunter hiding among the branches. “Ah! There is the hunter who flung the fruit at me!” he thought.
He decided to have some fun. “Dear tree,” he called out, “It is so kind of you to give me your fruit. But I know fruits fall straight down. Since you have changed your habits, I think I too should change mine. I’ll find another tree. Goodbye!”
The hunter was furious and very foolishly called out, “I’ll catch you one day! We’ll see how clever you are!”
The deer laughed as he turned away. “Well, I have seen your intelligence now! You think only by killing innocent things you can prove that you are bright. It takes a lot of wisdom to live in harmony with all creatures. That is something you human beings must learn, my friend!” said the antelope. Swiftly, he vanished into the thick undergrowth of the forest.
