The Four Friends
Retold by BookBox
Far from any town,
there was a forest,
in which all the animals
and birds
lived together peacefully.
The forest was home
to four
inseparable friends:
a deer,
a tortoise,
a crow and a mouse.
Every evening
they met
to discuss
the events of the day.
the events of the day.
But one day,
the deer became very frightened.
"Hunters are laying traps
everywhere.
Is there anything we can do
to escape?"
"Yes there is," the crow cried out.
"As our friend
the mouse knows!"
The crow began telling everyone
what he had seen.
"Just the other day,
I saw the most amazing thing.
A flock of
doves got trapped
in a hunter's net,
their wings flapping wildly.
their wings flapping wildly.
Then
suddenly,
all together, the doves picked up the net
in their beaks
and flew into the sky.
And where did they go?
Straight to our friend the mouse!
With his sharp teeth,
he tore the net
to pieces.
Free at last,
the doves flew away.
They were very grateful to our friend."
They were very grateful to our friend."
After the story ended,
After the story ended,
the deer went in search of water
while
the three friends started nibbling
on the fruits,
shrubs and leaves of the forest.
shrubs and leaves of the forest.
They chatted late
into the night,
still waiting for the deer to return.
But the deer
was nowhere to be seen,
and the friends began
to worry.
At dawn,
while the others called out to the deer,
the crow flew
in every direction
looking for her.
In a clearing,
he spotted the deer
with her foot
caught in a net.
"Don't worry,"
he told her calmly.
"We'll think of something."
The crow
rushed back to his friends.
The tortoise had an idea:
"Mouse,
hop quickly on
the crow's back."
And they flew off
to rescue the deer.
Without wasting time,
the mouse bit through the net.
Just then,
the anxious tortoise
reached the spot.
"Why did you come here?
If the hunter returns,
you'll never escape!"
the deer exclaimed.
And the hunter
did return!
Hearing his footsteps,
all of them ran away,
but the tortoise
was too slow.
The hunter picked him up
and tied him
to a stick.
"Oh no!
Because of me, poor tortoise
Because of me, poor tortoise
is in trouble,"
said the deer.
Suddenly, the deer leaped up
and ran to the pond
near the path.
She lay down
absolutely still,
while the crow
pecked at her.
When the hunter
dropped the tortoise
and picked up the deer,
the mouse quickly cut the cords
the mouse quickly cut the cords
and released the tortoise.
While the tortoise
slipped into the water,
the deer darted off
and the crow
simply flew away.
The hunter trembled with fear.
He had never
seen an animal come back to life.
seen an animal come back to life.
Thinking that the forest was haunted,
Thinking that the forest was haunted,
he ran for his life.
The four friends
went home
and were happy
to be together again.
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