Once in a dense forest lived four
friends. The first was Mooshak, a mouse; the second Kak, a crow; the third Mantharak,
a tortoise and the fourth Harini, a doe. The four friends used to meet every
morning sharing jokes and discussing various matters.
One morning, Mooshak, Kak and
Mantharak sat by the lake side waiting for Harini. She was late and they were
getting worried.
Mantharak said, “Dear Kak, it is
very late now, almost noon. Why don’t you fly around and locate Harini. I fear
she is not in some danger?”
Kok promptly took flight and while
flying he spotted Harini trapped in a hunter’s net.
“Oh dear Harini!”, exclaimed Kak,
“Mantharak was right. Here you are trapped in the net while we waited for you.”
“Dear Kak, do find some help and set
me free,” cried Harini.
Kak flew back to his friends and
told of Harini’s plight. After thinking for some time Mantharak said, “Well,
Kak, why not take Mooshak with you? He will gnaw at the hunter’s net and surely
Harini would be free to join us.”
That is right”, agreed Mooshak but
in a grim voice he said. “How can I reach such a long way off quickly before
the hunter’s arrival?”“Dont worry”, said Kak, “for I will carry you on my back.”
So Mooshak hopped on Kak’s back and
Kak flew him to Harini. Mooshak promptly set to cutting the net and soon Harini
was free. By that time Mantharak, the tortoise, had reached the spot crawling
slowly.
Just as the friends embraced each
other joyfully they heard the hunter’s approaching footsteps. Harini hid behind
a. bush, Mooshak jumped into a treehole and Kak flew up to a tree. Mantharak
scrambled towards a rock to hide beneath it.
The hunter saw his damaged net and
exclaimed, “Oh the doe has escaped and my net is torn too. Oh ! what is this—a
fat turtle—better take this than the doe for at least I will not be hungry.”
Thus, the hunter picked up the
slow-moving tortoise and put it in his bag. Now Mooshak, Kak and Harini were
worried about setting Mantharak free. They quickly made a plan. .
At a distance, the hunter again
spotted Harini chewing on lush green. He thought, “What luck ! A tortoise and
the deer too for dinner tonight.” So saying he dropped his bag and went to
catch Harini. But Harini was a fast runner and she led him far away.
Meanwhile, Mooshak cut open the
hunter’s bag and Mantharak was set free. As soon as Mantharak was safely hidden
beneath a rock and Mooshak was in the tree-hole, Kak flew to Harini.
Harini bound away fast and the
hunter, tired as he was decided to return to his small catch, the tortoise.
But was ! when he returned he found
no tortoise and he had no doe for dinner either.
Moral
True friends are cherished
treasures.- Author Unknown
Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
