The Boy and the Deer

There was once a young boy who would play the ocarina and play it so well that birds would come and perch nearby and cows and sheep and other animals would stop their grazing to listen and, one day, when he was out in the forest, sitting upon an old tree stump a young red deer, hearing him play a gentle melody came out of the undergrowth to listen and the deer came so close to him that the boy was able to reach out and stroke his head and, before long, the boy and deer had become good friends.

Unfortunately, the boys two older brothers were keen hunters and, when he told them about the deer and how his music had brought it out of the forest, they said,

“Then you will play again tomorrow but this time, when the deer comes out of the forest, we will be there to shoot it”.

The young boy was horrified by the idea of luring his friend the deer to his death and yet he was afraid of disobeying his older brothers and so he did as they said, sitting in the same place in the forest as he had before and playing on his ocarina while they hid with their bows and arrows.

And suddenly, he and his brothers all heard a rustling in the branches nearby and the two older boys took aim with their bows ready to shoot.

But then, to their horror, his two brothers heard a terrible roaring and saw a pride of ferocious lions come out of the forest and, because they were cowards, they turned and ran away leaving their younger brother to face the lions alone.

Of course the young boy was terrified himself and his hands shook so much that he could barely play
and, as the lions approached, he expected them to pounce on him and eat him up but then he heard one of the lions; the largest, say,

“Don’t be afraid. I am the king of the beasts and I’ve heard from all my subjects that you play very well, so I have come to hear you for myself”.

And, so, realizing that the lions meant him no harm; the boy gave a royal command performance for the king and his family and afterwards they all went away saying how much they had enjoyed his playing.

But then, when the lions had gone, the boy saw his friend, the little deer come out of the forest and, reaching out a stroking his head, the boy said,

“I don’t care what my brothers do to me. I will never hurt you, my friend”.