One day, Mouse Deer went down to the river to take a drink. But he
knew that the crocodile might be waiting underwater to eat him, so he
said out loud. “I wonder if the water’s warm. I’ll put in my leg and
find out.” Of course Mouse Deer didn’t put in his leg. He picked up a
stick instead and put one end into the water. Chomp…! Crocodile grabbed
the stick and pulled it underwater. Mouse Deer laughed. “Ha… ha…ha…
Stupid crocodile! Cant you tell the difference between a stick and a
leg?” Then Mouse Deer ran off to drink somewhere else.
In the next
day, Mouse Deer wanted to cross the river. He wanted to eat the fruits
on the other side of the river. He saw a floating log in the river. He
knew that Crocodile looked like a log when he floated. Mouse Deer didn’t
want to be eaten by Crocodile when he crosses the river. He had an
idea. He called out loud, “Crocodile!” Crocodile rose from the water,
“Hello, Mouse Deer. Have you come to be my lunch?” Mouse Deer smiled.
“Sorry, not today, Crocodile. I have orders from the King. He wants to
invite all the crocodiles in this river to a party. He wants me to count
all the crocodiles so he could prepare enough meal for you.”
“Really…?
Tell us what to do,” said Crocodile. “You must line up from this side
of the river to the other side,” said Mouse Deer. Crocodile then got all
his friends and family. They lined up across the river. Mouse Deer then
jumped onto Crocodile’s back. “One,” he counted. He jumped onto the
next crocodile, “Two.” And the next crocodile, “Three.” Mouse Deer kept
jumping until he arrived on the other side of the river. “How many are
there?” asked Crocodile. “Just enough,” said Mouse Deer. He laughed as
he ran to the forest.