One warm day a Deer went down to a brook to get a drink. The stream
was smooth and clear, and he could see himself in the water. He looked
at his horns and was very proud of them, for they were large and long
and had many branches, but when he saw his feet he was ashamed to own
them, they were so slim and small.
While he stood knee-deep in the water, and was thinking only of his
fine horns, a Lion saw him and came leaping out from the tall grass to
get him. The Deer would have been caught at once if he had not jumped
quickly out of the brook. He ran as fast as he could, and his feet
were so light and swift that he soon left the Lion far behind. But by
and by he had to pass through some woods, and, as he was running, his
horns were caught in some vines that grew among the trees. Before he
could get loose the Lion was upon him.
"Ah me!" cried the Deer, "the things which pleased me most will now
cause my death; while the things which I thought so mean and poor would
have carried me safe out of danger."