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! Can’t 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
