The Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer

Once upon a time, a Deer lived in a forest near a lake. Not far from the same lake, a Woodpecker had a nest in the top of a tree, and in the lake lived a Turtle. The three were friends and lived together happily.

One day, a hunter wandering through the woods saw the Deer's footprints near the edge of the lake. "I must catch the Deer when he goes down to drink," the hunter said. He set a strong leather trap and went away.

That night, when the Deer went to drink, he was caught in the trap. He cried out in distress. Immediately, the Woodpecker flew down from her treetop, and the Turtle came out of the water to see what they could do.

"Friend Turtle," said the Woodpecker, "you have teeth; gnaw through the leather trap. I will fly to the hunter's house and keep him away. If we both do our best, our friend will not lose his life."

So the Turtle began to chew the leather, and the Woodpecker flew to the hunter's house.

At dawn, the hunter came, knife in hand, to the front door of his house.

The Woodpecker, flapping her wings, flew at the hunter and struck him in the face.

The hunter turned back into the house and lay down for a little while. Then he rose again, took his knife, and said to himself, "When I went out the front door, a bird flew in my face. Now I will go out the back door." So he did.

The Woodpecker thought, "The hunter went out the front door before, so now he will leave by the back door." So she sat in a tree near the back door. When the hunter came out, the bird flew at him again, flapping her wings in his face. Again the hunter turned back and lay down.

When the sun rose, the hunter took his knife and started out once more. This time the Woodpecker flew back as fast as she could to her friends, crying, "Here comes the hunter!"

By now, the Turtle had gnawed through all but one piece of the trap. The leather was so hard that his teeth felt as if they would fall out, and his mouth was covered with blood. The Deer heard the Woodpecker and saw the hunter coming, knife in hand. With a strong pull, the Deer broke the last piece of the trap and ran into the woods. The Woodpecker flew up to her nest. But the Turtle was too weak to get away. He lay where he was. The hunter picked him up, threw him into a bag, and tied it to a tree.

The Deer saw that the Turtle was captured and decided to save his friend. He let the hunter see him. The hunter seized his knife and chased the Deer. The Deer, keeping just out of reach, led the hunter deep into the forest. When the Deer saw they were far in, he slipped away and ran swiftly by another path back to where he had left the Turtle.

But the Turtle was not there. The Deer called, "Turtle, Turtle!" The Turtle answered, "Here I am, in a bag hanging on this tree." The Deer lifted the bag with his horns, threw it to the ground, tore it open, and let the Turtle out.

The Woodpecker flew down from her nest. The Deer said to them, "You two friends saved my life. But if we stay here talking, the hunter will find us, and we may not escape. So, Friend Woodpecker, fly away. Friend Turtle, dive into the water. I will hide in the forest."

The hunter did come back, but he could not find the Deer, the Turtle, or the Woodpecker. He found his torn bag, picked it up, and returned home.

The three friends lived together happily for the rest of their lives.