In a big forest there once lived a deer and a crow. They were good friends. One day a jackal happened to see the deer and said to himself: "Deer flesh must be very tasteful; let me first make friends with him."
So, he went up to the deer and said: "Friend, how do you do?" The deer asked: "Who are you?" He replied: "I am a jackal. I live here all alone, and I have lost all my relations. Now, I have found a friend in you." The deer said: "Be it so." At sun-set the deer took his new friend to his home.
The crow, an old friend of the deer, lived on a tree near his home. Seeing the two together, the crow said: "Friend, who is this?" The deer replied: "This is a jackal; he desires our friendship." The crow said: "Look before you leap." At this, the jackal became friends.
One day, the jackal said to the deer: "Mr. Deer, in a corner of this wood, there is a field full of corn. I shall take you there and show it to you." The deer was very glad. He went there everyday and ate the corn. One day, the master of the field saw this and was angry. So, the next day he set a snare to catch the thief, and he caught the poor deer.
Just at that time the jackal came up and saw his friend. Then he thought, now, the master will kill this deer and I will have plenty of food for some days. The deer called to his jackal friend for help, but the cunning jackal said: "I am very weak, and the net is very strong; however, I shall try." He then ran away and hid himself near the field.
In the evening, the crow returned to his tree, but, under the tree he did not see his friend, the deer. He searched for him, and at last found him in the field. He felt very sorry for the deer. The deer saw the crow and said: "My friend, Mr. Crow, I disregarded your advice at first and now I suffer." The crow then said: "Mr. Deer, listen to what I say. In the morning, the owner of this field will come here. When he comes, lie down quietly; make your legs stiff and pretend to be dead. After some time I shall make a noise. Immediately, stand up and run away quickly."
The owner of the field came the next morning and saw the deer seemingly dead. So he released him from the net. The crow who saw what was being done began to caw loudly. In a moment, the deer took to his heels and ran away. The owner got very angry and threw a stick at the deer. The deer escaped, but the stick hit the jackal and killed it.
