The Deer of Nine Colors
There lived a kind deer of nine colors in the forest. The deer was very beautiful. Its fur had nine different colors. The antlers on the top of the head were as white as snow.
One day, while the deer of nine colors was playing with its good friend,a crow,by the rive, it suddenly heard a sound not far away,"Help! Somebody helps me!"
Not far away, a man was holding a floating trunk,struggling in the swift river.Oh,it turned out that someone had fallen into the water.
Regardless of the danger in which it might be involved, the deer of nine colors jumped into the river and took the man to the bank. The man was greatly astonished because he had never seen such a beautiful deer.
The man said, "I'm a hunter and my house is not far away from here.Thankyou for saving me and I would do anything for gratitude."The deer of nine colors shook its head and said,"As long as you don'ttell others about it, it will be the best reward." The hunter raised his right hand and solemnly swore,"I will never give away your whereabouts."Then he left the forest.
On the night, the queen made dream that a beautiful deer ran freely through the forest with antlers as white as snow on the top of the head.
When the queen woke up, she cried and said to the king,"I want to make clothes out of the beautiful fur of the deer of nine colors. And you must find it for me!"
The king had to put up notices all over the country: who ever could help the queen catch the deer of nine colors would get countless treasure.
When the hunter saw the notice,he was overjoyed. The hunter thought that if he told the king the news about the deer,he would be the richest man in the world.
Then the hunter went to the palace and told on the deer. The hunter had forgotten his promise completely.
The king led the army down to the forest under the guidance of hun-ter. He was very happy because he found the deer of nine colors walking along the river.
As the crow saw someone break in the forest, it flew up in the air and shouted to the deer of nine colors,"Deer, run fast!The king has come to catch you!"
But it was too late. The deer of nine colors was completely surrounded and could not get away any more. When the deer saw the hunter's greedy eyes, it instantly realized that the hunter had betrayed it.
As the deer walked up to the king without any fear,It said respectfully,“Your Majesty，did you know that the hunter nearly had drowned in he river not long ago?After I saved him at the risk of my own life,he promised me that he would never tell it to the others.”
"But now he has broken his promise. Would you like to go with such a faithless man?"The deer of nine colors said to the king shedding tears.
After hearing those words, the king was so ashamed that he ordered it to be set free.What's more, the king gave an order that no one would be allowed to harm the deer of nine colors from then on.
As for the ungrateful hunter, he was tied up by the king's order, thrown into the river and drowned at last.