The four friends By the side of a pool, in a forest, there once lived four friends. One was a black crow. He lived on a banyan tree nearby. The second was a small brown mouse. He lived in a hole at the foot of the tree.The third friend was a tutle.He lived in the pool and was very happy there. And the fourth friend was a deer.He had large beautiful eyes and golden coat. The four friends lived happily together. One day the Crow,the Mouse and the Turtle met by the side of the pool.They were waiting for their friend,the Deer. They waited and waited for him, but the Deer did not come. “ There must be something wrong with our friend,” said the Mouse. “Yes,” said the Crow, “perhaps some hunter caught him. “We must look for our friend”, said the Turtle “I shall go at once and try to find him,” said the Crow. So the Crow flew over the forest, looking here and there. At last, after flying a long time, he found the Deer caught in a hunter’s net. “Oh, my friend,you are caught in the hunter’s net”, cried the Crow. “What can I do help you ? Shall I fly back to the pool bring our friends here?” “Yes, you must bring them here quickly before the hunter comes and kills me,” replied the Deer with tears in his eyes. “Please, be quick.” So the Crow flew back to the pool and told his friends that the Deer was caught in the hunter’s net.They were very sorry to hear this. The Turtle said, “The Mouse can cut the net with his sharp teeth and set our friend free.So we must go to the Deer quickly.” “But how can I get there quickly?” said the Mouse. “I can easily carry you on my back”, said the Crow. So the Crow flew off with, the Mouse on his back. They soon reached the place where the Deer was lying in the hunter’net. The Turle came slowly after them. The Mouse jumped off the Crow’s back at once and began to cut the net with his sharp teeth. Soon the net was cut into pieces and the Deer was free. Now the Turtle also arrived. The four friends were again happy. Then they heard the sound of someone coming throught the forest. The hunter was coming ! The Mouse at once ran into a hole. The Crow flew to the top of a tree nearly. The Deer ran into the forest.The poor Turtle, however, could not move quickly.He walked slowly towards abush. The hunter was angry to find his net cut into pieces.He looked around for the Deer. But there was no Deerto be seen anywhere. Then his eyes fell on the Turtle moving slowly towards the bush. He picked him up, put him in his bag, and carried him off. The Crow saw what the hunter did from the top of the tree. He called the Mouse and the Deer and told them that the hunter had carried away the Turtle in his bag. “What should we do to set uor friend free ?”, asked the Crow. “We must do something quickly,” said the Mouse, before the hunter gets home.” “I’ll tell you what to do,” said the Deer. “What’s that?”, asked the Crow. The Deer said : “ I shall go and stand in the middle of the path. I shall pretend that I am eating grass. When the hunter sees me, he will drop the bag at once and run after me. The Mouse can then cut open the bag with his sharp teeth, and the Turtle will be free”. “That a good plan,” said the Mouse and the Crow. So the Deer ran off and stood in the path of the hunter. “Oh, what that ? A deer, I think he is eating grass. He is not looking at me ! Let me run and catch him,” said the hunter to himself. So the hunter immediately dropped the bag in which he was carrying the turtle,and ran after the Deer. The Mouse quickly cut open the bag. The Turtle climbed out and hid himself in a thick bush. The Deer ran as fast as he could. The hunter ran after him but could not catch him. After some time he stopped running after the Deer. He went back to his bag. The hunter could not find the Turtle in the bag.He was very angry. The four friends lived happily together in the forest many more years. They always helped one another. *Vocabulary :