The Story of the Nine Coloured Deer.

Once upon a time, there was a magnificent gorgeous deer whose fur had nine colours and whose angler was as white as the snow. He lived by the Ganges river with a friendly bird.

One day, there was a very heavy rainfall and the water level of the Ganges River was rising high. Suddenly, the Nine-Coloured Deer saw a man flowing down the river, struggling for help. He was holding onto a floating piece of tree and yelling out loud, "Help! Help! Please! God of the Mountain! Dragon King of the River! Save my life!"

Without much thought, the Nine-Coloured Deer jumped into the Ganges River and swam toward the man. He cried out loudly, "Hold on to my angler. I will take you back to the shore."

The victim held onto the angler of the Nine-Coloured Deer, and, after much struggling against the water flow, the two finally swam ashore. The Deer was so tired afterwards that he lied down on the beach for a rest.

The rescued man was so grateful that he kneeled down and declared, "You had saved my life, and therefore I am willing to be your servant, looking after you whenever you want!"

The Deer replied, "I do not need you to look after me. All I want is that you keep this place as a secret. People who know where I live will hunt me down and kill me for my fur."

The rescued man assured him with an oath, "You have saved my life and given me a second chance to live. I swear that I will keep this location a top secret."

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That very night, at the Royal Palace, the Queen had a dream: she saw a very magnificent gorgeous deer with nine-coloured fur and a white angler. Next morning, when she woke up, the deer was firmly in her mind and she began to long for a very beautiful fur coat. She pretended that she was sick.

The King was curious. He asked her, "what is wrong with you?"

The Queen replied, "Last night, in my dream I saw a very gorgeous deer with beautiful nine coloured fur. I want you to hunt that deer so that I can have a beautiful fur coat."

The King said, "I am the King. I will get what I want."

So he decreed that anybody who could provide information leading to hunting down the nine-coloured deer will be rewarded with half of his kingdom and a huge amount of gold and silver.

That news caught the attention of the rescued flood victim. He thought, "that deer is just an animal. Does it matter if he got hunted down and killed? If I tell the King, I will be the richest man in this country." So, he went to see the officer in charge of hunting the deer, who immediately brought him to the Palace to see the King.

The King was so happy on hearing the information that he reassured him of the promise of a huge reward: half of the kingdom and large amount of gold and silver.

The flood victim told the King, "just follow me and I will lead you the way." But, as soon as he finished talking, ulcers began to appear on his face

"That deer has some mystic power," he continued. " You may have to send in a large army to hunt him down."

The King than organized a huge army, marching toward the riverside of the Ganges.

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The Nine-Coloured Deer was sleeping inside the wood, with the friendly bird keep watching out for any dangers that may be approaching. Suddenly, the bird saw a group of soldiers ridding toward the wood. He was alarmed and shouted, "wake up, friend! Someone is coming to hunt you down." But the Nine-Colour Deer was so tired that he did not hear a thing.

The bird became really agonized. He flew down from the tree top right up to the Nine-Colour Deer and picked him with his beak. This woke up the Deer, but unfortunately, it was too late to escape - he was totally surrounded by the King's soldiers.

The Deer yelled out, "wait a minute, I have something to say before you kill me."

"What do you have to say?" asked the King.

"You should be graceful to me. Why do you kill me?" said the deer.

"Why should I be graceful to you?" asked the King.

"This is because I had rescued one of your citizens from natural disaster." Replied the Deer, "I rescued him off the Ganges from the great floor a few days ago. By the way, your Majesty, who gave you the information that I live here?"

At this time, the flood victim was walking toward the Deer. The King immediately pointed at him, "this guy told me where you live."

The Nine-Colour Deer looked at the man, and bursted into tears, "Your Majesty. It was this guy who fell into the Ganges River a few days ago during the heavy rain storm. He was crying for help when I jumped into the swirling water to rescue him. Yesterday, he was still swearing an oath to be my servant, but today he brings a whole army to kill me. What can I say?"

On listening to this, the King became upset and reprimanded the victim. He also decreed that the Deer would be under his protection, and anyone who hurt the deer will be imprisoned.

From then on, the deers lived happily and peacefully by the side of the Ganges River under the protection of the Royal Kingdom, whose citizens were free from natural disasters for a long time.