Other Animals Come Alone
The red dogs are the last of the animals that come in a bunch. Now you see other animals coming one by one. A sneaking shadow there! It must be a hyena. That is an animal that eats what remains from some other animal's supper; so the hyena waits to see if a tiger or a leopard has caught any supper, or else it will have to go hungry.
But hush! Here is a red deer coming carefully to the water. This animal is much bigger than the blue deer, and more able to take care of herself. But, still, she comes very quietly, looking to right and left to make sure that the tiger is not just in that place. She reaches the water and starts drinking. But do you see how her ear is bent to the side? The red deer is listening most carefully, even while she is drinking!
But look, look! The bush behind the deer parts very slowly, and a huge yellow form crouches there! It is the tiger!
He is not near enough to jump on the deer; so he takes one step forward—as softly as a cat!
But the deer has heard the footfall! For she can hear even a leaf when it falls to the ground. And in that one second, even while she was drinking, the red deer has turned and leaped to the side. The tiger has also leaped at the same time, and he aimed at the place where the deer was. But the deer has just left that place, and the next second she gives another leap, like a flash, and gets out of the tiger's reach.
The tiger stands where he leaped, and growls with rage. He knows it would be no use chasing the deer, as the deer can run much faster. So he stands there, and growls for quite a while. Then, as he did not get any supper that night, he can at least have a drink. So he drinks and goes away, still growling.
Now all is quiet at last at the midnight pool, as all the animals have gone away.
The Law of the Jungle—Clear Water for All
But before we leave the place, I want you to remember something. I showed you first the elephants; they were on our right—that is, down the stream, the way the water flows. And the elephants drank first among all the animals.