God made two special animals to save the others from the tiger. The first is the buffalo, of which I have already told you, and which is the Knight of the Jungle. The second animal is the barking deer. How the barking deer saves the other animals from the tiger, I shall now tell you:
When the tiger is prowling about, all other kinds of deer and antelope just run away, and are glad enough if they escape being eaten. But not the plucky little barking deer! He too runs away, but as soon as he gets a little ahead of the tiger, he stops under a bush and lets out that bark or yap—then runs on at once to another bush.
The tiger is furious, and jumps on the bush where he heard the bark—but the deer is not there now! The deer barks from that second bush—and runs to another one. In this way the barking deer leads the tiger on and on through the jungle from bush to bush.
And why does he bark like that? To tell the other animals in good time that the tiger is coming, and then to tell them exactly where the tiger is.
"Look out, here's a tiger!" That is the meaning of his first bark.
"Here he is! He is coming after me—this way!" That is what he means by the next bark.
"He is chasing me this way! You run the other way!" And that is what the barking deer keeps on saying, as he runs from bush to bush, so that all the other animals know exactly where the tiger is at each minute.
In this way the barking deer runs through the jungle, warning all the other animals, and so spoiling the tiger's dinner all the way.