But can you think why the tiger needs to see farther, and why the deer needs to hear farther and smell farther? I shall tell you.
The tiger is the catcher, and the deer is the one that is caught. So the tiger tries to get to the deer, and the deer tries to run from the tiger.
But to get to the deer, it would be no use to the tiger if he could only smell or hear the deer, for then he would only know that the deer was somewhere near, but could not find the exact spot; and to catch the deer the tiger must know exactly where the deer is. So the best way for him to know that is to see the deer.
But for the deer himself, all that he needs to know is that a tiger is somewhere near. So it is quite enough for him to know from which side the tiger is coming, by just smelling him or hearing him. Then the deer can run the other way at once. He does not want to see the tiger at all!
So, you understand, the tiger's best gift is to be able to see the deer; and the deer's best gift is to be able to smell and hear the tiger.
But then, you may ask, if the deer can always run away long before the tiger can get at him, does a tiger never catch a deer?
Yes, a tiger does catch a deer once in a while, if the deer happens to make a mistake! And the deer can make only one mistake like that in his life, because after the first he gets eaten!
So, you may be sure, the deer tries very hard never to make even that one mistake.
And what is that one mistake? It is to run straight into the jaws of the tiger! It may just happen that when the deer hears the tiger coming, he does not listen quite carefully, and so he does not know which way the sound is coming. Then, in running away, the deer may happen to go just the wrong way—and fall into the tiger's jaws.
Or else it may happen that the deer is so frightened that he loses his head, as it were, and goes just any way—and by bad luck chooses the wrong way, and falls into the tiger's jaws.