In a vast jungle lived a variety of animals. One of them was a Mouse-deer (Kancil). This particular Mouse-deer was known for his extraordinary cleverness. Not only clever, but the Mouse-deer was also known as an animal who was friendly to everyone.
For example, one morning, he saw a mother Duck swimming with her ducklings. The Mouse-deer, who was walking through the forest, greeted the Duck, "Hello, Duck! You look like you're having so much fun swimming."
He was equally friendly to other animals along the way, constantly greeting and being greeted by them. That was the Mouse-deer, whose friendliness earned him the respect of many animals in the forest.
Beyond being friendly, the Mouse-deer, famous for his cunning, often helped the forest animals solve their problems. Many animals came to the Mouse-deer when they had trouble, and the Mouse-deer was always happy to assist and resolve his friends' issues.
Like one time, while walking through the forest, he found three little Chicks trapped inside a hole that was quite deep for them.
The Mouse-deer immediately went to the Chicks and climbed down into the hole to help the trapped youngsters. Once inside, the Mouse-deer bent down and asked the Chicks to climb onto his body.
"Come on! You can climb onto my back, so you can get out of here and meet your mother," the Mouse-deer said kindly.
After all the Chicks successfully climbed onto his body, the Mouse-deer leaped out of the hole and walked to find the mother Hen, who was frantically searching for her children. He released the three Chicks to their mother.
The mother Hen was very happy and thanked the Mouse-deer for helping her children. Not only the mother Hen, but the three Chicks also cheered in unison, "Thank you, Mr. Mouse-deer!" the three little Chicks cried out gleefully.
After his walk, the Mouse-deer began to feel hungry. He stopped to eat the grass around him. After eating the grass, the Mouse-deer said, "Grass alone isn't going to fill me up."
The Mouse-deer then continued walking under the scorching sun until he arrived at a river in the forest. He approached the riverbank just to quench his thirst after his walk and meal.
After drinking enough water, the Mouse-deer, who was gazing across the river, instantly had his eyes light up when he saw something interesting on the other side of the river. The thing that attracted him was a fruit tree that could surely satisfy his hunger.
However, the river's strong current made it impossible for the Mouse-deer to cross. He searched for a way to cross safely. Until an idea came to him: to trick the Crocodiles in the river.
A Crocodile came out to the riverbank and approached the seemingly cheerful Mouse-deer. "Hey, Mouse-deer! Why have you come to the river? Do you want to be our meal?" the Crocodile asked the Mouse-deer.
The Mouse-deer happily answered the Crocodile's question, "I have good news for all of you. I brought fresh meat from the King and was ordered to count the number of crocodiles in the river. You just need to line up across the river, and I will count you."
Feeling delighted upon hearing the news that the Mouse-deer had brought fresh meat for him and his fellow Crocodiles, the Crocodile agreed to the Mouse-deer's request and called out to all the Crocodiles in the river to line up, forming a bridge.
"We are ready!" all the Crocodiles said enthusiastically. The Mouse-deer gleefully leaped onto the Crocodiles and pretended to count the Crocodiles who had lined up to form the bridge.
After reaching the other end, the Mouse-deer jumped onto the riverbank. Then he said, "Thank you, dear Crocodiles. Thanks to you, I was able to cross the river!"
After saying that to the Crocodiles, the Mouse-deer immediately ran fast, leaving the Crocodiles who were furious at his trick. The Mouse-deer was then free to eat the fruits on the other side of the river to satisfy his hunger.
