Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/132

124 was delighted when they returned after rescuing the deer.

As they were talking the hunter came up and missing the deer from the snare followed his touches. The crow again espied him and warned his friends. The rat got into a hole, the crow flow away and the deer hid himself in a thicket. But the hunter secured the tortoise and was carrying him off when the rat said to the deer:—"You must repay us for rescuing you by saving the tortoise. Go into this pond, and lie down as if you were dead : the crow will sit on your back and seem as about to peck out your eyes. Then the hunter will put down the tortoise and he can escape.

They did as he planned, and the trick succeeded. The tortoise escaped and the four friends were once again united.