The Four Friends and the Hunter

In a peaceful forest beside a crystal-clear lake, there lived four most unlikely friends. There was Chitra, a graceful spotted deer with the swiftest legs in the entire woodland; Laghupatanaka, a clever black crow whose sharp eyes could spot danger from miles away; Hiranyaka, a tiny but brave golden mouse who could gnaw through the strongest ropes; and Mantharaka, a wise old turtle whose ancient knowledge had guided many creatures through difficult times.

These four friends had met by chance during a terrible drought the previous summer. Each had been struggling to survive alone when they discovered that by helping one another, they could overcome any challenge the forest presented. Since then, they had been inseparable, meeting every evening by the great banyan tree near the lake to share the day’s adventures and look out for one another.

“Friendship is the greatest treasure in this world,” Mantharaka would often say in his slow, thoughtful voice. “Gold can be stolen, food can spoil, but true friendship only grows stronger with time.”

“That’s right!” Laghupatanaka would caw from his perch above. “Together we are stronger than any predator, smarter than any hunter, and safer than any fortress.”

The four friends had established a perfect system of mutual protection. Laghupatanaka, with his excellent vision, served as their lookout, warning them of approaching dangers. Chitra used her incredible speed to relay messages quickly across the forest. Hiranyaka, despite his small size, could slip into the tiniest spaces and gather information that larger animals could never obtain. And Mantharaka, with his patience and wisdom, served as their counselor and decision-maker.

One bright morning, as the friends were enjoying their breakfast near the lake, Laghupatanaka suddenly let out a sharp cry of alarm.

“Danger! Danger!” he cawed loudly, circling high above the trees. “A hunter approaches from the east! He carries nets and snares!”

Chitra’s ears immediately perked up, and she bounded to higher ground to get a better view. “I can see him!” she called back. “He’s a tall man in brown clothes, and he’s setting up traps all along the path to the river!”

Hiranyaka scurried up the banyan tree to join the crow. “We must warn all the forest creatures immediately! This hunter looks more dangerous than the ones we’ve seen before.”

Mantharaka nodded gravely from his position by the water’s edge. “You three spread the word to everyone in the forest. I’ll hide here under the lotus leaves and keep watch. Remember our plan – if anyone gets into trouble, we all work together to solve it.”

The three friends quickly dispersed to warn their fellow forest dwellers. Laghupatanaka flew from tree to tree, alerting the birds and monkeys. Chitra bounded through the underbrush, warning the rabbits, foxes, and other ground animals. Hiranyaka squeezed through burrows and holes, alerting the smaller creatures who lived underground.

Thanks to their quick action, most of the forest animals managed to avoid the hunter’s traps. However, as evening approached and the friends gathered for their usual meeting, they noticed that Chitra had not returned.

“Where could she be?” worried Hiranyaka, pacing nervously on a tree branch. “She’s never late for our evening gathering.”

Laghupatanaka took to the sky immediately, flying in wide circles to search for their missing friend. Soon, his distressed cries echoed through the forest.

“I found her! Oh no, I found her! She’s caught in the hunter’s net near the old oak grove!”

The three remaining friends rushed to the location as quickly as they could. There, hanging upside down in a strong rope net suspended between two trees, was poor Chitra. She was struggling desperately to free herself, but the more she moved, the tighter the net seemed to become.

“My friends!” she called out when she saw them approaching. “I was trying to rescue a young rabbit who had wandered into the trap area, and I got caught myself! The hunter will return at dawn to check his snares!”

“Don’t worry, dear Chitra,” called Mantharaka as he slowly made his way toward the net. “We will get you out of there. Friendship means never abandoning one another in times of need.”

But the situation seemed hopeless. The net was hanging too high for Mantharaka to reach. Laghupatanaka was strong enough to fly but not powerful enough to lift a deer. And little Hiranyaka, despite his sharp teeth, could not climb high enough to gnaw through the thick ropes.

“What can we do?” lamented Hiranyaka. “The ropes are too thick for me to chew through quickly, and by the time I could manage it, the hunter would return!”

Mantharaka closed his eyes and thought deeply, drawing on all his years of wisdom. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open with a brilliant idea.

“I have a plan!” he announced. “But it will require all of us to work together and trust each other completely. Hiranyaka, your job is the most important – you must climb up and begin gnawing through the ropes, but only partway. Don’t cut them completely yet.”

“Why only partway?” asked the mouse, confused.

“Because we need to time this perfectly,” explained Mantharaka. “Laghupatanaka, you must fly to the hunter’s camp and create a distraction. Make noise, scatter his supplies, steal something important – anything to make him come running this way before dawn.”

“But that will bring him here while Chitra is still trapped!” protested the crow.

“Exactly,” said Mantharaka with a mysterious smile. “Trust me, my friends. When the hunter arrives and sees Chitra in his net, he will be so excited about his catch that he’ll drop his guard. That’s when Hiranyaka will finish cutting through the ropes, and Chitra will drop down and escape.”

“But what about getting away?” asked Chitra from the net. “Even if I get free, the hunter will chase me!”

“That’s where I come in,” said Mantharaka proudly. “I may be slow, but I have a few tricks of my own. When you drop from the net, run toward the lake as fast as you can. I’ll create a diversion that will keep the hunter busy long enough for you to escape.”

Although the plan seemed risky, the friends trusted Mantharaka’s wisdom completely. They had learned that when they worked together, even the most impossible situations could be resolved.

Hiranyaka immediately scampered up the tree and began gnawing carefully through the rope strands, leaving just enough intact to hold the net. Meanwhile, Laghupatanaka flew off toward the hunter’s camp, which was located in a clearing about half a mile away.

At the camp, the hunter was sleeping soundly beside his dying fire, dreaming of all the animals he would capture the next day. Suddenly, he was awakened by a tremendous commotion. A large black crow was flying back and forth over his camp, cawing loudly and knocking over his cooking pots, scattering his food supplies, and even making off with his favorite hunting cap!

“You miserable bird!” shouted the hunter, jumping to his feet and grabbing his bow. “Come back here with my hat!”

He chased Laghupatanaka through the forest, shooting arrows that always seemed to miss by inches. The clever crow led him on a winding path that gradually brought them closer and closer to the oak grove where Chitra was trapped.

Just as Mantharaka had predicted, when the hunter saw the deer caught in his net, he forgot all about the troublesome crow.

“What luck!” he exclaimed, lowering his bow and pulling out a large knife. “A fine spotted deer! This will feed my family for a week!”

The hunter approached the net confidently, already imagining how he would prepare his feast. At that exact moment, Hiranyaka finished cutting through the remaining rope strands.

SNAP! The net broke apart, and Chitra dropped gracefully to the ground.

“What?!” cried the hunter in shock. “How did she—”

But before he could finish his sentence, Chitra bounded away toward the lake with lightning speed. The hunter immediately gave chase, determined not to lose his prize.

This was exactly what Mantharaka had been waiting for. As the hunter ran past the old turtle’s hiding spot, Mantharaka deliberately placed himself directly in the man’s path.

“Another animal!” thought the hunter greedily. “Even if I can’t catch the deer, this turtle will make a good soup!”

He stopped chasing Chitra and bent down to pick up Mantharaka. But as soon as the hunter’s hands touched the turtle’s shell, Mantharaka pulled his head, legs, and tail completely inside, clamping down with surprising strength.

The hunter tried to pull Mantharaka’s limbs out of his shell, but the wise old turtle had locked himself up tighter than any treasure chest. Growing frustrated, the hunter decided to carry the turtle back to his camp to deal with it later.

This gave Chitra plenty of time to reach the safety of the lake and hide among the tall reeds on the far shore. Laghupatanaka, meanwhile, continued to pester the hunter by diving at his head and cawing loudly.

“First a crow steals my hat, then a deer escapes my net, and now I’m stuck with a turtle that won’t come out of its shell!” grumbled the hunter. “This has been the worst hunting day of my life!”

When the hunter finally reached his camp, he was exhausted, frustrated, and empty-handed except for Mantharaka. He threw the turtle into a large pot and started building up his fire.

“At least I’ll have turtle soup for dinner,” he muttered.

But Mantharaka had one more trick up his shell. As soon as the hunter turned his back to tend the fire, the clever turtle quickly extended his limbs, flipped over, and crawled out of the pot as quietly as possible. He made his way slowly but steadily back toward the forest, while Laghupatanaka continued to create distractions by stealing the hunter’s belongings and hiding them in various trees.

By the time the hunter turned around again, the pot was empty, and he could hear the mocking caw of the crow somewhere high in the branches above.

“Magic!” he cried in terror. “These animals are enchanted! This forest is cursed!”

Grabbing only his most essential belongings, the frightened hunter fled from the forest and never returned again.

When morning came, the four friends met at their usual spot by the lake, all safe and sound. They celebrated their successful rescue mission with a feast of the sweetest fruits and clearest water the forest had to offer.

“I can never thank you enough,” said Chitra, nuzzling each of her friends affectionately. “You risked your own lives to save mine.”

“That’s what friends do,” replied Hiranyaka proudly. “We look out for each other, no matter what.”

“And we’re stronger together than any of us could ever be alone,” added Laghupatanaka, preening his feathers with satisfaction.

Mantharaka smiled wisely. “Today we learned that true friendship can overcome any obstacle, no matter how impossible it seems. When we trust each other and work together, there is no problem too big to solve.”

From that day forward, the tale of the four friends and the hunter spread throughout the forest and beyond. Animals from distant lands would come to hear the story of how friendship, cooperation, and cleverness had triumphed over greed and cruelty.

And the four friends continued to live happily by their lake, helping any creature in need and proving every day that the bonds of true friendship are stronger than any trap, swifter than any hunter, and more valuable than any treasure in the world.

The hunter’s abandoned traps eventually rusted away in the forest, but the legend of the four friends lived on forever, inspiring countless generations of animals to value friendship above all else and to remember that unity and cooperation can overcome even the greatest challenges life has to offer.