"Several years ago, in the Gir forest, there lived, a deer and a giraffe. The deer was a very handsome fellow, so he always bragged about himself. Unlike the deer, the giraffe was very modest and kept to himself."

One hot summer day, when the animals were grazing in the open meadow, the giraffe got thirsty. So, he went to the water-hole to get a drink. Since he was too tall and had a very long neck, he had to bend, site on his forelegs and take a sip. At that moment, the deer happened to pass by. Looking at the giraffe's posture, he burst out laughing.

"Look at you, poor thing. Hard times, huh," he said. The Giraffe just ignored him and walked away.

Then in late summer, a severe drought hit the Gir Forest. There was an absolute scarcity of food and water. Many animals, like the deer, starved for many days, as the grass and shrubs had dried up.

One day, while desperately looking for food, the deer saw the giraffe eating fresh leaves from a tall tree, using his long neck. The deer's mouth started watering. He went and stood near the giraffe's feet, looking up, as if begging for leaves.

The giraffe felt sorry for the deer. He broke a few small branches, filled with leaves and threw them down for the deer to eat. After devouring the leaves, the deer felt satisfied.

He then realized, that if not because of the giraffe, he would have starved to death. So he said "I made fun of you long back, but you saved my life today. I'm so ashamed of myself."

"It's okay" said the giraffe." I'm just glad you realized your mistake." The deer left with gratitude!

The End