A deer eating wild fruit heard an owl call

“Haak, haak” (a spear), and a cricket cry, “Wat” (surrounded), and, frightened, he fled. The deer stepped upon a small fish and crushed it almost to death. Then the fish complained

to the court. In the trial came out this evidence:

The deer ran into some dry grass, and the seed fell into the eye of a wild chicken, and the pain of the seed in the eye of the chicken caused it to fly up against a nest of red ants.

The red ants bit a mongoose. The mongoose ran into a vine of wild fruit and shook several pieces of it on a hermit. “Why did you, O fruit, fall on my head?” cried the hermit. The fruit answered: “A mongoose ran against our vine and threw us down.” And the hermit asked, “ O mongoose, why did you throw the fruit?” The mongoose answered: “The red ants bit me, and I ran against the vine.”

The hermit asked, “ O ants, why did you bite the mongoose?” The red ants replied: “The hen flew against our nest and angered us.” The hermit asked: “ O hen, why did you fly against the red ants’ nest?” The hen replied: “The seed fell into my eyes.” And the hermit asked, “ O seed,

why did you fall into

the hen’s eyes?” And the seed replied: “The deer shook me down.” The hermit said unto the deer, “O deer, why did you shake down the seed?” The deer answered: “The owl called, frightening me, and I

ran.” “O owl,” asked the hermit, “why did you frighten the deer?” The owl replied: “I called, but as I am accustomed to call — the cricket, too, called.”

The judge said, “The cricket must replace the crushed parts of the fish and make it well,” as he, the cricket, had called and frightened the deer. The cricket was smaller and weaker than the owl or the deer, therefore had to bear the penalty.