The forest pool lay morning-still, like a mirror. Chomok, a young spotted deer, came to drink and saw his own reflection. Seeing his branching antlers, his chest puffed up with pride. From a bamboo tip, Nilu the kingfisher called out — “Morning, Chomok — the day's up!” Barely listening, tilting his antlers this way and that, Chomok said — “Look, Nilu, aren't my antlers beautiful?”
Nilu tilted her head — “Pretty as a picture, those antlers. But who does the running, hm? Those skinny legs, that's who!” Chomok's face fell into a sulk. Embarrassed, he quietly tucked his legs away in the reeds — leaving only his antlers glinting in the sun.
All at once the birds burst up out of the trees. From somewhere far came the baying of hunting hounds — woof… woof! Chomok froze mid-step, one foot lifted, his ears flattening back, his breath held. Nilu shrieked — “No time to think now, Chomok — run!” Now tell me — will Chomok get away?
Now those skinny legs turned into wings! Chomok flew — one leap, another leap, then another. The narrow canal — whoosh — cleared in a single bound! Wheeling overhead, Nilu called the way — “Left, Chomok, go left!” Panting hard, Chomok gasped — “I'm going—!”
But the moment he plunged into the cane thicket — snap! His proud antlers caught fast in the canes and gewa branches. Chomok's eyes went wide, his neck straining, his legs clawing at the earth. Right by his ear Nilu cried — “Head down, Chomok — give it a twist!” With all his might he wrenched free — one antler-branch left hanging in the thicket.
Dusk came down. Chomok came back to the water's edge. His legs still trembled, his sides heaving, one side of his antlers broken. He lowered his head and gazed at his own thin legs. He said nothing. Nilu, too, settled quietly beside him.
That night, fireflies lit up by the pool. Chomok came to the water again — and this time stood tall and square, so in the reflection his slender legs showed first. He smiled and said — “It's not the show, Nilu — it's the use that makes you who you are.” Perched on his broken antler, Nilu teased — “Keep the antler, though — I need somewhere to sit!” And the two of them laughed.