The Story of the Indonesian Dwarf Deer Translated by Anne Marijke Oruk Chapter 2 The Kantjil receives his training. After a few weeks, he could understand the buffaloes quite well, and also the monkeys and the birds that came to visit. He could out jump and out walk his big foster mother. He learned, little by little, and every day he learned more. The buffalo tried, in vain, to teach him good manners – he seemed to make fun of her attempts. He couldn’t stand monkeys; he lived in constant discord with them. Oh, he enjoyed their antics, and he would roughhouse and chatter with them if there were no trees around, but they were terrible gossips, mean and quarrelsome. The buffalo knew all about those monkeys. She taught the kantjil: “ Ninety-nine monkeys out of a hundred are no good, and you must have nothing to do with them. They are always chasing peace and friendship away. When I was young, I had a close friend. We trusted each other, and we were inseparable. If there were danger, we would warn each other and come to each other’s defense. One monkey, apparently, could not tolerate this and spread so many rumors about me that my friend left me.” “What did the monkey say about you?” “That I purposely went to graze in the farthest corner of the field in order to talk to the tiger and to tell him to attack my friend – and that I would pretend not to see this”. “Won’t the tiger dare to attack you?” “No. That’s to say, - he will only attack me if I am asleep, or if I don’t pay attention to my surroundings, but he does not dare to openly attack me. Of course, a tiger is extremely dangerous, but he is not very brave. He is deadly afraid of an elephant – and, anyway, what could an elephant do? He will also give a rhinoceros a wide berth. A tiger is extremely fast and strong, and is able to jump an exceptionally far distance. But he is dumb and therefore conceited and ambitious.” One evening, the Kantjil observed first hand that the buffalo had not just made this all up, but that she had definitely told the truth. At dusk, a young and strong, but still inexperienced buffalo stood quietly grazing at the edge of the field near a deep ravine. He had not seen the danger that was sneaking up behind him. The sugar cane had grown very tall during the past few weeks of rain. An old tiger, hidden by the tall canes, was taking advantage of this cover, and was approaching very slowly and unnoticed. His head and body stretched low to the ground, he crept closer with every step he took. He was so intent on his prey, that he accidentally stepped on a porcupine, which made him growl with pain. Just for a moment – it was, however, loud enough to alert the young buffalo. The bull turned himself around with one jerk. Only then did he see his rust-yellow archenemy, the frightful head with white cheeks. There was loud roaring and snorting. The whole herd of buffaloes was shaking from the commotion. The Kantjil ran, frightened, up a rocky hill and saw it happening: a short but terrible fight. A high jump from the tiger over the top of the cane, like a flame he shot through the air, but because of a quick swerve by the bull, he ended up not on top of his prey but right next to it. The steer fearlessly attacked his skulker with his dangerous horns. The other buffaloes came running to the rescue, and the tiger, seeing that his attack had failed, ran off the field into the ravine. After that, the kantjil had a deep respect for each and every buffalo, and contempt for the tiger. In that herd of wild buffaloes, he learned a lot about many animals, good and bad, innocent and dangerous, reckless and careful, courageous and cowardly. He also learned about man, who walked around as if the whole world belonged to him alone. Even the buffalo was in awe of man. “Man is our master,” admitted the buffalo one day, “he is able to tame us in such a way that we will willingly serve him.” That this was true, the kantjil saw with his own eyes. A row of carts went by, pulled by water buffaloes who, very submissively, listened to the tap of a stick held by a boy. Yes, one time he had even seen a small man sitting on top of a huge buffalo a tremendous bull. The kantjil became very angry, and he had his first argument with his foster mother, who, for days, did not talk to him at all. After a couple of months of living with the herd of water buffaloes, the kantjil began to get extremely bored. It was monotonous and dull, and he began to roam farther and farther from the herd. One day, having noticed his restlessness, the mother buffalo said to him: “If you want to explore the world around you, then you should go and experience for yourself, and learn everything the hard way.” The Kantjil did not answer, but he did not stop his roaming. Adventure tempted him, and one evening the buffalo waited in vain for her foster son. He had entered the wide world. Alone. I do not know if the author is still living, and/or if his family has the rights to the book. If requested by the author/family I will remove this article from this site. Fable of the Indonesian Dwarf Deer, also known as the Kantjil, from the author JOH. VAN HULZEN Het boek van de kantjil Het Indische dwerghert 2e DRUK UITGEVERIJ W. VAN HOEVE- DEVENTER Band en Illustraties van RONALD FRIJLING