In ancient times, the red deer had four eyes. He was very proud of this and considered himself the fastest of all four-legged animals.
One day a red deer met a horse and said to him:
“You run well, but still you’re not that fast: you’ll never catch up with me!”
“No,” says the horse, “I’ll catch up!”
- How will you do this? - asks the red deer.
“I’ll put a man on top of me, tell him to chase me, and I’ll catch up!”
The wapiti laughed and said:
- There's no way you'll catch up with me! And even more so with a rider!
- I’ll catch up! - the horse answers.
They made a bet and set a time when they would run. The red deer went to graze and gain strength, and the horse went to the man and said:
- Get on me and race! Let's race with the wapiti!
- Fine! - says the man.
On the appointed day, the horse and the wapiti came together in an open place and galloped off.
At first the wapiti walked ahead, but the man began to urge the horse, and the horse soon caught up and even overtook the wapiti.
Out of shame and frustration, the wapiti began to cry bitterly. And he cried so hard and for so long that out of his four eyes he cried out two. Since then, all red deer have visible marks below the eyes - these are traces of crying eyes.
And from that time on, the horse remained with the man and still serves him faithfully.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru