This happened a long time ago. Then, when the deer stopped eating the snow-white flowers of the ceiba and began to eat the bean crops of the Mayan Indians.
People became embittered and began to intensively hunt them. But this was not easy to do with a bow and arrow, since the deer remained wild and elusive. Then the hunters invented tepachole - a trap made of boards and large stones, into which deer often began to fall.
One day, three hunters placed a tepachole on a narrow path called the “Deer Path”. It was along this route that the deer usually walked to the Indian crops of beans and maize. Hiding, the hunters began to wait for the deer to fall into the trap.
Time passed. The deer were about to appear: usually they were drawn to the lush crops with the first rays of the sun. People sat in ambush and waited impatiently for them. But then there was a cracking of branches and a deer immediately appeared. He was huge and beautiful. He carefully examined the surroundings. His legs were tense and ready to jump, sensitive ears caught sounds... But he didn’t like something and, instantly turning around, the seasoned handsome man disappeared into the thicket... Apparently, experience and instinct told him the presence of a person, and, without even approaching the tepachola, he disappeared.
Having failed, people decided to use another hunting technique. They burned half of the crops. The part of the field that was left untouched was surrounded by a fence so that there was only a passage inside, where the tepachole was hidden. All hope was that the deer, driven by hunger, had no other choice and would definitely fall into a cunningly laid trap. Climbing into the trees, the hunters again began to wait for the sun to rise and for the appearance of the deer. Each of them longed to get his share of the spoils: one needed only the skin, another could only satisfy the horns, and the third wanted to take possession of the entire carcass - the meat.
And then at dawn the long-awaited crackling of branches was heard. Several fawns crossed the scorched field and again disappeared into the thicket of the forest. The fawns were replaced by female deer. The last one to emerge from the forest was the same handsome deer. He walked slowly: he listened, looked closely, stopped. His powerful body was tense and constantly ready for a decisive jump back into the saving forest thicket. Yes, it was an animal that could outwit not only a snake or a predator, but also its worst enemy - man...
Finally he approached the fence, walked around it, tried to jump over in several places, even tried to break through it with his chest - but everything was in vain. And then the deer moved very slowly towards the only remaining passage to the crops. He was almost approaching the trap, and then the impatient hunters hurried to jump from the trees. The frightened animal, making a huge leap, jumped over the trap and rushed to run headlong. People rushed after him.
The frantic chase continued all the way to the entrance to the cave. The pursuers were so carried away that they did not notice how they ended up deep inside. And then pitch darkness covered them, but a landscape of divine beauty opened up ahead: high blue mountains with snow-capped peaks; wide rivers; marvelous valleys, among which they noticed the figure of a handsome deer disappearing in the distance. Moreover, the further it got, the bigger and bigger it became, until it finally turned into a giant mountain. Only then did the hunters get seriously scared, realizing that the deer was enchanted and they would never get out of here again! But it was already too late: the way back went through pitch darkness...
Everything around them seemed unusual to them: unprecedented animals; unknown trees of unimaginable height; the rivers were unusually wide, blue and clear, and the distant mountains were incredibly large. And all this was illuminated by the red sun, whose rays shone silver against the background of the eternal snow of the mountain peaks.
The hunters had to spend the night right among the grass. But for fear of being eaten by unprecedented beasts, they never slept a wink all night. Pitch darkness surrounded them. Everything filled them with horror.
But then it dawned and the exhausted people went to the nearest river to drink. But that was not the case: the water turned out to be salty. It turned out to be a sea bay, not a river. And, as you know, sea water cannot quench your thirst.
Nearby there were trees with such huge fruits that one person could not hold them. Petals of beautiful bright flowers foamed on the crests of the waves of one of the opal lakes. Fascinated by everything they saw, the hunters did not notice how the topaz sun darkened and unusual creatures, similar to butterflies, but so large, darted across the sky that they could cover an entire hut with one wing.
Then the sun began to get so hot that the hunters considered it best to take refuge from the heat in a cave. Here, immense treasures appeared before their tired eyes: gold, silver and emeralds.
...Despite all the miracles they saw, they wanted to quickly return to their native forest, where ordinary eagles with a collar of multi-colored feathers live.
The third day dawned. People woke up in alarm, thinking about the abandoned house. But what was their surprise when they discovered that they were on one of the roads leading to their native village!
They immediately set off on their journey. However, the first people they met ran away in horror at the sight of the travelers. And others too! No one dared to approach or speak to them. This surprised and upset the unlucky hunters so much that they decided to leave their native places, where no one loved them anymore. Finally, the bravest of their fellow villagers came closer to the unfortunate ones. They began to ask them about their relatives to make sure that they were who they said they were. And only after many questions did they admit that they were the same ones - those who two years ago (and not two days, as the hunters claimed) went missing and who were already considered dead.
The wise old men explained to the hunters that they had been in a magical cave and that this unexpected journey was a punishment for their greed. Because they intended to kill the deer only for its meat, skin and antlers.
As knowledgeable people said, from then on anyone who attempted the life of a deer was punished by being expelled from his native lands forever.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru