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In a bright and sunny forest, there was a stag who loved to wander through the trees and fields. One hot day, he came across a cool, sparkling river. “It’s so hot today,” he said. “I’ll stop by this river for a nice, cool drink of water.”

As he leaned down to drink, he saw his own reflection in the water. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “Look at my magnificent antlers. They’re so beautiful and strong!” But then, he looked at his legs in the reflection and frowned. “But my legs are so thin and ugly,” he sighed.

Meanwhile, hiding in the bushes nearby, there was a hungry tiger. He saw the stag and thought, “That stag by the river looks like he would make a delicious dinner.”

The tiger slowly crept closer to the stag, ready to pounce. Just then, the stag heard a noise. “What’s that?” he wondered.

With a loud “Roarrrrrrrr,” the tiger jumped out. “I’m going to eat you for my dinner,” he growled.

But the quick-thinking stag replied, “Oh no, you’re not!” and he dashed off as fast as his legs could carry him.

The tiger chased after him, shouting, “Stag, come back here at once!” But the stag was very fast, and the tiger couldn’t catch up.

Suddenly, the stag’s antlers got stuck in the branches of a tree. “Oh no,” he cried, trying to break free. “My beautiful antlers are stuck!”

The tiger caught up and said, “Finally, I caught you. It’s funny how your antlers, which you admired so much, are now your downfall.”

The stag realized something important. “And the legs that I was ashamed of have served me so well,” he said.

The tiger nodded. “Things aren’t always as they seem,” he agreed.

And so, the stag learned a valuable lesson. The moral of the story, as the storyteller tells us, is that we are often grateful for the wrong things. Sometimes, what we think are our weaknesses can actually be our greatest strengths.