Long necked deer

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a large savanna where many deers lived in. This place was so beautiful that no one had ever seen a more beautiful one. There were so many deers living there that no one had ever seen so many deers in one place, it was filled with green and sweet grass and there were so many water fountains that no deer was ever thirsty.

Every year, many deers were born in the herd and the herds grew larger and larger. One year, a young deer was born with a long neck. The news of this unusual birth was spread everywhere very quickly and groups of deers came to visit and mostly, they laughed at the long-necked young deer. The parent of long-necked deer were very sad but they couldn't do much about this. So they took their child and went away from the herd to find a quiet place to live so that their child will not be bothered anymore.

Times past and the young deer grew bigger and bigger and her neck grew longer and longer. When her parents noticed that she was old enough to take care of herself, they left her and went to join one of the large herds. The long-necked deer lived alone for a couple of days but then realized that living alone is very difficult so she decided to enter a large herd. A couple of big deers with long horns stopped her and the biggest of them came forward and asked, "What do you want here?" Long-necked deer said hello politely and said, "I have come to live with you guys." Before she had finished her sentence, all the deers laughed at her loudly. The long-necked deer became unhappy and thought to herself, "What a rude bunch of people! Probably all the deers in this herd are like these. I don't think I would like to live with them." So she continued and went to find another herd but it was the same story. When she asked them why they were laughing, the big deer said laughingly, "You want to live with us with that long neck?"

Long necked deer said, "Yes, may I?"

The big deer frowned and said, "We will never let you live with us because other deers will make fun of us and we will be embarrassed and be forced to move out of this place."

The long necked-deer said, "Which herd should I join in then? There are deers in every one of them and I can not live alone!"

The big deer said, "With that long neck, no one will ever let you in."

The long necked-deer said, "But I am a nice and kind deer, I will keep quiet and work even harder than everyone else."

The big deer got mad and while he was pointing his sharp and long horns toward her said, "We will never ever let you in our herd and if you come close to us one more time, we will hit you with our horns!"

The long-necked deer was very sad and left them while thinking, "There are many other herds, one of them will eventually accept me..." but she had no success. Everywhere she went, she got rejected and at the end, she went far away. So far that there was no other deer around and she settled by a small body of water. She was very lonely and there was no one to talk to but she had to put up with all these hardships. She never let go of the thought of living among other deers however.

Many years passed by and many deers were added to the herds and no one remembered the long-necked deer anymore until one year, there was no rain. Days passed without any rain. Fountains and pools became less, the grass turned yellow. After a few more days, all the water dried and the grass burned and yet, no rain. The deers were hungry and thirsty. At first, they thought that only one part has dried but the more they looked, the less they found food or water. Many of them died because of thirst or hunger and the large herds became smaller and smaller.

The deers were looking at the clear blue sky until one day, a very large and black piece of cloud showed up and since he was tired, he stayed there right above them and went to sleep. The deers were very happy to see the cloud but the cloud was tight asleep and no rain came. The deers gathered to see what should they do. The wisest of them all said, "We have to ask the cloud to give us the rain." Everyone accepted and then, the wisest deer turned to the cloud and said, "O dear cloud! Could I ask you to give us some rain since without it, we all are going to die from hunger and thirst." But the cloud was asleep and couldn't hear him. The deers screamed their request all together, the could was still sleeping. The deers looked if there were any hills or mountains which they could climb and make themselves heard, but there were any as the field was flat. The all got very sad because if the cloud would wake up, he would leave without giving any rain and everyone would have died. Suddenly, the oldest deer remembered the long-necked deer and said, "Do you remember the long-necked deer who wanted to live with us and we didn't let her?"
"Yes, we do. What can she do for us?" replied the deers.
"If we find her, she can talk to the cloud with her long neck." said the old deer. The deers were all happy and asked him to find the long-necked deer.

The old deer accepted and went on to find her. He went and went and before finding her, because he was too tired and too hungry, he passed out in one remote corner. When he woke up, he saw long-necked deer with some water and grass sitting beside him.

He was very surprised and asked, "Are there still any water or grass around here?"
The long-necked deer said, "Where you live, there are many deers and they eat up all the food and water. Since I live alone here, there is still little left for me." After eating his food and water, the old deer said, "It's true that we have not treated you kindly, but we need your help." The long-necked deer said, "I like you all and I am ready to help you but no one had ever asked for my help before."
"We need your help now." said the old deer and told her the story of the cloud and the drought.

The long-necked deer thought for a while and then stood up, turned to the cloud and shouted loudly, "O dear cloud! give us some rain please!" The cloud heard her and was awake. Looking to long-necked deer he asked, " Who are you and why did you wake me up?" The long-necked deer went closer and told him the story of her life.

When the cloud heard that no one let her into their herd and she has been forced to live alone, he felt sorry for her and cried. He stayed there for a couple of days and nights and cried. Instead of tears drops, big rain drops fell over the field. The fountains were again filled with water and green and sweet grass started to grow again. The deers were sorry for the way the had treated the long-necked deer and went to her and asked for forgiveness. She forgave them all and they all live happily ever after in the big beautiful field.

Story (in Persian) by Jamshid Sepahi
Drawings by Youta Azargin