Then he heard something. Rowr!
There was Tiger!
“Hello, Mouse Deer. I was just getting hungry. Now you can be my lunch.”
Mouse Deer didn’t want to be lunch. He looked around and thought fast. He saw a mud puddle.
“I’m sorry, Tiger. I can’t be your lunch. The King has ordered me to guard his pudding.”
“His pudding?” said Tiger.
“Yes. There it is.” Mouse Deer pointed to the mud puddle. “It has the best taste in the world. The King doesn’t want anyone else to eat it.”
Tiger looked longingly at the puddle. “I would like to taste the King’s pudding.”
“Oh, no, Tiger! The King would be very angry.”
“Just one little taste, Mouse Deer! The King will never know.”
“Well, all right, Tiger. But first let me run far away, so no one will blame me.”
“All right, Mouse Deer, you can go now.”
Mouse Deer ran quickly out of sight.
“Imagine!” said Tiger. “The King’s pudding!” He took a big mouthful.
Phooey! He spit it out.
“Yuck! Ugh! Bleck! That’s no pudding. That’s mud!”
Tiger ran through the forest. Rowr! He caught up with Mouse Deer.
“Mouse Deer, you tricked me once. But now you will be my lunch!”