Nobody knows where or when this happened, but there was once a legend that went around our town. They said that a real deer roamed the forests. And it was no ordinary deer. Unlike its kin, this deer left a golden trail wherever it went. All the hunters believed that the deer was simply stuffed full of pure gold.
People said it had been a young bloke, punished for his greed. Apparently, he'd nicked the last thing from a wizard, pinched his golden sceptre. And for that he was punished with the heaviest burden: an evil mage turned him into a deer and stuffed his belly completely full of his beloved gold coins.
Nobody knew if it was true or just a yarn, but the fact remained: wherever the swift-footed deer ran, gold was left behind. And so it became a matter of honour for every hunter to catch it and get that precious metal.
Jack didn't stay out of it either. He was considered the best hunter in town: show him any game, he'd shoot it. To his credit were nimble rabbits and quick birds. But despite everything, that hunter was fair dinkum. Jack never touched wounded animals. He only hunted animals that bothered people: those that nicked cabbages from the fields or destroyed crops.
But he couldn't resist such temptation — to shoot a real golden deer. Without thinking twice, he slung his rifle over his shoulder and headed into the bush. He didn't find the little deer quickly, had to wander through the scrub for several hours. But finally he came out into a clearing, and there — stone the crows — sat a little deer.
Jack raised his rifle to his shoulder, but suddenly stopped. The deer turned its head towards him but didn't move — just froze and seemed to cry. And so piercingly, so human-like...
And then the hunter noticed that the deer's leg was indeed covered in gold. He carefully placed his rifle on a nearby stump, as if to say, look, I won't hurt you, walked up to the little creature and understood what was wrong.
The little animal's leg was wounded, and it wasn't blood flowing from it — pure gold. He tried to touch the leg, and the little deer cried even harder. The hunter scratched his head, thought for a bit — and said:
Don't be scared, I'll help you, fair enough.
He picked some healing herbs in the clearing, tore a strip from his clothes and bandaged the animal's leg.
It'll heal soon. Now off you go. And don't let me catch you again.
He stamped his foot.
Of course, nobody at home believed Jack. They said in town that he couldn't catch the little creature. They gossiped a bit — and forgot about it. But they reckon he found a pile of gold right on his doorstep. Is it true? Well, nobody can say for sure.
