At home I’m served far better stuff.”

“What, for instance?” inquired Tambo, still a bit mistrustful.

“Hay, oats, sweet corn, and all kinds of fresh green things.”

“Where is your home?” the stag asked with growing interest.

“Down there with Him. I work for Him,” Manni stated proudly.

“Him,” Tambo repeated in a more friendly tone. “Aren’t you afraid of Him?”

“Why should I be? He’s good to me, and to the horses and the cow. He’s good to all creatures,” Manni bragged.

“Remarkable!” But Tambo inspected the donkey with dawning respect. “And don’t you ever get anything alive to eat?”

“Ugh!” The donkey snorted in disgust. “We eat only what grows out of the ground, never anything else.”

“Then—” Tambo came closer—“then we can be friends.”

Manni asked happily, “Well then, tell me, my new friend, are you afraid of Him?”

Tambo’s head lifted majestically. “Afraid is not the right word. I—I avoid Him. His scent makes me uneasy. Besides, I don’t know Him very well. But I’m afraid of no one, and no one dares come near me.”

“I can understand that,” the donkey agreed. “You’re big and strong. Perhaps only the horses are bigger and stronger.”

“Horses? I don’t know them.”

“Don’t worry. They’re very nice. With their strength they can carry Him and run at the same time. I can carry Him too and run, of course. But not so fast or so long.”

“I’d like to see a horse.”

“They’d be frightened of your antlers, just as I am—was, I mean.”

“My crown? Oh, yes. It’s only just growing.” Tambo was haughty yet modest.

“Growing?” Manni echoed wonderingly. “It looks fully grown to me. And very stately.”

“No, it’s still sprouting. There’s no mistake about it, for this is my fifth.”

“What! Where are the others?” Manni felt as if he were hearing a fairy tale.

“They fell off,” explained Tambo. “Every year at the end of winter my crown falls off. Every year in the spring it grows again, always bigger and stronger.”

“Doesn’t it hurt you—falling off that way and growing again?”

“I hardly feel the loss of the old crown. My head becomes lighter. For a time I’m afraid I won’t be able to defend myself. But the new growth gives me a wonderful feeling of courage and power.”

The donkey could only say, “Lucky fellow!”

“Now you’ll excuse me. I want to sleep some more,” Tambo said, “so good-by!” He lowered himself and appeared to doze immediately.

He did not even seem to hear Manni’s respectful “Good-by!”

Going on his way the donkey mused, “What a noble creature! What a fine, free life he leads.” Richer with experience now, Manni thought reluctantly of returning home. “My old friends will be wondering about me—the rough one, the gentle one and the milk-giver. How amazed they’ll be when I tell them my adventure—when I describe the loveliness of the forest, the exciting happenings and my talk with the wearer of the crown.”

A pheasant strutted serenely by. His head bobbing, he pulled at grasses and herbs and seemed not at all afraid of Manni.

The donkey looked at him with amazement.