A STAG, roundly chased by the hounds and blinded by fear to the danger he was running into, took shelter in a farmyard and hid himself in a shed among the oxen. An Ox gave him this kindly warning: “O unhappy creature! why should you thus, of your own accord, incur destruction and trust yourself in the house of your enemy?” The Stag replied: “Only allow me, friend, to stay where I am, and I will undertake to find some favourable opportunity of effecting my escape.” At the approach of the evening the herdsman came to feed his cattle, but did not see the Stag; and even the farm-bailiff with several laborers passed through the shed and failed to notice him. The Stag, congratulating himself on his safety, began to express his sincere thanks to the Oxen who had kindly helped him in the hour of need. One of them again answered him: “We indeed wish you well, but the danger is not over. There is one other yet to pass through the shed, who has as it were a hundred eyes, and until he has come and gone, your life is still in peril.” At that moment the master himself entered, and having had to complain that his oxen had not been properly fed, he went up to their racks and cried out: “Why is there such a scarcity of fodder? There is not half enough straw for them to lie on. Those lazy fellows have not even swept the cobwebs away.” While he thus examined everything in turn, he spied the tips of the antlers of the Stag peeping out of the straw. Then summoning his laborers, he ordered that the Stag should be seized and killed.
猟犬たちに激しく追われた雄ジカが、こわさのあまり自分がとびこもうとしている危険にも気づかず、ある農家の庭に逃げこみ、牛小屋の牛たちのあいだに身をかくした。一頭の牛が、親切にもこう忠告した。「ああ、不幸なやつだ！どうして自分からわざわざ破滅をまねき、敵の家に身をあずけたりするんだ？」雄ジカは答えた。「どうか、このままここにいさせてくれ。そうすれば、逃げ出すのにちょうどいい機会をきっと見つけてみせるから」。夕方が近づくと、牛飼いが牛たちにえさをやりに来たが、雄ジカには気づかなかった。農場の管理人さえ何人かの作男を連れて小屋を通りぬけたが、雄ジカには気づかなかった。雄ジカは助かったと喜び、困ったときに親切に助けてくれた牛たちに、心からお礼を言いはじめた。すると、牛の一頭がまた答えた。「たしかにわれわれはおまえの無事を願っている。だが、危険はまだ終わってはいない。あとひとり、この小屋を通る者がいる。その人はいわば百の目を持っているのだ。その人が来て、去っていくまでは、おまえの命はまだ危ないぞ」。ちょうどそのとき、主人みずからが入ってきた。主人は牛たちがきちんとえさをもらっていないことに不満があったので、かいばおけに近づいて大声で言った。「どうしてこんなにえさが少ないんだ？寝わらだって半分も足りないじゃないか。あのなまけ者どもは、くもの巣さえはらっていないぞ」。こうして主人が一つ一つ順に調べていくうちに、わらの中から雄ジカの角の先がのぞいているのを見つけた。そこで主人は作男たちを呼び集め、雄ジカをつかまえて殺すよう命じた。