Once, long ago, the antelope and the deer met on the prairie. At this time
both of them had galls and both dew claws. They began to talk together, and each
was telling the other what he could do. Each one told how fast he could run, and
before long they were disputing as to which could run the faster. Neither would
allow that the other could beat him, so they agreed that they would have a race
to decide which was the swifter, and they bet their galls on the race. When they
ran, the antelope proved the faster runner, and beat the deer and took his gall.
Then the deer said: "Yes, you have beaten me on
the prairie, but that is not where I live. I only go out there sometimes to
feed, or when I am travelling around. We ought to have another race in the
timber. That is my home, and there I can run faster than you can."
The antelope felt very big because he had beaten the
deer in the race, and he thought wherever they might be, he could run faster
than the deer. So he agreed to race in the timber, and on this race they bet
their dew claws.
They ran through the thick timber, among the brush and
over fallen logs, and this time the antelope ran slowly, because he was not used
to this kind of travelling, and the deer easily beat him, and took his dew
claws.
Since then the deer has had no gall, and the antelope
no dew claws.
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