Introduction to Phil the Deer
Hey there, folks, my name is Thumper and I am a rabbit. I wanted to tell you a story. No, not a story about me, but a story about a good friend of mine named Phil. Now Phil, he is a deer. He was the best friend that any rabbit could ever ask for. We got in all types of trouble together. Phil would always initiate and always got me to do the crazy things that I would have never done on my own. It wasn’t often but sometimes we would get into trouble that we just couldn’t get out of, those times that we would get grounded for ages for being caught. Now I always learned my lesson and tried to make Phil not as crazy, but he was just the deer that would not learn, and he would always pull me right back into the mix of danger and trouble every chance he got. But hey, we had some good times. Like that time back at that old badger's place when we would go crazy outside just to freak him out.
But that’s not all that Phil was. Phil was a great buck. When we grew up he became the most outspoken of the entire deer population of our forest. He was the Banyan deer, the one deer that would hold everyone together and make sure that the deer had a voice in the woods. What a hero. He challenged those badgers and owls in leadership. Not only the deer, but also the entire little folk in the forest, the rabbits included. He always meant well, and he was well liked because of it.
Well, Phil, grew up and after he got married and had some kids he, well, he had to be the big adult that those little deer needed. So he made sure that he was always there for them. He was the best dad that anybody could ask for. I was, and still am today, like an uncle to his kids. He always brought me along and made me part of his family, very welcoming he was. I remember one day, though, he had a great story of getting caught by some hunter in the woods. Well, needless to say, that cunning deer escaped and came running on home. He was wiser than any of those hunters that you would see in the woods. Some would attribute that to his uncle who practically raised him with his mom. I, on the other hand, say that it was all me that made him so smart and cunning. But that’s neither here nor there. Well, I am gonna tell you a good ol' story about that ol' Phil. So listen up and listen well. This might just be the best story that you ever do here. Let me take you back to the time when were kids. I’ll tell you this story in his own words. That would make him much happier if I told you that way.
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Let me take you back to when Phil and I were kids...
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Hello, friends, my name is Phil. I am a deer and I live in the Tikri Reserve Forest. If you do not know, it's on the northeast side of India, near the border of Nepal. I love it up here in the Tikri Reserve. It's filled with all types of other animals that I have learned to call my friends. I have a friend named Thumper. He is a rabbit and I call him my best friend. Well, his nickname is Thumper. Honestly I have kinda forgotten his real name because I have only called him Thumper since I have known him. He introduced himself as Thumper to me and I have never asked questions about it. All of my family lives here as well. I live with my mother, Sandy, and my sister, Brooke, and my uncle, Jeff. My dad is gone. I honestly don't know what happened to him. My mother doesn't like to talk about it, but my uncle has been a dad to me since I was real young. I am a year and a half old now. I know that doesn't sound like much, but typically deers don't live too long. I am basically a teenager.
Thumper and I love to cause trouble. We run around messing with old master Bill. Bill is an angry old badger who just loves to tell stories about his adventures through the forest. But if you don't listen then he just hits you with a stick and tells you to leave. He’s a badger. Badgers typically are mean anyways. Thumper and I love to play pranks on master Bill. We will ding dong ditch him or makes tons of noise outside his house in the middle of the night. It's pretty awesome to us, but we always get in trouble with our parents later. They tell us we will never learn. I am not sure that I don't disagree with them. I love to mess around in the forest. But they just don't like that I like to do that. I think it is their problem. They always tell me that I am going to get myself in so much trouble some day that I will not be able to get out of it. Well, that hasn't happened yet, so I will just wait till it does to finally listen I think.
My mom and my uncle are always working together to try and get me to act like my sister Brooke. She is Miss Goodie Two-Shoes. They tell me all the time that I should act and behave like her. They tell me all sorts of stories to try and scare me into behaving or to straighten up. I don't like to listen to their talks though. My uncle really tries to hammer these talks into me. Any time we are just hanging out he brings up some story of trying to learn to behave. I just want to tell him to shut up and hang.
I am a kid and I don’t need to learn anything right now. I just want to be young and have fun. What's wrong with messing around with my friends if it’s just all fun?
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The Jatakas
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Jataka Level, Man and Deer
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