I must tell you now that the tiger himself can smell the deer. But he cannot do that very far off,--so the deer always smells him _first_! Also, the tiger can hear the deer, if the deer happens to be moving. But the tiger cannot hear quite so far as the deer can. So the deer always hears him _first_! But in one thing the tiger is better off than the deer: _the tiger can see farther than the deer_. In the night most animals can see a little, but the tiger can see a little better and farther than the others. And in the daytime, if a deer were feeding in a very big level field, and a tiger came to the field from the other side, the tiger would see the deer before the deer could see him. Then the tiger would come round to the nearest thicket, and try to creep up to the deer from thicket to thicket. _Each Animal has the Gift he Needs Most_ So, you understand, the deer can _hear_ farther and _smell_ farther; but the tiger can _see_ farther. And that is so because it is a wonderful rule in the jungle that _each animal has the gift that he needs most_. But can you think why the tiger _needs_ to see farther, and why the deer _needs_ to hear farther and smell farther? I shall tell you. The tiger is the catcher, and the deer is the one that is caught. So the tiger tries to get to the deer, and the deer tries to run _from_ the tiger. But to get to the deer, it would be no use to the tiger if he could only smell or hear the deer, for then he would only know that the deer was _somewhere_ near, but could not find the exact spot; and to catch the deer the tiger must know exactly where the deer is. So the best way for him to know that is to _see_ the deer. But for the deer himself, all that he needs to know is that a tiger is somewhere near. So it is quite enough for him to know from which side the tiger is coming, by just smelling him or hearing him. Then the deer can run the other way at once. He does not want to see the tiger at all! So, you understand, the tiger's best gift is to be able to see the deer; and the deer's best gift is to be able to smell and hear the tiger. But then, you may ask, if the deer can always run away long before the tiger can get at him, does a tiger never catch a deer? Yes, a tiger does catch a deer once in a while, if the deer happens to make a mistake! And the deer can make only one mistake like that in his life, because after the first he gets eaten! So, you may be sure, the deer tries very hard never to make even that one mistake. And what is that one mistake? It is to run straight into the jaws of the tiger! It may just happen that when the deer hears the tiger coming, he does not listen quite carefully, and so he does not know which way the sound is coming. Then, in running away, the deer may happen to go just the wrong way--and fall into the tiger's jaws.