Me and the Cherry Tree Stag

The Stag

Saint Hubert, the protector of hunters and sportsmen, met a noble stag one day with the Holy Cross between his antlers - so people say. Well, I for one believe it because of something I myself have seen:

In the forest of Alabaster Corner one day I found myself face to face with a stag. How I wished I had not used up all my ammunition! The stag looked me so fearlessly in the eye, I almost thought he knew I had no bullets in the pockets of my hunting coat.

Luckily, though, I had some cherries in my pockets. As quickly as I could, I chewed up a handful, loaded my gun with the cherry pits, and fired away at the stag. A pit hit him in the middle of the forehead, between the antlers. It stunned him. He staggered, yet ran off.

A year or two later, I was with a hunting party in the same forest, and whom should I meet but the very same stag? How could I tell it was he? Why, by the fine, full-grown cherry tree growing between his antlers!

This time I shot him properly - which gave me roast venison for my dinner and also cherry sauce to go with it. For the tree was covered with fruit, richer than any I had ever tasted before.

I keep his mount for a momento, though the tree has withered away, leaving almost no trace of its presence.