The Deer of Nine Colors

Long ago there lived a deity that took the form of a deer. It was a divine creature, with a gay coat of nine different colors and its majestic antlers shone brightly white, glittering and glistening like jade. What a lovely deer! It was known as the Deer of Nine Colors.
One day, as the deer was browsing along the riverbank, it suddenly heard desperate cries coming from the river. "Help! Help! Mountain gods, tree god, dragon god, and gods in heaven, please be quick and come to my rescue!" The deer raised his head and saw a man rushing downstream by the turbulent current as he clutched a log for fear of drowning.
Regardless of the danger in which he might be involved, the kind-hearted deer jumped into the river and swam to the man. The deer used every ounce of his strength and struggled out of the river with the man to the safety of the riverbank.
The man, called Devadatta, who had not yet recovered from his plight, was very grateful for the deer's help. He got down on his knees before the deer and kowtowed many times. "A thousand thanks for saving my life! I swear I'm your willing servant until the day I die! You have saved my life! I shall seek green grass for you as my everlasting thanks..." he said.
"It is my pleasure to save the life of a person," the deer cut him short. "I understand your good intention, but go back to your home and celebrate with your family. The debt of gratitude that you will pay me is, don' t tell anyone about this area in which I live."
Devadatta made an oath again, saying; "Trust me. I'll never tell anyone your whereabouts. If I break faith with you, I'll rot from head to foot. Again, I thank you very much for your life-saving assistance. No words can express my debt of gratitude for saving my life." Then, Devadatta said goodbye to the deer as his eyes filled with thankful tears.
It is told that in the kingdom, there lived a charming imperial concubine. One night, she dreamed of a deer with nine colors and snow-white antlers. When she awoke the next morning, her eyes revealed her strong sense of greed for the coat of the deer in her dreams and she thought, "Only if I had a cloak made of its beautiful coat of the nine colors, I would be the most beautiful and attractive woman in the Palace!"
So she told the king what she had seen in her dream, coquettishly asking His Majesty immediately to capture a deer of nine colors for her, otherwise she would rather die before him.
The king could not help but comply, and then imperial notices were posted on the walls of the Palace, offering a high reward for the capture of the deer. "Anyone who knows the whereabouts of such a deer or the capturer of the deer, no matter the means, will be given half the kingdom and the gold bowls filled with jewels."
In fact, no one knew where to find such a deer, but one, and that was Devadatta.
When he saw the imperial notice, he was overjoyed. He thought, "I would be very rich soon." He ripped it down and hurried to the Palace, asking to be received by the king.
"So," the excited king said, "you know where to find the deer?"
"I am the man who knows not only the beast's living place, but also the details of his wholeness," Devadatta bragged.
Devadatta then led the king and his soldiers to the Ganges River, where they found the deer lying in the green and luxuriant grass circled by dense trees beside the water. The king's soldiers surrounded the deer, but just as they were about to shoot their arrows, the deer dashed over to the king.
"To die is nothing to me. I have one request before you kill me," he said to the king. "How did Your Majesty come to know where I lived?"
"It was him," the king responded, pointing his finger at Devadatta.
The deer boiled with rage and angrily denounced Devadatta and related to the king how it had, in danger of losing its own life, saved Devadatta from his drowning in the river and the oath Devadatta had made before it.
Raising his voice, the deer addressed the king, "Your Majesty, Devadatta promised never to reveal my whereabouts to anyone, but now he broke his promise. He is a mean-spirited person who repays kindness with enmity. Your Majesty, to have such a dishonorable person in your country shames you. What a pity! What a pity indeed! That is all. I am ready now to be killed."
The king felt so ashamed at hearing the true story that he strongly condemned Devadatta, and concluding by saying, "You are despicable. Be gone at once!"
Upon leaving, Devadatta thought it would be better to find a place to hide himself from the shame. Afterwards, he was infested with boils from top of his head to the soles of his feet, running with foul pus, which was a retribution for his own disloyalty to the deer.
After arriving at the Royal Palace, the king proclaimed that no one in his kingdom would be allowed to do any harm to the Deer of Nine Colors.