"Long-ears! Long-ears! are you ready?"

Both the little wrestlers faced each other while the deer raised a
leaf on high as signal. When he dropped the leaf the monkey and the
hare rushed upon each other, crying "Yoisho, yoisho!"

While the monkey and the hare wrestled, the deer called out
encouragingly or shouted warnings to each of them as the hare or the
monkey pushed each other near the edge of the platform and were in
danger of falling over.

"Red-back! Red-back! stand your ground!" called out the deer.

"Long-ears! Long-ears! be strong, be strong--don't let the monkey
beat you!" grunted the bear.

So the monkey and the hare, encouraged by their friends, tried their
very hardest to beat each other. The hare at last gained on the
monkey. The monkey seemed to trip up, and the hare giving him a good
push sent him flying off the platform with a bound.

The poor monkey sat up rubbing his back, and his face was very long
as he screamed angrily. "Oh, oh! how my back hurts--my back hurts
me!"

Seeing the monkey in this plight on the ground, the deer holding his
leaf on high said:

"This round is finished--the hare has won."