A few days later, Suphea Rabbit was resting on a tree stump gazing down a river observing a crocodile swimming leisurely up and down the stream. He thought to himself, "How can I go to the other side of the river with this rapid current of river flow?"

Then he thought of using the big crocodile as a ferry. He had to make a deal to get the crocodile to agree to transport him to the other side of the river bank. After he cooked up an idea he yelled: "Brother Crocodile, what is wrong with your skin? Why is your skin full of hard lumpy bumps?"

The crocodile answered: "It is called skin leprosy".

Suphea Rabbit said: " I know how to cure skin leprosy. I will cure your skin disease if you take me to the other side of the river."

Crocodile replied: "Okay. You can sit on top of my head and I will take you there."

Suphea Rabbit felt uncomfortable sitting directly on Crocodile's slimy rough skin, so he collected some leaves to use as a mat to sit on.

Crocodile asked him: "Why do you do that?"

Rabbit answered: "Out of reverence for you, I cannot sit directly on your head for fear of being disrespectful."

The crocodile's huge body swiftly took Suphea Rabbit to the other side of the river and as he neared the edge, Rabbit prepared himself for a huge leap towards the high ground of the river bank. Crocodile knew nothing of Rabbit's last maneuver, so he waited patiently for Suphea Rabbit to administer his cure.

Suphea Rabbit, high on the ground and out of reach of Crocodile, yelled: "Sorry, Brother Crocodile, I am no doctor. Your skin has been like this since your ancestors' time; therefore, nobody can cure it, not even me."

Crocodile realized that he had been tricked by Rabbit for a free ride. He became furious and swore to get back at him someday.

Crocodile had vengence on his mind to catch Suphea Rabbit off guard. One day, he thought of acting like a floating log to fool Rabbit into stepping on him to cross the river, and then he would swallow Rabbit whole.

So Crocodile pretended to be a big log floating himself downstream, but he could not fool suspecting Rabbit who tested Crocodile by shouting to himself: "Hmmm! Since my ancestors' time, a log always float upstream not downstream."

Crocodile was not very smart. When he heard that comment, he thought he was wrong floating downstream, so he changed his course by going upstream instead.

Then Suphea Rabbit yelled out to him again: "Brother Crocodile, since my ancestors' time, logs cannot swim upstream against the current! Only you can swim."

Suphea Rabbit tricked Crocodile once again with another mind game.

NEXT >> Suphea Rabbit and the Baby Elephants