The Three Stag Beetles and the Big Bad Rhino Beetle

Once upon a time, in a bustling forest of towering trees and bright green leaves, there lived three stag beetle brothers named Stew, Stan, and Spike. They were known throughout the undergrowth for two things: the great antlered mandibles they carried on their heads, and the bond between them, which nothing had ever managed to break. Wherever one went, the other two were rarely far behind.

One sunny morning their mother called them to her side.

“My dear sons,” she said, “it is time for you to build homes of your own. But take care. There is a big bad rhino beetle roaming these woods. He is always looking for a fight, and he will try to take your homes from you if you give him half a chance.”

Determined to prove themselves, the three brothers set off in three different directions.

Stew, the youngest, was in a great hurry to be finished. He found a heap of dry fallen leaves and decided they would do. “This will be snug and warm,” he thought, weaving the leaves into a small brown hut.

Stan, the middle brother, was rather more careful. He found a scattering of twigs and thin branches and built his house out of those. “Twigs are stronger than leaves,” he reasoned. “This will keep me safe.”

Spike, the eldest and the wisest, took his time. He found a solid old tree stump and spent days packing bark and moss into every crack and hollow of it. “Bark and moss will last,” he told himself. “This will be a fortress.”

The days passed, and all three brothers were happy in their new homes.

Then, one grey afternoon, the big bad rhino beetle came lumbering through the forest. His name was Rocco, and the great horn on his head shone as he came. He was famous for his temper, and he had been looking for new territory to claim.

The first house he came upon was Stew’s, built of leaves. Rocco stamped up to the door and called out.

“Little stag beetle, little stag beetle, let me come in!”

Stew peeked through a gap in the leaves and trembled. “Not by the mandibles on my chinny-chin-chin!”

“Then I’ll BASH, and I’ll CRASH, and I’ll SMASH your house in!” roared Rocco.

One mighty shove was all it took. The leaf house went up into the air in a swirl of brown, and Stew scurried away as fast as his legs could carry him to Stan’s house of twigs.

Rocco was not discouraged in the least. He came stamping after him.

“Little stag beetles, little stag beetles, let me come in!”

Stan and Stew huddled together inside. “Not by the mandibles on our chinny-chin-chins!”

“Then I’ll BASH, and I’ll CRASH, and I’ll SMASH your house in!” bellowed Rocco.

He put his head down and rammed the twig house with his great horn. CRACK! The twigs flew apart and rattled away across the forest floor. Stan and Stew fled together, running for Spike’s fortress of bark and moss.

Rocco followed, angrier now than ever.

“Little stag beetles, little stag beetles, let me come in!”

Spike, Stan, and Stew stood together with their mandibles raised. “Not by the mandibles on our chinny-chin-chins!”

“Then I’ll BASH, and I’ll CRASH, and I’ll SMASH your house in!” shouted Rocco.

He charged with all his might. THUD! The stump did not shift. He backed off and charged again. THUD! Not a scrap of bark came loose. Again and again he threw himself at Spike’s walls until his horn ached and his legs shook — and the fortress stood exactly as it had before.

Furious, Rocco tried something else. He began to dig beneath the stump, scraping at the soil. But the tree’s old roots ran thick and deep beneath it, twisting together like ropes, and no amount of scraping would shift them.

At last, worn out and thoroughly beaten, Rocco gave up and lumbered away into the trees, grumbling to himself the whole way.

Inside the stump, the three brothers cheered until the moss shook loose from the ceiling.

“We learned something important today,” Spike said, once the noise had died down. “Together, we are strong. And if we build wisely, we can withstand anything.”

From that day on, Stew, Stan, and Spike lived happily together in the sturdy house of bark and moss. They went on helping the other insects and keeping watch over their corner of the forest. Their courage and good sense became famous, and the tale of the three stag beetles and the big bad rhino beetle was told from root to branch, reminding everyone who heard it of the power of sticking together and thinking ahead.

And so the three brothers lived happily ever after, their bond stronger than ever, and their home known throughout the forest as a byword for strength that lasts.