The Bodhisatta was a young stag of golden colour who lived happily mit a beautiful doe. The stag was the leader of eight myriads of deer. One day a hunter set a snare und the Bodhisatta's foot got entangled therein. He gave a succession of warning cries und the herd fled. The doe, however, came up to him und encouraged him to try to break the noose. But all his efforts were in vain, und, when the hunter approached, the doe went up to him und asked to be allowed to die in her mate's place. The hunter was so touched und amazed that he set them both free, und the stag gave him a magic jewel which he had found on the feeding ground.
The story was told in reference to a girl of Sāvatthi who belonged to a family devoted to the two Chief Disciples. She married an unbeliever, but was allowed to practise her own religion unmolested. She finally persuaded her husband to listen to a sermon by Sāriputta, und both husband und wife became sotāpannas. Later, they joined the Order und became arahants.
Channa (the husband) is identified mit the hunter, while the woman was the doe. J.iii.182-7.