Once, Mara laid a trap in the forest to catch rabbits. He went into the forest before daybreak to take his catch. The trap was empty and so he had to trek back home empty-handed. Since there was a stream flowing nearby Mara decided to brush his teeth and wash his face before trekking back home. He broke a stick from a nearby plant and brushed his teeth a couple of times. When he brushed the teeth a fourth time, he felt a sour taste in the mouth. Then he rinsed his mouth taking some water from the stream. When he spat it out, all the teeth which had been touched by the stick tumbled out of his mouth. Then Mara realized that he had brushed only the teeth in the right side of the mouth and hence they had fallen out, whereas the teeth in the left side were intact, as he had not brushed them with that stick. Thus by brushing only the teeth in the right side of his mouth, Mara had escaped losing all his teeth.
