Notes. One of the characters in this story is a mongoose; you can read more about this distinctively Indian animal at Wikipedia.
Summary: A greedy and clever jackal wants to have the whole elephant to eat for himself, instead of sharing with his friends.
Read the story below:
THE WILY JACKAL
Killing the elephant
Once on a time, in a certain forest, a lion, a tiger, a mungoose, a mouse, and a jackal were living together on very friendly terms. One day, the lion saw an elephant feeding. Thereupon, he said to himself, "We must contrive to get that elephant to eat," and, calling the jackal, he told him he must manage somehow to have the elephant killed."
"As Your Majesty commands," replied the jackal, and he went off in search of the mouse. When he found him, he said, "Brother, you've got to kill that elephant."
"I kill the elephant!" answered the mouse. "The elephant's a huge brute. How's a tiny creature like me to kill him?"
"You can manage it this way," said the jackal. "Burrow a tunnel under the ground from where you are standing to the place where the elephant is feeding. When he sets his foot on the spot where the ground is hollowed out below, it'll give way. Then do you gnaw through the tendon of his foot with your teeth, and he'll fall down and soon die."
The mouse burrowed a tunnel as the jackal bade him, and, when the ground gave way under the elephant's foot, and it sank down into the hole, he bit through the tendon of the heel, and the elephant came down bodily with a great crash, and, in no long time, died.
Tricking the lion
The jackal now went back to the lion and said, "Master, your orders have been carried out. The elephant's dead."
The lion was highly delighted at the news, and thought to himself, what a fine feast all five of them would have.
The jackal, for his part, thought to himself, "I've been clever enough to compass the death of the elephant. Now, I must show myself clever enough to get the whole of him for myself to eat."
So he said to the lion, "Master, this is a most auspicious day. First bathe and perform the stated rites for the benefit of your deceased father and grandfather, and then come and regale yourself with the flesh of the elephant." The lion quite approved of this suggestion, and went off, presently followed by the other three friends, to a neighbouring tank to bathe, while the jackal remained on guard beside the carcass of the elephant.
The lion returned the first from his bath. When he came up, the jackal said to him, "Master, I've something to say to you. Will it be safe for me to speak quite frankly?"
"By all means, speak frankly," was the reply.
"Well, Master," said the jackal, " the mouse has been saying to me, 'The lion is the king of all the animals. He's in the habit of killing for himself and us, too. Will he actually condescend to eat an animal that we have killed?'"
When he heard this, the lion said, "That's quite true. I eat what I've killed, myself. It's altogether beneath my dignity to eat an animal that the mouse has killed." So saying, he walked off, feeling more dignified than pleased.
The tiger
He had just gone, when the tiger turned up. The jackal said to him, "For some reason or other, the lion's in a great rage at you. He gave me orders to let him know as soon as you appeared. I thought it only friendly to tell you about this. You will, of course, do as you think fit."
The tiger thought to himself, ''What's the use of quarrelling with the lion ? He's a very powerful animal. It's wiser to forego the chance of a feed of elephant-flesh than to risk a fight with him. I'll just take myself off for a while."
The mongoose
The mungoose came next.
"What have you done to anger the tiger?" the jackal asked him forthwith.
"I'm to inform him the moment you put in an appearance. And it is only fair to tell you that he looked as if he meant business, when he gave me the order. You'd better consider well what you ought to do in the circumstances."
"It's out of the question for me to think of quarrelling with the tiger," replied the mungoose. "He's a thousand times as big and strong as I am. The only course for me is to clear out." Which he did.
The mouse
Last of all, the mouse appeared. As soon as he saw him, the jackal said, "How have you fallen out with the mungoose ? I'm to tell him the moment I see you. He seems to have some score to pay off. Anyway, I've told you. You know yourself what you had better do."
"I mustn't quarrel with him, whatever I do," answered the mouse. "Like enough he would prefer me to elephant. I had better be going." And he, too, went off.
Much elated by the success of his plan, the jackal now proceeded to take the elephant to pieces.
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