Once
a jackal lived in a forest. One day, he found the body of an elephant
and was happy that he would have food for many days. However, he
was not able to bite into the thick hide of the elephant and was
circling around the body when a lion came that way. The jackal humbly
prostrated before the lion and said, “My lord, I am your obedient
servant. At your command, I am keeping a vigil on the body of the
elephant. Please help yourself.”
The
lion said, “You know my friend, I do not eat something others have
killed. You may take it as my gift to you.” And the lion left the
place.
After
the lion had left, a tiger came on the scene. The jackal thought, “ I
got rid of one menace through humility. How do I escape this fellow? He
will not yield to any strategy I know. The only way of keeping him at
bay is cunning. Let me try it.”
The
jackal then went half way to greet the tiger and said, “O uncle, why are
you entering this area of death? The lion has killed this elephant
and asked
me to keep watch on it. He has gone to take bath. Before going, he told
me to inform him if any tiger happened to come here. He vowed to kill
all the tigers because long time ago a tiger had nibbled at an elephant
he had killed. He told me that from that day he had sworn to kill all
tigers.”
These
words frightened the tiger. He
told the jackal, “Son, save my life. When the lion comes, don’t tell him
I had come this way. Please.”
On
receiving an assurance from the jackal, the tiger hurriedly left the
scene. Then came a leopard.
The
Jackal thought, “This fellow has strong and sharp teeth. I will persuade
him to pierce the hide of the Elephant”. Addressing
the leopard, the jackal said, “My son, you have come this way after a
long time. You seem to be hungry. Why don’t you be my guest? See this
body of the elephant killed by the lion. He has asked me to keep an eye
on the body. So, have a feast before he
returns.”
The
leopard said, “ Uncle, how can I accept your invitation. If I want to
live long I should not touch this elephant. I will leave now.”
The
jackal assured him, “Don’t worry, you go ahead. I will alert you when
the lion comes.”
The
leopard then began attacking the elephant and when he tore the hide, the
jackal cried, “ Run. The lion is coming.” In
this way, the jackal managed to get rid of the leopard
also.
When
the jackal began feasting on the elephant flesh, another jackal came
that way. He was very angry and looked very strong. The first jackal
remembered the last line of the stanza “crush equals with
power” and
attacked the trespasser with great ferocity and killed
him.
