The Foolish Lion and the Clever Rabbit

This is one of the most famous stories of the Panchatantra. Once upon a time, there lived a cruel lion by the name of Bhasuraka, in a dense forest. He was very powerful, ferocious and arrogant. He used to kill the animals of the forest to gratify his hunger. This action of the lion became the cause of worry for the animals of the forest. They were worried that after sometime none of them would be left alive. They discussed this problem among themselves and came upon the decision to hold a meeting with the lion. They wanted to arrive on a friendly settlement with the lion and to put an end to the problem.

One day, as per the plan, all the animals of the forest gathered under a big tree. They invited the King Lion to attend the meeting. In the meeting, the representative of the animals said, Your Majesty, it is our happiness, that we got you as our king. We are all the more happy that you are attending this meeting. The King lion thanked them and replied, What is the matter? Why we have gathered here?

All the animals started looking at each other. They were recollecting enough courage to start the topic. One of the animals stood up and said, Sir, its natural that have to kill us for your food. But, killing more than what is required is not a good approach. If you go on killing the animals without any purpose, very soon a day will come, when there will be no animal left in the forest. The king lion roared, So what do you want?

One of the animals replied, Your Majesty, we have already discussed the problem among ourselves and have come upon a solution. We have decided to send one animal daily to your den. You can kill and eat it, the way you like. This will also save you from the trouble of hunting. The lion replied, Fine. I agree to this proposal, but make sure that the animal must reach to me in time, otherwise, I'll kill all the animals of the jungle." The animals agreed to this proposal.

From that day onwards, daily an animal was sent to the lion to become his food. The lion was very happy to have his food right before him without taking any pains of hunting. So, everyday it was the turn of one of the animals. Once, it was the turn of a rabbit to go to the lions den. The rabbit was old and wise. He was unwilling to go, but the other animals forced him to go. The rabbit thought of a plan which would save his life and the lives of other animals of the forest. He took his own sweet time to go to the Lion and reached the lions den a little late than the usual time.

The Lion was getting impatient on not seeing any animal by the time. The Lion got extremely furious when he saw a small rabbit for his meal. He swore to kill all the animals. The rabbit with folded hands hesitatingly explained, Your Majesty. I am not to be blamed for that. Actually, six rabbits were sent to make your meal, but five of them were killed and devoured by another lion. He also claimed to be the king of the forest. I have somehow escaped to reach here safely."

The king lion howled in great anger and said, Impossible, there cannot be another king of this forest. Tell me. Who is he? Ill kill him. Take me to the place, where you saw him. The intelligent rabbit agreed and took the Lion towards a deep well, filled with water. When they reached near the well, the rabbit said, This is the place where he lives. He might be hiding inside.

The Lion looked into the well and saw his own reflection. He thought it was the other Lion. The Lion was furious and started growling. Naturally the image in the water, the other Lion, was also equally angry. In order to kill the other Lion, he jumped into the well. The Lion darted his head against the rocks and drowned in the deep well.

The wise rabbit, with a sigh of relief went back to other animals and narrated the whole story. All the animals got happy and praised the rabbit for his wit. Thus, the jubilant rabbit saved all the animals from the proud Lion and they all lived cheerfully thereafter.

Moral: Intelligence is superior to physical strength.

The Cunning Wolf

It is an interesting story from the collection of Jataka Tales. Once upon a time, some people from a certain town went into a forest for an excursion. They want to enjoy the holiday to its fullest. They took baskets full of eatables with them. They ate all the meat they had brought with them till the noon time. They didnt leave anything for the dinner and suddenly realized that what they would eat in the dinner. They wanted to enjoy the vacation and without proper food, it was quite impossible.

One of the men said, There is no need to worry. I will bring some fresh meat. We will make a fire here and roast it. It will be a great fun too. After saying this, he took a club and went to the lake. He knew that the animals would definitely come to the riverside for drinking water. He lay down on the ground with a club in his hand and pretended as if, he was dead.

After some time, a group of wolves came down to the lake. When they saw the man lying on the riverside, they kept an eye on him for some time. The King of the wolves said, I think, this man is playing trick on us. All of you stay here, while I will go and check whether he is really dead or pretending to be dead. So, the cunning king of the wolves slithered up to the man and pulled his club a little cautiously. The man pulled back his club at once.

The King of the wolves ran from the place and shouted, If you had been dead, you would not have pulled back you club when I tried to pull it. I caught your trick. You pretended to be dead so that you may kill one of us for your dinner. The man quickly jumped up and tried to kill the wolf. He chucked his club at the King of the Wolves. Unfortunately, the man missed his aim and the wolf safely ran away. He looked for the other animals, but none of them was visible. All of them ran away.

The man got frustrated at this, but could not do anything. Thus, he went back to his friends and said, I tried to get fresh meat by playing a trick on the animals, but the cunning wolf played a better trick on me. I am sorry. I could not get fresh meat for you.

Story1: This is another nice story from the album of Jataka Kathaye (Tales). Once upon a time, there was a swan / goose that had striking golden feathers. This swan lived in a pond. There was a house near this pond, where a poor woman lived with her two daughters. The people were really poor and were leading a tough life. The swan found that the poor mother was passing a hard time with her daughters.

The swan thought, If I give them one after another my golden feathers, the mother can sell them. She and her daughters can live in comfort with the money raised from it. After thinking this, the swan flew away to the poor womans house. On seeing the swan inside the house, the woman said, Why have you come here? We have nothing to offer you.

The Swan replied, I have not come to take anything, but I have something to give you. I know your condition. I will give my golden feathers one by one and you can sell them. With the money raised through it, you people can easily live in comfort. After saying this, the swan shed one of her feathers and then flew away. This became a regular feature and from time to time, the swan came back and every time left another feather.

Like this, the mother and her daughters were happily leading their life by selling the feathers of the golden swan. Each golden feather got them enough money to keep them in comfort. But the mother became greedy to get all the feathers as soon as possible. One day, she said to her daughters, Now, we will not trust this swan, possibly she may fly away and never come back. If this would happen, we will be poor again. We will take all of her feathers, when she will come the next time.

The innocent daughters replied, Mother, this will hurt the swan. We will not cause any pain to her. But the mother was determined to catch hold the swan the very next time she comes. Next time, when the swan came, the mother caught her and pulled out all of her feathers. Now, the golden feathers of the swan changed into some strange feathers. The mother was shocked to see such feathers.

The Golden Swan said, Poor Mother, I wanted to help you, but you wanted to kill me instead. As per my wish, I used to give you the golden feather. Now, I think there is no need to help you. Now, my feathers are nothing more than chicken feathers for you. I am going from this place and will never come back. The mother felt sorry and apologized for the mistake committed by her. The Golden Swan said, Never be greedy and flew away. Moral: Excess greed brings nothing.

The Musical Donkey

Here is one more interesting story from the Panchatantra collection. Once upon a time, there lived a washer man in a village. He possessed a thin donkey by the name of Udhata. The donkey used to work for the washer man and carry loads of clothes to the river bank by the day. The donkey was not satisfied with the food that was provided by the washer man. In the nights, he usually wandered in the fields nearby and ate the crops stealthily.

One night, he met a jackal and made friends with him. Both of them went out in search of food. They found a field full of cucumbers and had them to their full. They were happy to found a nice place for their food and decided that they would come daily to eat cucumbers. Now daily, they came to the field to have cucumbers. Soon, the donkey started looking healthy and fat.

Once, after a tasty meal of cucumbers, the donkey was extremely happy. He was so happy that he got an intense desire to sing a song. He told the jackal that he was overwhelmed and wanted to express his happiness in a melodious song. The jackal immediately replied, "Don't be a fool. If you sing, the guards sleeping in and around this field will wake up and beat us black and blue with sticks.

The donkey insisted on singing. The jackal again warned him not to do any foolish act. The donkey said, You are a dull fellow. Singing makes one happy and healthy. No matter what comes, I'll definitely sing a song." The jackal told him that his voice was not sweet. The donkey thought that jackal was jealous of him. The jackal once again warned him that if he would sing, the guards would come and reward him in the way, might be that he would not like.

But the donkey could not stop himself from singing. Seeing the donkey singing, jackal said to the donkey, "Friend, wait a minute. First, let me jump over to the other side of the fence for my safety." The jackal decided to wait outside the garden. On hearing a donkey braying in the field, the guard woke up from his sleep. He picked up his stick lying by his side and rushed out to beat him. The donkey was braying happily, unknown about the danger.

The angry guard found the donkey and beat him so mercilessly that the donkey was physically incapacitated temporarily. Somehow, the donkey managed to drag himself out of the field to the waiting jackal. The jackal looked at the donkey and said in a sympathetic tone, I am sorry to see you in this pathetic condition. I had already warned you, but you didn't listen to my advice." The donkey realized his mistake and felt sorry for not listening to the good advice of jackal. Moral: Think before you act.