Category Archives: INDIA
44. THE FEMALE MOUSE
On the bank of the river Ganges, there was a beautiful hermitage. The water from the river gushed down on rocks, making a tremendous noise, which frightened the fishes. It whirled round and round and the water was a mass of foam. Now in this hermitage lived hermits, who were always absorbed in meditation. Their bodies had grown lean with fasting, penance and rigorous self-discipline. They ate roots and fruits and drank the holy water from the Ganges. They wore clothes made of bark. The Guru of this hermitage was one Yadnyavalkya.
43. THE FALCON AND THE CROW
There lived a big falcon on a high mountain rock. Down in the plains, there lived a black crow in a huge tree. One day, the falcon swooped down upon a rabbit on the ground. The falcon caught hold of the rabbit in his talons and flew back to his nest on the mountain rock. The black crow saw the falcon do this thrilling feat. He thought to perform the same feat himself.
‘What a fun it was to watch the falcon pick up the rabbit from the ground! Now I’ll myself do this.’ The crow thought to himself and flew high in the sky. Then, he swooped down with great force upon a rabbit sitting on the ground. But his swoop was not correctly aimed at and instead of catching the rabbit, he dashed against a heavy rock. His neck broke and his head cracked. He died on the spot.
❖ Never imitate others in a foolish manner.
42. THE ENMITY BETWEEN CROWS AND OWLS
Once upon a time, all the birds, the swans, the parrots, cranes, cuckoos, nightingales, owls, peacocks, doves, partridges and the rest of them, had a meeting. They began to hold a discussion with great vehemence.
‘Garuda, the king of the birds, is our king, ‘they said, ‘but he is so busy serving his master that he doesn’t bother about us.
What is the point of having a master who is just a namesake! He never helps us out of the traps set by hunters.”
41. THE ELEPHANT AND THE SPARROW
Somewhere in the jungle, a pair of sparrows had made their nest in a huge tree. In due course the female sparrow laid her eggs there.
One day because of the tremendous heat, an agitated elephant came and stood under the shade of the tree. With his trunk, he caught hold of the branches supporting the sparrow’s nest and pulled them down. The nest fell to the ground and the eggs were smashed. Luckily the sparrows managed to escape but, because she had lost her eggs, the female sparrow was heartbroken and began to cry loudly.
A woodpecker listening to her sobs felt touched. He went over to her and said, “My good sparrow, what’s the point of crying, for what is to happen, will surely happen?”
“That’s true”, said the female sparrow, “but this wicked elephant has killed my children. If you are my friend, please find some way of destroying him, so that I can forget the loss of my eggs.”
“I will.’said the woodpecker, “Now I too have a friend, a fly. Lets go and ask her to help us, destroy this cruel elephant.” And so, the woodpecker went with the female sparrow to the fly and said to her, “My friend, this sparrow is a dear friend of mine. A wicked elephant has destroyed her eggs. Please help us find a way to kill him.”
“Certainly I’ll help you, my good friend”, replied the fly, “otherwise, what is a friend for? Now I too have a friend a frog Lets go and ask him to help us destroy this cruel elephant.” And so they all went together to the frog and told him what had happened.
Then the frog said, ” What can this elephant do against us, if we work together? Listen, I have a plan. Fly! When the sun is at the highest point, you go and buzz in his ears, so that in sheer ecstasy, he closes his eyes.
Then, woodpecker! You peck his eyes, and blind him. Then I will sit at the edge of the pit that’s nearby and croak. When the elephant is thirsty, hearing me croak, he will come to the pit, thinking it is a lake of water. He will fall right in and, being unable to get out again, he’ll die. Now, if we follow this plan, we’ll have our revenge.”
The others agreed and they carried out the plan successfully. The elephant groped his way to the muddy pit, fell in and died.
❖ Even the low and humble achieve results when they work together.
