Category Archives: PANCHATANTRA TALES
14. THE BIRD WITH TWO HEADS
Long, long ago, there lived a strange bird in a huge banyan tree. The tree stood beside a river. The strange bird had two heads, but only one stomach.
Once, while the bird was flying high in the sky, he saw an apple shaped fruit lying on the bank of the river. The bird swooped down, picked up the fruit and began to eat it. This was the most delicious fruit the bird had ever eaten.
As the bird had two heads, the other head protested, “I’m your brother head. Why don’t you let me also eat this tasty fruit?”
13. THE BEAR AND GOLU AND MOLU
Golu and Molu were fast friends. Golu was a lean and thin boy, whereas Molu was fat. People, in the village laughed at this combination. For a major period of the day, they would be seen together. Everyone admired their friendship. Once, they got an invitation from one of their friends, who had invited them to attend his sister’s marriage. The marriage was to take place in a nearby village.
12. THE BATS
Long ago, a fierce fighting broke out between the beasts and the birds. The birds pecked at the beasts and flew away. The beasts were helpless as the birds used to fly out of their reach after pecking at them. This battle went on for many days. The bats on their part kept themselves aloof. They didn’t join either the birds or the beasts. They preferred to go with the winner. They thought to themselves: “Ours is a special position, we’re birds because we can fly, we’re beasts because we don’t lay eggs”. The bats only watched the birds and the beasts fight with each other.
So the fighting went on. Seeing the birds in a winning position, the bats would join the birds, and the next time they would support the beasts, because the beasts seemed to be winning.
On the other hand, the birds and the beasts seemed to have become tired of their continuous battle. So, they decided to make peace. The king of birds and the king of beasts both sat together to find out some way to a permanent peace. Ultimately, both of them decided to forget the past and become good friends. They also decided not to allow the bats community either to join the birds or the beasts, because they were opportunists.
At last, the bats were left alone. They felt ashamed of themselves. They hid themselves in the dark caves and crevices. They came out of their hiding only at twilight-when the birds were back to their nests and the beasts were not yet out of their dens.
❖ One should avoid fair-weather friends.
11. THE BAD LADY AND THE WOLF
Long ago, there lived a carpenter in a village. He was gentle but his wife was of a wicked nature and bad character. She detested her husband, because he was much older than her. Her infidelity drove her to become friendly with some other young men. One day, she met such a man who showed interest in her. But the man was in fact a thief. He knew that she was a lewd woman and had a lot of money with her. So, with a pretension of love, he decided to rob her. He said to her, I love you very much. I know, you too love me. Why don’t you marry me. Come to me with some money. Then, we’ll run Alay to some other town; marry there and live comfortably, thereafter.”
