53. THE FROGS AND CUNNING OLD SNAKE
There lived a brown snake by the name of Mandvishya near a pond. The pond was full of frogs – big and small. They were all leading a happy life under the good rule of their king frog. The big brown snake had become old and weak and could no more catch his prey easily for his meals. So he decided to play a ruse upon the frogs. One day, he went to the pond and lay there as if he was suffering from illness. After sometime, the king frog happened to come out of water. He saw the brown snake lying by the side of the pond in a pitiable condition. When he asked for the reason in a frightened tone, the snake said, “A week before, I bit the son of a pundit by mistake, because he had tried to kill me with a stick. He died immediately. Now the pundit has cursed me. According to his curse, I’ll have to serve the frogs and have to eat whatever they offer me for food. So, I’m here to serve you.”
52. THE FROG AND THE SERPENT
THERE lived a frog king by the name of Gangadatta, in a deep well. His subjects and other relatives too lived in the same well. The relatives had an evil eye on his throne and often created problems for the king frog. In order to disrupt the smooth working of the kingdom, and with a view to cause impediments, they hatched a plan with the connivance of a minister of the kingdom and soon there was a revolt against the king frog. The king frog somehow managed to subdue the revolt, but he was very unhappy. He took a vow to take a revenge and teach them the lesson of their life. One day, he came out of the well with the help of iron chains hanging on the walls of the well. He headed straight towards. the hole of a big serpent, which he had seen earlier.
Keeping himself at a considerably safe distance, king frog called out to the serpent. The serpent was surprised to hear a frog calling him. He came out of the hole.
“I wish to be your friend”, said the king frog.
“But we are born enemies,” replied the serpent. “How’s it possible?”
“I will make it possible. I have a proposal,” said king frog. He spoke to the serpent about his plan and told him that he was bent upon teaching his relatives a lesson. “I want to punish them. I will take you to the well and in the process you can eat them all.”
“Is it a dry well?” asked the serpent.
“There is not much water in it”, said the king frog. “However, you needn’t worry. There is a nice hole in the wall of the well, a little above the water level. You can eat my relative frogs and retire into it to take rest.”
“Okay, lead me to the well. I’ll teach your relatives a lesson”, said the serpent hissing loudly.
The king frog took the serpent to his well and said, “Here live my relatives and rebels. You can eat them all, but please spare my near and dear ones.”
“All right,” said the serpent and entered the well followed by the king frog. There he started eating the frogs, one by one, as and when pointed out by the king frog. Soon all the enemies of the king frog were eaten up by the serpent.
Now it was the turn of the king frog and his family. The serpent said to the king frog, “As you see, I’ve finished all your relatives and rebels. I’ve eaten your disloyal minister also. Now I’ve nothing to eat except you and your family.”
King frog realised his folly. He had befriended his enemy to achieve his own selfish ends and settle his score with his enemies. The king frog felt as if the god of death was in his hot persuit. He, somehow, managed to gather some courage and said to the serpent, “No problem. I’ll visit some other wells and ponds and persuade the frogs living there to resettle themselves in this empty well. Once they are in here, you can feast on them with ease.”
“That’s, good”, the serpent became happy. “Do it soon. I’m hungry.”
Both the king frog and his wife came out of the well and took to their heels, never to return to the same well again.
❖ Never look to an enemy for help.
❖ Do not make friendship with enemies to achieve your own selfish ends and settle your score with your enemies.
❖ Beware of deception from all quarters including your friends.
51. THE FOX REARED BY THE LION
Once upon a time there was a lion and a lioness in a dense forest. They gave birth to two cubs in due course of time. The lion asked the lioness to stay at home and take care of the cubs. One day the lion could not hunt any animal but found a little fox on the way home. He took it home as a gift for the lioness. The lioness brought the fox kid with the same love as her own cubs. The three young animals grew and played together. One day the children saw an elephant. The lion cubs wanted to fight the elephant. But the fox kid was frightened and asked them to run away. So they ran away and went to the mother lioness.
The lion cubs told the story to her. She laughed at the fox kid. At this the fox kid was offended and in a rage challenged the lioness as to why she called him a coward. The lioness replied, “What’s wrong with eating an elephant? You feel like that only because you’re not a lion kid. You are the child of a fox. Your breed never eats elephants. If you cannot be bold please leave us and go live with your tribe.” The fox kid did not want to live there any longer and left for the forest.
❖ A coward will always remain a coward even if it is in company of the brave.
❖ One should always be in ones own company.
❖ Know the truth about yourself and act accordingly.
50. THE FOX AND THE ELEPHANT
There lived a huge elephant in a dense jungle. He was cruel and arrogant by nature. He roamed freely in the jungle, pulling down small trees and branches. Those animals who lived in the trees were very much afraid of this elephant. When he pulled down the trees and tore off the branches, many a nests with eggs and nestlings came down crashing on the ground and got destroyed. His movement in the jungle created an all round havoc. Even the tigers and lions kept themselves at a safe distance from this rogue. In his ruthless march in the jungle, many holes of the foxes were trampled. This led to dissatisfaction among the foxes and among the other animals alike. Many of them wanted to kill the elephant. But this task was very difficult, because of his huge size.
