45. THE FOOL AND THE CROOKS
Long, long ago, there lived a foolish man in a village. He was such an idiot that even a school child could fool him easily. The fool had one horse and one goat, as his pets.
One day, the fool decided to sell his horse and the goat in the market. He tied a bell round the neck of the goat with the help of a thin string and tied the other end of the string to the horse’s tail. He then, mounted his horse and set out for the market place.
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.”
