33. THE CROW AND THE WATER PITCHER
Long ago, there lived a crow in a jungle. Once he was wandering in search of water to quench his thirst. At last, he came flying over a village. There he saw a pitcher lying in front of a house. There was some water in it. The crow tried to reach the water, but couldn’t succeed. The water level was too low in the pitcher. The crow began to think of some practicable device and finally came up with a bright idea. He looked around and found a pebble. He picked up the pebble in his beak and dropped it into the pitcher.
The crow realised that the water level had risen a little. So he dropped more pebbles in the pitcher till the water level was high enough for his beak to touch it.
The thirsty crow then drank the water to his hearts content and flew away.
❖ Necessity is the mother of invention.
32. THE CRAB AND THE SNAKE
Once upon a time, there lived in a village, a youth by the name of Brahmadatta. One day, Brahmadatta had to go to some other town for some important business. His mother called Brahmadatta and said to him, “My dear son, don’t travel alone. Better take a companion with you. He can help you, at least, when you are in trouble.”
But Brahmadatta said, “Mother, I am a young man. I can very well take care of myself. Besides, who do I take with me as companion?”
31. THE CLEVER JACKAL AND DEAD ELEPHANT
Once upon a time, there lived a jackal in a dense forest. His name was Mahachaturaka. He was very clever. One day, while he was wandering in search of food, he came across a dead elephant. He wanted to eat its flesh, but his teeth were not strong enough to cut through the tough hide of the elephant. So, he waited patiently for someone to come around.
In the meantime, a lion came there. The jackal said to him, “Your Majesty, please have a taste of the elephant. I have been guarding it for you only.”
30. THE CAT, THE RAT AND THE HUNTER
Once upon a time, there lived an owl in a big banyan tree. A mouse, a cat and a mongoose also shared his neighbourhood. They all feared each other. The owl was scared of the cat. The mouse would be frightened to see the owl, the cat or the mongoose. The owl and the cat were the enemies of the mongoose. But despite all these problems, all of them continued living at the same place.
Once a hunter came under the banyan tree. He spread his snare there and waited at a distance for some animal to be trapped in. After sometime, the cat came there looking for the mouse. She stepped on the snare and got trapped. Seeing the cat in the net the mouse became happy and came out of his hole and began taking rounds of the trap in great joy.
