The lion said, “You know my friend, I do not eat something others have killed. You may take it as my gift to you.” And the lion left the place.
After the lion had left, a tiger came on the scene. The jackal thought, “ I got rid of one menace through humility. How do I escape this fellow? He will not yield to any strategy I know. The only way of keeping him at bay is cunning. Let me try it.”
The jackal then went half way to greet the tiger and said, “O uncle, why are you entering this area of death? The lion has killed this elephant and asked me to keep watch on it. He has gone to take bath. Before going, he told me to inform him if any tiger happened to come here. He vowed to kill all the tigers because long time ago a tiger had nibbled at an elephant he had killed. He told me that from that day he had sworn to kill all tigers.”
These words frightened the tiger. He told the jackal, “Son, save my life. When the lion comes, don’t tell him I had come this way. Please.”
On receiving an assurance from the jackal, the tiger hurriedly left the scene. Then came a leopard.
The Jackal thought, “This fellow has strong and sharp teeth. I will persuade him to pierce the hide of the Elephant”. Addressing the leopard, the jackal said, “My son, you have come this way after a long time. You seem to be hungry. Why don’t you be my guest? See this body of the elephant killed by the lion. He has asked me to keep an eye on the body. So, have a feast before he returns.”
The leopard said, “ Uncle, how can I accept your invitation. If I want to live long I should not touch this elephant. I will leave now.”
The jackal assured him, “Don’t worry, you go ahead. I will alert you when the lion comes.”
The leopard then began attacking the elephant and when he tore the hide, the jackal cried, “ Run. The lion is coming.” In this way, the jackal managed to get rid of the leopard also.
When the jackal began feasting on the elephant flesh, another jackal came that way. He was very angry and looked very strong. The first jackal remembered the last line of the stanza “crush equals with power” and attacked the trespasser with great ferocity and killed him.
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