Tuesday, December 16, 2014

1.9 Panchtantra - The Bed-Bug and The Louse

Once there lived a white louse in the corner of a large room in King's palace. Her name was Mandarisarpini.

Louses are blood suckers. So everyday, when the king was asleep, she crept into his bed and sucked his blood. After this, she concealed herself in the corner of the bed-cover.

One night, another bed-bug came in the king's room. His name was Agnimukha.

When Mandarisarpini saw Agnimukha, she was furious and asked him leave her territory. But Agnimukha was a clever louse. He said, "Lady louse! You live in king's room. You should be kind towards your guests".

The lady louse felt high listening to Agnimukha. She calmed and said, "Ok. I take you as my guest. You can stay here tonight. But I warn you not to suck king's blood".

Hearing this Agnimukha argued, "Lady louse! I am thankful that you have accepted me as your guest. But what will I get from you to eat? As your guest, I deserve good food and nothing can be better than royal blood meal!"

The lady louse changed her mind after listening to Agnimukha and said, "I allow you to suck the king's blood. But you should be very careful not to hurt him". He agreed with lady louse. They waited for King to come and fall asleep.

When the King came and slept, the bed bug escaped and hurriedly crept over the King's arm. He stung him very hard and continued sucking until the King woke up to terrible pain.

The greedy bed-bug forgot all about his promises and bit the sleeping. The King immediately called his servants and ordered them to find and kill the bed bug.

The cunning bed bug quickly crept off and hid in far corner of room. He escaped the attack by King's servants.

However, the lady louse that was resting under the bedcover was caught. She was killed by the King's servants.


Moral: One should not trust the strangers.     

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