Wednesday, December 10, 2014

22. Hitopadesh - The Lion And The Camel

Long time ago, there lived a Lion named Madotkata in a forest. The lion had three friends - jackal, crow and wolf.

The jackal, crow and wolf knew that the lion was powerful and ruled the forest. So their friendship was lion was beneficial to all of them.
They stopped searching for food on their own and feed on the leftovers the lion gave them. They became powerful as they were king's friends and always obeyed the lion's orders to keep good terms with him.

One afternoon, a camel who had lost his way came in the forest. While searching his way, the camel came across the three friends who were passing the same way.

The three animals realized that the camel was new in the forest and had lost his way.

The jackal became greedy and said, “we should kill and eat him.”
The wolf then replied, “It is a tall animal and cannot be reached easily. We should tell lion about it”.

The three of them agreed and went to the lion. The jackal said, “Your majesty! A camel has entered your territory without your knowledge and consent. It is bears good fresh. We should kill it for our meal”.

But the lion got angry and said, “The camel has lost its way and come here for refuge. How can you think of killing it? We should provide him shelter and food. Go get him now”.

The three animals got disappointed and went to the camel. They told the camel that the lion wants to see him and provide him with shelter and food as the camel had lost his way.

But the camel felt sacred and suspected the lion's intentions. He saw no way to escape. So he decided to meet the lion and left things on destiny to decide his fate.

The lion was happy to see the camel and warmly welcomed him. He assured the camel of safety in the forest.

The camel was relieved to hear lion. He started living with them.

One day, while hunting the lion had a fight with a mighty elephant. The lion was badly injured and could not hunts for several days. Due to this, the lion and his friends went hungry for days and were starved.
But the camel gazed happily in the forest. Seeing this, the three friends went to the lion and said,  “Your Majesty! It’s been days since you have eaten. You are badly injured and becoming weak day by day. But it would be easy to kill and eat camel. Why do not you do so ?”

Hearing this, the lion got annoyed and said, “No! We cannot kill the camel. He has trusted me. You are mean to think so. Do not give me such evil suggestion again”.

But the jackal, crow and wolf were greedy. They planned to kill the Camel. They went to the Camel and said, “Our king is injured and weak. He is unable to hunt and has not eaten for days. Therefore we consider it as our duty to sacrifice ourselves to save his life.

The innocent camel didn’t understand their plan and went with them to lion's.

The crow came forward first and asked the lion to eat it. He said, “Your majesty we were unable to find food for you. Kindly take me as your food and make me obliged”. The lion refused. He said, “I would rather die than commit such sin.”

The jackal followed the crow. He said, “Your Majesty, the crow is too small to satisfy your hunger. It is my duty to serve you. Kindly take me as your food.” The humble lion refused to do so.

Then the Wolf came to offer himself to the lion saying, “Your Majesty, the jackal is quite small. Kindly take me as your food.” The lion once again said no to the wolf.

Seeing this camel felt reassured that the lion was kind and wouldn't kill him even if he offers himself.

He told the lion,” Your Majesty! A friend in need is a friend indeed. You are in trouble so as a friend I offer you myself for your food.”

The lion was convinced. He attacked the camel and killed it. The lion and his friends feed on it for several days.


Moral: Beware of Mean Friends.

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