Here’s another great story from Hitopadesha Tales. Once upon a time, a pack of jackals wandering in the forest spotted a big elephant. They thought if they somehow killed the elephant, they could feast on its meat for many days.” But, it was impossible for the jackals to kill a big animal like him easily.
One old jackal thought of a clever plan and went to meet the elephant. He greeted the elephant and politely said, “O’Mighty elephant! O’King of kings! May you live long!” The elephant asked, “What brings you to me, dear jackal?”
The old jackal further added, “ I represent a small pack of jackals. It is impossible for us to live without the protection of a king. We need an able leader for us and there could be none better than you.” The elephant was overjoyed to hear the flattering words of the sly jackal. The jackal said, “My Lord! If you are willing to be our king, please come with me at once as our astrologers have told us that we must have your crowning ceremony done today.” The unsuspecting elephant happily consented to go with the jackal.
The jackal took the elephant near a swamp and as he had expected, the elephant soon started sinking in the swamp due to his heavy weight. The elephant cried out, “Please save me! I am your would-be king!” The old jackal laughed at the elephant and said, “Only a foolish animal like you would have believed what I said! You are not worthy of being anybody’s king.”
The elephant sank in the swamp and died. The jackals pulled him out together and feasted on his meat for many days.
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