Panchatantra Story: The Cranes and the Cobra | A Moral Story for Kids

The Cranes’ Home and a Cruel Enemy

In a vast, evergreen forest, an old Banyan tree served as a home to a large colony of cranes. At the base of the very same tree, a black cobra lived in a hole. The cobra was a cruel creature. Each time a mother crane laid eggs in her nest, he would slither up the trunk stealthily and devour them.

Whenever any mother-crane laid eggs in her nest, the cobra would go there stealthily and eat up the eggs.

The cranes were helpless and could do nothing but mourn in silence for many days.

The Crane’s Grief and a Vengeful Plan

Their suffering continued until a brave crane, whose own eggs had been devoured by the cobra, decided he would end the terror. Mentally resolved to rid the tree of the cruel snake, he flew to a nearby pool. Overcome with grief, he sat by the water weeping.

The pool was home to a crab, who noticed the distressed crane. “What is the matter, Mr. Crane?” asked the crab. “Why are you grieving so?”

“My greatest worry is a cruel cobra,” replied the crane. “We are utterly helpless against him. He slithers into our nests in our absence and eats all our eggs. This time, he has eaten the eggs my wife laid just yesterday. We can do nothing but mourn.”

The Crane flew to a nearby pool and sat weeping there over the loss of the eggs.
and a lonely Crab happened to see the weeping crane.

The Crab’s Devious Advice

After listening to the crane’s sad story, the lonely crab thought to himself, “These cranes are always cruel to us crabs—they eat our young ones whenever they can. I should guide him in a way that brings even greater suffering to him and his companions. That would be the perfect revenge.”

Pretending to be a well-wisher, the crab said, “Mr. Crane, I have an idea. If you execute it perfectly, you can get rid of that menacing cobra once and for all. Simply lead a mongoose to the cobra’s hole at the base of your tree. There is one living not far from here. All you need to do is bait him with pieces of fish, laying a trail from the mongoose’s den to the cobra’s hole. The mongoose will follow the trail, and that cobra will be history.”

The Solution and a New Threat

The crane liked the idea immensely and, overjoyed, failed to consider its potential consequences. He flew off immediately and soon found the mongoose’s hole. He then returned to the pool, caught some fish, and cut them into bits. Carefully, he strewed the pieces along a path from the mongoose’s hole all the way to the black cobra’s den.

The plan worked exactly as predicted. The mongoose followed the trail of fish straight to the cobra’s home. A fierce battle between the two arch-enemies ensued, and in the end, the mongoose killed and ate the cruel cobra.

In the end, the cruel cobra was eaten up by the mongoose.

When the cranes learned what had happened, they were overjoyed. They had finally gotten rid of the cruel cobra for good.

A Short-Lived Peace

However, the mongoose did not return to its original home. Instead, it took up residence in the cobra’s vacant hole. For a few days, everyone in the old banyan tree lived happily. But this peace was short-lived, and a new tragedy soon led to the ruin of all the cranes.

One day, the mongoose chanced to climb the tree and spotted eggs lying unattended in a nest while the cranes were away hunting for food. Delighted by the find, it ate them all. In eliminating one enemy, the cranes had inadvertently gained another—one far more dangerous than the cobra.

When the crane couple returned to their nest and found their eggs missing, they wept bitterly. They could not initially identify the culprit, but after speaking with the others, they discovered the truth: the mongoose was to blame. Now, they were faced with an even greater problem. They could find no way to rid themselves of this new threat.

The Unintended Consequences

The mongoose proved to be an even crueler enemy. Whenever other food was scarce, it would climb the tree and devour eggs from any accessible nest. Yet, this was not even the end of their misfortunes.

As for the mongoose, he proved even more cruel to the cranes. Whenever he was not able to get any other food, he would go up the tree and swallow the eggs lying in any of the nests there.

One night, the mongoose climbed the tree at midnight. Finding all the cranes fast asleep, he saw an opportunity. Hungry and opportunistic, he gripped the neck of a sleeping crane in his jaws and strangled it. He then dragged his victim down to his hole and enjoyed a hearty meal.

The Final Tragedy

From that day onward, this became the mongoose’s routine. Whenever hunger struck, he would wait for the cover of darkness. Once the cranes were deep in sleep, he would silently climb the tree, seize another crane, and sink his sharp teeth into its neck, killing it instantly. He would feast on the flesh for a day or two, and then seek out his next target.

Sooner than later, one by one each and every crane were killed by the mongoose to satisfy his hunger.

Sooner than later, the mongoose killed every single crane, one by one, to satisfy its hunger. Had the first crane weighed the pros and cons of the crab’s plan, he would not have committed the blunder of leading the mongoose to the cobra’s hole. The cobra had been satisfied with their eggs, but the mongoose destroyed the cranes themselves.

Moral of the Story

And so, children, remember the moral of this tale: Always weigh the good and bad points of any plan before you set it into motion, for a solution that creates a worse problem is no solution at all.

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