Once upon a time there lived a shepherd in a village that stood in the catchment of a river. The catchments are covered with green grass almost all the year round. Besides, they have thick tree groves also here and there. These groves are a safe home for small and medium-sized wild animals like the hare, the deer, the jackal and the fox. As for the green grass, it is an attraction for all grass-eating animals tame as well as wild. So, catchments make very good pastures for cattle.
The shepherd used to take his flock to the catchment area for pasture everyday. While the sheep kept grazing green grass, the shepherd stood under a shady tree and played on his flute. In the evening, he would drive his flock back home and shut the sheep in a pen. His sheep-dog guarded the pen watchfully during the night.
Now the shepherd’s flock had some rams also in it. And two of these rams were almost always locking horns with each other. They would graze for a while to be fresh. Then they would stand face to face and cast fiery looks at each other. Soon they would be engaged in a bitter duel striking their foreheads as violently as they could.
The shepherd had tried his best to keep the two rams away from each other. But all his efforts had been of no avail. The rams, sworn enemies as they were, would start fighting as when they were in a mood to do so. Regardless of their bleeding foreheads, they would go back and then run fast to strike with their full mights.
A jackal lived in one of the groves of the catchment. He was very greedy by nature. Whenever he saw the bleeding foreheads of the fighting rams, he licked his chops and said to himself, “How tasty the blood of these fighting rams will be! How I wish I could lick it and enjoy its taste!
The jackal kept watching the ram fights for a number of days. But at the same moment, he was contemplating hard in order to find some way to go to the bleeding rams and lick their warm blood. Suddenly an idea struck him. He said to himself, “When those two rams fight with their bleeding foreheads, I shall act as a good Samaritan. Under the pretext of preventing them from fighting anymore, I shall stand in between them. They will certainly come to have great regard for me. Then I shall pretend to clean their foreheads with my tongue in turn. Thus I shall be able to get a chance to enjoy the taste of their blood”.
Cunning as jackals are, the greedy jackal never wanted that the rams should give up fighting. He knew that if it happened, he would not be able to taste their blood. So, he decided to incite them against each other. So, when the shepherd came to the pasture the next day, the jackal went to one of them and said, “Do you know that your enemy came to me to seek my help against you? But I flatly refused to do so. Of course, I am ready to help you, though not directly”.
“But how ?” asked the ram. The jackal said, “When you are busy fighting, I shall intervene and try to calm both of you . It will certainly make your opponent a bit careless. And you will be in a position to attack him unawares and kill him then and there”.
The ram nodded thinking that the gentle jackal was taking sides with him. But it was not a reality. The cunning jackal was greedy to the back-bone. So, he said, “Please allow me to buy some time so that I can make a successful plan”.
Next day, the jackal went to the other ram and said, “Good, Sir, I want to talk to you in private over a very important matter”. Then taking the ram to one side, he said, “Your enemy had come to me to seek my help against you. But I flatly refused to oblige him. Of course, I want to help you but only indirectly.”
“In what way after all?” asked the ram.
“Listen with care. When you are busy fighting, I shall come and try to intervene. It will certainly make your opponent a bit careless. Just at that time, you should suddenly strike. Taken aback, he shall not be able to withstand your attack. So, he will be killed then and there,” replied the clever jackal.
Thus the shrewd jackal incited both the rams for his own good. But God has His own ways to punish those who do wrongs. Next day, the shepherd came to the pasture as usual. While the rest of the flock was grazing the green grass, the two rams came closer casting angry looks at each other. Soon they locked horns and a bitter fight followed. As the cunning jackal had incited them, they were fighting much more fiercely. Before long, they were bleeding profusely. The shrewd jackal was watching their fight from a distance. He saw their bleeding foreheads and licked his chops greedily.
Then finding an opportune time, the cunning jackal ran towards the fighting rams and called them to stop fighting. But the rams would not heed at all. So, when they retreated backwards for a fresh strike, he advanced forward and stood in between them. He shouted at the top of his voice, “Stop! Stop !!”
Both the rams halted for a while at their places. Either of them was preparing for a fresh attack but the jackal was standing in between them. They waited for the jackal to get aside but he did not move at all. So without any further delay, they launched a fresh strike at each other. As a result, the jackal was crushed between their foreheads and fell down dead on the spot.
Moral of the Story:- Children! never be greedy. Greed is a curse and it always leads to tragic results.
