Nikhil Khasnabish

In a forest lived a jackal. He introduced himself as a pundit. He was extremely cunning. He found himself in a forest, where varieties of animals, including lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos lived. In the forest, many jackals and foxes also lived. But the pundit jackal decided to remain aware so that he was never spotted by jackals and identify him by his smells.

‘How can we believe you’re a pundit?’ the old lion, who was the king of the forest, asked.

‘I’m really a cursed man. I lived in a hermitage with my Guru, who taught me all the best things required for a person to become wise. But, unfortunately, I started finding fault with Guru. One day, Guru became extremely angry and cursed me to become a jackal and live in a distant forest so I could teach the animals and live a life of a pundit jackal,’ the jackal said. ‘If you don’t allow me to live in this forest, I’ll go to another forest, in search of shelter.’

Since he could speak well and make other animals convinced of what he wanted to mean, he made his status solid among them. Taking the advantage of their obedience, he spent a life of happiness and ate the best food: the animals hunted cocks and hens especially for him. Even the lions and tigers gave the first share of meat they got by hunting. He was given a separate cave beside that of the king lion. His cave was guarded by tigers and elephants.

Sometimes, some jackals also came to the area where he lived. When the jackals saw him, they became jealous of him. They learnt from other animals that he was a cursed human. But they didn’t believe that he was a cursed human. They identified him by the smell of his body.

Then the jackals held a meeting in the area where they exclusively lived. The chief jackal presided at the meeting. They decided to compel pundit jackal to disclose his real identity.

One evening, following their decision, they yelled by coming near the place where he lived. As soon as he heard those jackals yelling, he came out of his cave almost running and joined them by yelling at the pitch of his voice.

The old lion, who was roaming around his cave, stood still, astonished.

Overwhelmed with joy, the pundit jackal went to his flock and talked to them after a long time, feeling relaxed. He wasn’t aware of the old lion secretly observing him.

When pundit jackal came back to his cave, king lion asked him to come out.

He came out. Looking at the furious eyes of king lion, he understood that his identity had been discovered.

‘Who are you, Pundit?’ king lion asked in his thundering voice.

Not answering the question, he broke into a run and king lion ordered the other animals, who were near hm, to catch him and bring him to justice. But he could run fast, disappeared into the forest, and got mixed with his flock.