The Wicked Jackal - Part Two

The panther went back into the forest to try and track the jackal. 

However the jackal was too quick for him and it trotted back and forward making sure it was very difficult to track him from his footprints.

The panther laid down trying to think of what to do next when an old man came one near. 

The panther studied the old man. “Can you please tell me how I can repay the jackal for what he has done to me?” 

The old man thought for some time. “Kill a cow and invite all the jackals in the forest to the feast. Watch them carefully while they eat. All of them will keep their eyes on the food but if one of them glances at you often, will know that that is the jackal which has cheated you.” 

The panther thanked the old man and did what the old man had advised him to do. 

The partridges flew with the invitation to the jackals. 

The jackals had gathered in large numbers for the feast. 

The wicked jackal was one among them and the panthers could easily find out who it was because the jackal kept glancing at him. 

When the panther noticed this, it suddenly pounced and caught the culprit jackal.

However the jackal was quick and pushed itself away. 

However before the jackal could run away the panther yanked the tail of the jackal, leaving the jackal tailless. 

The old man came to the place to see how things had fared. 

The panther told the old man what had happened and the panther was very sad. 

The old man thought things out for a few seconds. “There is a menon garden some distance from here. The jackals are very fond of melons. They will definitely come there to eat the melons. At that time if you find a jackal without a tail you will know that this is the one who has cheated you.”

However the jackal was also very cunning. It had realized the advice that the old man would give to the panther. 

It devised it so that it gathered all the other jackals to eat a feast. When the jackals were all eating the cheater jackal tied the tails of the other jackals together. 

Then he suddenly cried out randomly. “Run! The owner of this place! He is coming. He may hurt us.” 

Saying this the cheater jackal ran away. 

The other jackals scrambled and tried to get away not knowing that their tails had been tied behind them. 

When this happened the other jackals also lost their tails. 

The panther saw this and he realized that there was no way of knowing which was the traitor jackal.

Now the hedgehog was unaware of what the jackal had done. 

The jackal decided that it would now stay with the hedgehog for some time. He went and met the hedgehog. 

“I have lost my tail since I last saw you. I am hungry so come with me to meet the shepherd. We will ask him to sell us a sheep.” 

“Yes, that is a good plan,” answered the hedgehog. 

The animals went to the shepherd and told him what they wanted. 

The shepherd studied the two animals and slowly nodded to himself. “Come tomorrow and I will give you the biggest sheep you have ever seen. The sheep always feeds some distance away from the rest of the flock and it would take me along then to catch it.” The shepherd shrugged. “That is the reason I need until tomorrow.” 

The jackal agreed to the reasoning of the shepherd and decided to wait till tomorrow.

Adapted from the African folk tales