At another time there was a meeting of all animals. The lion was the chief of the meeting. The jackal wanted to attend the meeting, but then he learnt that there was a law that only the animals with horns could attend the meeting. The jackal made horns out of the wax from the nest of bees and the jackal fastened the wax horns to his head.
After that the jackal went to the meeting.
The Lion did not recognise the jackal because of the horns.
Unfortunately during the meeting the jackal sat near the fire and went to sleep and the jackal’s horns melted.
The Lion realized who the animal near him was and became angry.
The lion pounced on the jackal.
However the Jackal was faster and sprang away.
Cleverly the jackal pushed an overhanging rock and cried out. “Help! This rock is falling on us!”
The lion fell for this trick. The lion went in search of a pole to push the rock up. That was when the jackal escaped.
The lion was very angry and went to the little jackal’s house.
The little jackal had made his house on top of a tree.
The lion realized that he could not jump up and decided to speak sweetly to get the jackal to take him up into his tree house. “I have come to see you.” The lion told the jackal sweetly.
The jackal was very clever. It let down a broken down rope to bring the lion up.
When the lion was halfway up the rope, the rope broke.
The lion fell down.
The lion was injured and it decided that enough was enough. It decided not to go against the jackal any more and walk away from there.
Adapted from African Folktales
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