Stories from Hithopadhesha

The Crows and the Cobra

Once in a certain tree lived two crows. On the same tree lived a cobra in a hollow. The cobra had eaten up the young ones of the crow. The crows were shocked and worried because of this. The next time the female crow kept a close watch over her eggs. Soon she found the cobra to be the culprit. She told her husband and they both planned an idea to kill the cobra.

The princess of the country used to come to the bank of a river to take bath along with her friends and soldiers guarding her. The river was near the crow's dwelling place. The princess removed all her jewellery and kept aside for bathing. Soon the female crow picked up the princess chain and flew and dropped it in the hollow of her tree. The soldiers who were watching the crow gave chase to it.

On seeing the snake inside the hollow, they beat it with sticks and killed it. At last they recovered the chain and went back. The crows who were watching this were very happy to be rid of the enemy at last.

Moral: We should never give up in tough situations of our life. We must plan and execute rather than mere thinking of the situation.