Stories from Hithopadhesha

The Elephant and the Jackal:

Once in the forest of Brahmaranya, there lived an elephant named Karpuratilaka. As he was roaming about one day, a family of jackals saw him. They thought that if they could kill Karpuratilaka, they could have a wonderful feast. So they decided upon a plan..

Accordingly one of the jackals went near the elephan and praised him. the jackal also requested the elephant to be their leader, as they have nobody for them. Pleased by the words of Jackal, the elephant followed the jackal to their place. They went deep into the forest. The jackal told Karpuratilaka that he would be coronated as a King by the jackals at their place.

At last they stopped in front of a big clearing, which seemed to be covered with weeds. The jackal requested Karpuratilaka to step over there. Without a second thought he did as he was told. He fell into a quagmire. He cried for rescue. But the cunning jackal said that the king who believes the words of unreliable ones needs to suffer. The other jackals also joined him and fell on the elephant and thus feasted it.

Moral: Choose your friends with care and make your own decisions.