Short Stories » The Lion and the Foolish Donkey

The Lion and the Foolish Donkey - Panchatantra Stories for Kids

A lion used to live in the jungle. He had a clever jackal as his follower, for a very long time.

One day, the lion had an ugly fight with an angry elephant. The lion got severely injured in the fight. Due to this, the lion became very weak. He could not hunt and eat the animals anymore.

After a few days, the jackal said, O my Lord, I am unable to serve you anymore. I am also very hungry. I am too, getting weaker day by day. The lion answered, ”You know my condition very well. Just go and bring an animal near my cave. I will kill the animal somehow. Otherwise, we both will die because of hunger.”

The jackal came out of the cave and started looking for a suitable prey. After a few hours of searching, the jackal saw a donkey grazing over the green grass. He said to him warmly, “Hello Sir! How are you? What are you doing here? You seemed to be very lean and weak.”

Impressed with his etiquettes, the donkey with a grim look said, “My owner is very cruel, he makes me work all day long. He puts a heavy burden on my back. He gives me only a handful of dry grass in the name of food.” The jackal cleverly replied, “Oh! I feel sorry for your present condition. Please come inside my jungle. There is lush green grass inside the jungle. The donkey said, “I am a domestic animal and you are a wild animal. How can I live in that jungle which will be full of wild animals?”

The jackal said, “Oh my friend I am the king of my jungle. All animals obey me sincerely. Not only this, there are 3-4 female donkeys who asked me for a husband. Here I was searching for a male donkey for them. And luckily, I found you. Please, come along.”

Satisfied with jackal, the donkey followed him into his cave. The lion saw the donkey coming into his cave. He got impatient and attacked the donkey to kill him. Being very weak, the donkey escaped from the lion’s paws. The donkey ran away at full speed. After seeing this, the jackal said, “I can’t believe that you can’t even kill a donkey now! You should have waited for the donkey to come near!”

Ashamed of his actions, the lion said, “I am very sorry my friend. Please go and bring him again, this time I will not commit any mistake.” The jackal started searching for the donkey again, at last, he saw him on the bank of the river, grazing the grass. The jackal went near to him and asked, “Why did you come here?”

The donkey replied, “Where did you take me? What animal was that? It tried to kill me.” The jackal laughed loudly and said “She was a female donkey, who tried to embrace you. She loves you, she wants you to come back.”

The foolish donkey believed the jackal again. He went back into the cave. This time, the lion patiently waited for the donkey to come closer. As the foolish donkey came closer to the lion, the lion immediately jumped upon him and killed him. After killing him, the lion went to the river to take a bath. He told jackal “don’t eat until I come back”.

Jackal was hungry for so many days! He was unable to control his appetite. He ate the brain of donkey till his stomach was full.

After coming back, when the lion saw that there was no brain in donkey’s head. The lion got angry, and asked him, “Why did you eat without my permission?”

The jackal said politely, “O my master, donkey had no brain! If he had any brain, then would he have come back, again??”

The lion believed him, and both of them enjoyed the meat together, after so many days.

MORAL: Always be CAREFUL and think before acting.