This is one more interesting story from the
Hitopadesha Tales. Once upon a time, there lived a Lion by the name of
Madotkata in a forest. Among his followers, a Jackal, a Crow and a Wolf
had developed friendship with him. However, all the three had a selfish
motive behind this so-called friendship. They knew that the Lion was the
King of the forest and friendship with such fierce creature would always
help them. To meet their selfish ends, they started obeying and were
always available at the service of the Lion.
They didn’t have to make any efforts to search for their food, as
the Lion used to give his leftover meals to them. Moreover, they became
powerful as they were next to the King of the forest. So like this, all
the three selfish friends were passing their days happily being the
friends of the Lion. One day, a Camel, who came from some distant land,
lost his way and entered the same forest where these friends lived. He
tried his best to find out the way, but could not make it.
In the meantime, these three friends happened to pass through the same
way where the Camel was wandering. When they saw the Camel, at once it
came to their mind that he didn’t belong to their forest. The
Jackal suggested to his other two friends, “Let’s kill and eat
him”. The Wolf replied, “It is a big animal. We could not kill
him like this. I think, first we should inform our King about this Camel”.
The Crow agreed upon the idea given by the Wolf. After deciding, all of
them went to meet the Lion.
On reaching the Lion’s den, the Jackal approached the Lion and
said, “Your Majesty, an unknown Camel has dared to enter your
kingdom without your consent. His body is full of flesh and he could
make a nice meal for us. Let’s kill him”. The Lion roared
loudly on hearing this and said, “What are you saying? The Camel
has come for refuge in my kingdom. It is unethical to kill him like
this. We should provide him the best shelter. Go and bring him to me”.
All of them got dispirited to hear such words from the King.
They unwillingly went to the Camel and told him about the desire of the
Lion, who wanted to meet him. The Camel was scared to know about the
strange offer. He thought that his last moment had come and in a little
while he would become the meal of the Lion. As he couldn’t even
escape, so he decided to meet the Lion and left everything on the
destiny. The selfish friends escorted the Camel to the Lion’s den.
The Lion was happy to see the Camel. He welcomed him warmly and assured
him of all the safety in the forest during his stay.
The Camel was totally amazed to hear the Lion’s words. He got very
happy and started living with the Jackal, the Crow and the Wolf. One
day, when the Lion was hunting for food, he had a struggle with a mighty
Elephant. The Lion got badly injured in the struggle and became
incapable of hunting for his food. Stricken by bad luck, the Lion had to
sustain without food for days. Due to this, his friends too had to go
hungry for days as they totally depended on the Lion’s kill for
their food. But the Camel was satisfied grazing around in the forest.
All the three friends got worried and discussed the matter among them.
On reaching a conclusion, they approached the Lion and said, “Your
Majesty, you are getting weak day by day. We can’t see you in this
wretched condition. Why don’t you kill the Camel and eat him?”
The Lion roared, “No. How can you think such thing? He is our guest
and we should not kill him. Don’t give such suggestions to me in
future”. As the jackal, the crow and the wolf had set their evil
eyes on the camel; they met once again and devised a plan to kill the
Camel.
They went to the Camel and said, “Dear Friend, you know our King
has not eaten anything from the past many days. He is unable to go for
hunting due to his wounds and sickness. Under such circumstances, it
becomes our duty to sacrifice ourselves to save the life of our king.
Come with us, we will offer our bodies to make his food”. The Camel
didn’t understand their plan, but innocently he nodded in favor of
their plan. All of them approached the den of the Lion.
First of all, the Crow came forward and said, “Your Majesty, we
didn’t succeed in getting any food for you. I can’t see you
like this. Please eat me and make me obliged”. The Lion replied, “Dear,
I will prefer to die than to perform such a sinful deed”. Then, the
Jackal came forward and said, “Your Majesty, Crow’s body is
too small to satisfy your appetite. I offer myself to you, as it is my
duty to save your life”. The Lion politely rejected the offer. As
per the plan, now it was the turn of the Wolf to offer himself to the
King.
So, the Wolf came forward and said, “Your Majesty, Jackal is quite
small to gratify your hunger. I offer myself for this kind job. Please
kill me and satisfy your hunger”. After saying this, he lay
prostrate before the Lion. But the Lion didn’t kill any of them.
The Camel, who was watching the whole scene felt reassured of his safety
and also decided to go forward and complete the formality. He marched
forward and said, “Your Majesty, why don’t you kill me. You
are my friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Please allow me to
offer you my body”.
The Lion found the offer quite appropriate, as the Camel himself had
offered his body for food, his ethics were maintained. The Lion attacked
the Camel at once, ripped open his body and tore him into pieces. The
Lion and his friends ate the delicious flesh to their fill. They feasted
on the poor Camel for days together.
Moral: Beware of Mean Friends.
