This is a nice tale / story from the collection of
Hitopadesha Tales. Once upon a time, there lived an Elephant by the name
of Karpuratilaka in a forest. He was brutal and haughty by nature. He
used to roam in the forest without restraint. All the animals of the
forest were afraid of this wild Elephant. Without any purpose, he used
to pull down the trees and ripped the branches. In this way, he
destroyed innumerable nests with eggs and crushed the nestlings under
his massive feet.
In short, he had created all round chaos in the forest. Fierce animals
like Lions and Tigers also kept themselves at a safe distance from this
Elephant. Once it happened that he destroyed the burrows of the jackals
in his merciless stroll. This action of Elephant was not tolerable to
the animals and all of them wanted to kill the Elephant. They had a
conversation regarding this but thought it was nearly impossible to kill
the Elephant due to his gigantic size.
The Jackals were full of rage and planned to call a separate meeting.
They were ready to do anything to get rid of the mighty Elephant. But
killing the huge Elephant was not a tiny task to do. All of them had a
discussion that how could they kill the Elephant. Suddenly, an old
Jackal said,”Leave everything on me. I will cleverly bring about
his death”. Everyone gave his consent to the idea of the old
Jackal.
The next day, old Jackal went to the Elephant, bowed respectfully
before him and said, “My Lord! Favor me with your royal glance”.
The Elephant looked at him and said in a loud voice, “Who are you?
Why you have come here?” The intelligent Jackal replied, “I am
only a poor Jackal. Your Majesty, no one can deny your greatness. You
are kind-hearted, gentle and possess all qualities of a ruler. Taking
these things in the mind, all the animals have chosen you to be their
King. Please accept this offer and make us obliged”.
The Elephant appeared to be happy with all the praise thrown by the
Jackal. Jackal found the time to be appropriate and further acclaimed, “Your
Highness, all the animals are eager to see your kingship ceremony. It
will be held in the middle of the forest, where thousands of animals
have already gathered to get your glimpse. Our astrologers have told
this is the auspicious moment for your crowning. Time is slipping fast.
So, please come with me without any delay”.
The Elephant was really pleased by the Jackal’s talk. He always
dreamt to become a King. He contemplated that the kingship ceremony will
be matter of honor to him. Instantly, he got ready to accompany the
Jackal to the place where ceremony was to be held. The Jackal took the
Elephant deep into the forest. On the way, they had to walk through a
swampy area by the side of a lake. The Jackal walked across the swampy
region easily.
But as soon as the Elephant stepped on the swamp, he got stuck in it.
He tried his best to come out of the swamp, but to no avail. The more he
tried to move out, the more he went deep into it. He got frightened and
called out the Jackal, “Friend, Please help me to come out of this
mud. I am sinking deep into the mud. Call other animals quickly to help
me otherwise I will die”.
The Jackal replied, “I am not going to save you. You deserve this
conduct. You are a cruel, arrogant and a merciless creature. You killed
our siblings and kids. You have destroyed our burrows and nests of poor
birds. You knew everything, but remained indifferent. I am sorry to say
that your end has come”. The Jackal left the place immediately and
the Elephant kept shouting for help. In a little while, the Elephant
disappeared from the scene, sinking into the deep mud.
Moral: Every despot has to meet his doom.
