Here is another interesting story from the collection
of Jataka Tales. Once upon a time, there lived a lion in a forest. One
day, when he went to drink water in a river, one of his feet got stuck
into the damp mushy mud of the river. He tried a lot to get out of the
mud, but to no avail. He had to lie without food for days because he
didn’t find any help. On one fortunate day, a kind jackal came to
drink water from the river. When he saw the lion, he went closer to the
lion and said, “What is the matter? Why are you resting here?”
The lion narrated him the pathetic story. The Jackal instantly made a
way out from the sand but the lion was unable to move his feet. As he
was set in the same posture for last several days, his body became
stiff. The jackal understood the condition of the lion and helped him to
get out of the mud with an extra effort. The Lion was really thankful to
jackal for his kind help. He was very happy to get free after so many
days.
The Lion appreciated the effort made by the jackal. He offered the
jackal to live close to him and also promised to give food to him
whenever he caught food. The jackal accepted the offer and started
living with the lion. Thus, they lived happily sharing the food. With
the passing time, they expanded their families. The lion had cubs and
the jackal had kid jackals. Both, the lion and the jackal were passing
their days happily. They didn’t have any idea that their friendship
was not liked by their families.
One day after a long time, the lioness, lady of the lion's house, asked
her cubs that she didn’t like the amity between the jackal and her
husband. The cubs conveyed the message to the kid jackals. The kids
complained the matter to the lady jackal. The lady jackal conveyed the
complaint to her husband.
The jackal went to the Lion and asked,” I helped you without any
consideration in return. You had asked me to live with you, so I started
living with you. Now, if you don’t want me to live with you, you
should have told me yourself. What did you involve your wife and cubs to
convey this? “. The Lion was shocked to hear such words. He said, “My
dear friend, what are you saying? I don’t find any problem with you
or your friendship”. He assured the jackal that he had no such
ill-feelings for the friendship between them.
The Lion also assured that he would talk to the lioness and solve the
whole matter. The jackal was intelligent and understood the situation.
He said to the lion, “Dear friend, I know you are sincere, but our
families could not exactly respond the same level of friendship. So, let
us stay apart and meet often as friends. We could also hunt together. It
would be better, if our families stay apart”. The Lion agreed to
the proposal with a heavy heart.
The two families parted from each other as friends. The Jackal and the
Lion continued to share the friendship. They often met each other and
hunt together. Thus, the two friends shared a healthy friendship
throughout their life.
Moral: Don’t expect your family to reciprocate the same
level of friendship you have with someone.
