"SEC - S12W1: A Bedtime Story: Lion and the Foolish Jackal"

What a beautiful topic Source which transported me right into my childhood and more so in the lap of my maternal grandma, whom we used to call Nani. Actually, my mom and dad never told us any bedtime stories because they thought stories were time-wasting. The same was the case with my paternal grandma who always insisted on concentrating on studies, as far as I remember, right from the age of 5-6.

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So the only person I remember who told us bedtime stories was my grandmother whom we visited every year during summer vacation. I have a clear picture of her in my mind, whom we targeted every evening for pocket money, and I was not alone but other kids of sisters of my mother were also there during summer vacations.

A few of them were almost my age. Our granny was good at story-telling as she sat on her king-size bed, and we, the children would sit around her. I used to think our granma fabricated those stories on the spot because she had a new story every day.

I am going to tell you one of them here but now I feel it's a very common story which is told in different versions in different parts of our country.

I remember that night at around 8.30 we sat around granma while our mothers were chatting in the other corner of the room. our grandma told us a lion and a jackal's story. She said this lion was living with his family and went hunting in every two to three days.

Someone said, "Granny, lions are not bad but good because they do not eat food every day, right?"

She smiled and said, "Everyone eats food every day but they don't go hunting every day. They eat when they feel hungry but not for killing other animals."

Granny said, "You know the king of the jungle goes to hunt only twice in a week."

We were scared but enjoying the story, as Nani continued, "Once upon a time, a clever but cunning jackal who was always hungry and always followed the lion. When the lion and his family would leave after eating their prey, the jackal would take a few bites and hide in nearby bushes.

In fact, the jackal was a foodie and he was always hungry. One day he gathered courage and went to the lion and said, Hail, lord lion, please take me under your shelter and make me your slave."

The lion was amazed so he said, "What can you do for us?"

The jackal said, "I will serve you and do everything according to your wish and in return you can give me whatever leftover food you have. I will be happy to spend my life under your mercy."

The lion heard him sympathetically, and he felt pity and allowed the jackal into his service in this way. From that day on, whatever the lion used to hunt, and was left after his family finished eating, the lion would give it to the jackal to eat. The jackal was now eating enough, so he gradually became fat and looked better than before.

But something went wrong in jackal's head and he thought he was as powerful as the lion himself. One day the jackal, said to the lion in a boastful tone, "O my lord, I am probably as powerful as you and I can hunt as good as you can. If you come with me I will show you how I do it."

At this point I remember I asked my grandma, "Did lion go with the jackal?"

My Nani smiled and said, "The jackal told lion to rest, and he will go hunt for him."

Lion was smiling secretly, "Wow, the jackal is really so gusty."

So when lion heard jackal, he felt that this funny animal was talking too big and his voice sounded too boastful but lion still wanted to handle him kindly so he told jackal "Even though you have become fatter than before, you are a jacal and not a lion. Do you think you have enough power and strength? I think you should leave the hunting to me and eat whatever I leave for you.

But that arrogant jackal did not listen to the lion so he insisted, "My lord, today I will go with you. I will hunt for you. Please come with me and see how powerful I am while I make the prey for all of us today."

Then the jackal and the lion went to a high hill where below they could see a lot of animals in a herd. The jackal said, "My lord, you stand here and just keep watching me, today I will show you how I kill a big animal by hunting."

The lion tried to convince the jackal once again, but the jackal would listen to nothing as he thought he was as much powerful an animal as lion. Then that arrogant jackal jumped on a wild buffalo from there, but in the meantime, the wild buffalo whom even the lion dare not hunt retreated turned and pushed with his head. The jackal fell with a thud in front of the buffalo's feet.

A few of his bones were broken immediately and in the meantime, one of Bufallo's legs landed on the jackal's body which killed the jackal immediately.

The lion was watching it from a distance. He thought, "Those who are arrogant lose their mind and intelligence, and their fate is the same, and they harm their future or even lose their life for false pride.

The moral of the story, "Never try anything bigger than your capacity."

Nani was telling the story, but I saw a few of the kids were already sleeping.

Thanks to @waqarahmadshah for inviting me, I invite @mayepariata @josepha and @goodybest to tell us their stories