VIII
JACKAL, THE SCHOOLMASTER
THERE was once a clever Sheal (jackal) whose father had erected a Deal (wall). The son was no less clever than his father, and to show his cleverness he opened a school in the forest in which he lived. Grasshoppers, centipedes, woolly-bears, cockroaches, white beetles, frogs, crabs, and spiders were his pupils. An alligator, living in a marsh close by, was seized with the desire of putting his offspring, seven in number, into the school; so taking them one morning to the jackal, he informed him of his desire and left them with him as boarders, the master promising that it would take them only seven days to grow into giants of learning. The jackal's mouth watered at the prospect of devouring them, and he fed on one of them daily. Six days passed in this way, and the parent alligator, hoping that on the next day his young ones would return home great scholars, went to pay them a visit, instructing his spouse to prepare the most delicious dainties against their return. He reached the school and asked the master how his dear ones were, and what progress they had made. The jackal said, "Mr. Alligator, your lovely young ones are unusually intelligent. They have progressed very well, but I can't send them away to-morrow morning. There is yet something very valuable for them to learn, so please let them remain here till the morning of the day after." The stupid alligator could not say nay to this proposal, and returned home thanking the jackal. The seventh day dawned, and the cunning schoolmaster, making his meal of the last young alligator, decamped.
The next day the alligator came to the jackal's house and, finding it deserted, suspected the truth, and with sighs and tears thus soliloquized, "Wretch of a jackal, don't think you will be able to give me the slip. I know that you frequent the canal yonder, in search of crabs; and I will lie in ambush there, and will teach you what it is to offend against an alligator." Saying this, he went off direct to the canal, and hid himself under the water. The jackal guessed his intentions, but could not desist from visiting the canal, which contained the best crabs to be had. He proceeded cautiously, however, for a few days. But in course of time his fears vanished; and one day, seeing a number of well-grown crabs swimming in the water, he could not resist the temptation of jumping in. It was the moment for which the alligator had so long waited, and in the twinkling of an eye he caught the jackal by one of his legs and tried to drag him to the bank. There was a fierce struggle on both sides, and in the midst of it the jackal was drawn to a bed of reeds. He instantly broke one of them, and holding it forward under the water towards his assailant, said, "Mr. Alligator, I admire your sagacity. Instead of biting one of my legs you seized the stick I had in my hand. Now see here, both my legs are uninjured, and I put one of them forth, to convince you of your stupidity." The ruse succeeded, and the alligator, releasing the leg, seized the reed with his teeth, leaving his antagonist free to jump away, saying, "Good-bye, friend. I will again open a school. Send your future darlings there."
Days passed until one morning the alligator, having ascertained the new whereabouts of his enemy, went there to satisfy his long-standing grudge. He knew that he could not get the jackal into his clutches except by a stratagem, so he feigned death, with his mouth wide open and stomach distended. The jackal, approaching near, suspected the trick, and to see how long the alligator would have patience to remain in that state, he from a little distance threw stones into its mouth. But still the alligator did not move. Then knowing that he was stupid enough to be easily taken in, the jackal said, "I see the alligator is not dead yet, for in that case his ears and tail would move."
The trick had the desired effect, and the alligator commenced moving his ears and tail; and the jackal sped away heartily laughing at its folly. There were some goat-herds near by, and at the sight of the alligator they exclaimed, "Ho, here is the alligator that despoiled us of some of our calves," and they chased him with their sticks until he saved himself by taking refuge in an adjacent river.
The jackal, in the meanwhile, resorted to a field of brinjals, and commenced eating them with great avidity. But fate soon deprived him of the treat. A thorn in the stem of a brinjal pierced him in the nose; and so great was the pain and the bleeding, that he was compelled to go to a barber[1] to have the thorn taken out. He stopped at the outer door of the barber's house; for it was not gentlemanly for him, though only a jackal, to enter the Zenana; and called aloud, "Mr. Barber, come out, I am in a fix, and have none but you to save me." The barber came out, and being told what the matter was, commenced the required operation; but unfortunately, instead of taking out the thorn he cut the patient's nose, whereupon the jackal cried out in a rage, "Rogue of a barber, I came to you for relief, and you have cut my nose; set it right, or I will punish you." Great was the poor barber's fear. He made a thousand apologies, but they were quite unheeded. At last, however, the jackal's anger being appeased a little, he let the offender off on receiving as a gift the iron instrument the barber used in paring nails. The cunning beast then went away, and happened to find a potter digging the ground for the mud required for his profession with his nails; for in the district in which he lived there was no blacksmith to make spades or shovels. The jackal pretended great sympathy, and offered the iron instrument with him to the potter, who taking it for trial, accidentally broke it. The animal, in a rage, grinned at the potter, and was about to bite him. The poor man fell on his knees and asked for pardon, which was granted to him, though sullenly. But he had to part with a harhi (an earthen pot in which Indians cook their food) as satisfaction. The jackal then proceeded on his way with his new acquisition, and met a bridal procession, attended with the splendour usual on such occasions. There were fireworks, and one of the crackers hit and broke the harhi. The jackal grinned, and howled, and as his teeth were supposed to carry poison, the men in the procession were very glad to get rid of him by letting him have the bride, the surrender of whose person he demanded in exchange for the earthen pot. He determined to marry her, and went to a drummer's to engage musicians to play at his wedding. A priest also was required, and leaving his intended bride in the house, he hastened in search of one. She sat and dozed by the drummer's wife, who was cutting vegetables with a Botie[2] before her. The girl, nodding in slumber, accidentally fell on it and was cut into two pieces; and the drummer's wife, to hide the terrible mishap of which she was the innocent cause, removed the body to another room and hid it there. After a short time the jackal came back with the priest, but the girl was not to be found. The jackal was in a great rage, and peremptorily commanded the drummer's wife to produce her. The poor woman was beside herself with fear, and with clasped hands she confessed the truth, piteously praying for forgiveness. But tears and groanings went for nothing; and she was told that she would be let off only on parting with one of her husband's drums. Gladly she availed herself of this condition, and the jackal left the house. With the drum, he climbed up a palm tree and began to beat it to the accompaniment of the following song:—
Ah, doom dooma doom doom
My nose was pierced by the thorn of a brinjal, doom dooma doom doom
I got a Narun[3] for the nose, doom dooma doom doom
With the Narun I got a Harhi, doom dooma doom doom
I got for the Harhi a bride, doom dooma doom doom
And for the bride, O hurrah, I have this drum, doom dooma doom doom
Dogoom dagoom, doog dooga doom
Doom dooma doom doom.
In a transport of delight he was thus singing and beating the drum when his foot slipped, and he fell into the canal flowing by. His old enemy the alligator, who had all this time been waiting for him, seized him by the throat and dived under the water. And thus his clever career came to its end.