So the she-jackal had her pains for nothing, and as she gazed after the vulture, the naked woman smiled and said:
"You poor she-jackal!
The vulture has your meat;
The water holds your fish:
Of fish and flesh forlorn,
What further do you wish?"
And the she-jackal, perceiving that the woman was equally forlorn, having lost her husband's money and her lover, said with a sneer:
"You naked thing!
Your cleverness is twice
As great as mine, 'twould seem;
Lover and husband lost,
You sit beside the stream."
While the crocodile was telling this story, a second water-beast arrived and reported: "Alas! Your house has been occupied by another crocodile—a big fellow." And the crocodile became despondent on hearing this, anxiously considering how to drive him from the house. "Alas, my friends!" said he. "See how unlucky I am. For you must know,
A stranger occupies my house;
My friend is sadly vexed;
On top of that, my wife is dead.
Oh, what will happen next?
"How true it is that misfortunes never come singly! Well, shall I fight him? Or shall I address
