Once a jackal was prowling in the jungle, and lo and behold, a peacock was standing in a clearing, so important, his tail spread, his head swaying from side to side. The jackal looked at him and thought:
“What beautiful birds, these peacocks, how much beauty they have, how much grace and conceit! I wish I could become like that, but how? Let me talk to this peacock.”
And the peacock, not suspecting anything, walked, as usual, several circles, climbed onto a pile of brushwood to feed, then began to dance, calling for rain with loud cries.
The jackal waited until the peacock finished his song, came up to him and said:
- Listen, peacock! You are so beautiful and important, but you scream as if in pain. Why don't you learn to crow like a cuckoo?
- Who will teach me the cuckoo language?
“Don’t worry, I’ll do it,” the jackal answered proudly.
So the jackal became the peacock's friend. They walked together in the evenings, ate near the same pile of brushwood, and when the peacock looked at something, the jackal tried to imitate his gait. He even thought about lifting his tail up and starting to dance, like a peacock does. But he was still afraid that he would be laughed at.
Somehow the peacock got hold of a few plums and began to eat them. The jackal also decided to refresh himself, ran to his lair and brought out a kid’s leg. It had been lying there for several days and was emitting a rather unpleasant odor. “No, it won’t do, maybe ask the peacock for a few plums? But what good are they?” - the jackal thought.
So the peacock ate everything, but the jackal got nothing. The jackal was offended and wanted to leave, but he looked: the peacock began to tear up the ground and lay plum pits there in rows.
- What are you doing? - the jackal became interested.
“Mother taught me to do good deeds,” answered the peacock, “never throw away anything.” So I decided to plant these seeds, then trees will grow from them, fruits will appear on them, and then I can invite my friends to eat them.
The jackal was shocked by the wisdom of the peacock and decided to follow his example: he dug a groove in the ground and began to sow goat bones into it.
Since then, every evening both friends began to come to the place and look at their plantings. Soon the plum pits sprouted tender shoots, but no kids emerged from the bones sown by the jackal.
“Probably, animal bones sprout slower than plant bones,” reasoned the peacock. “I think it will take five or even ten years.” Listen, dear friend, I came across bones that lay in the ground for a whole century, but never sprouted. You need to be more patient.
Time passed, the plum trees grew, but no shoots emerged from the goat bones. And the peacock began to make fun of his friend more and more:
“I know that you have a divine gift and can work miracles.” So make sure that kids of goats grow from those bones that you sow.
The jackal acted as if he did not doubt the peacock’s words, but he became more and more angry and could not do anything.
The time has come when the plum trees bloomed and produced a harvest. The peacock invited all his peacock relatives and threw a feast for the whole world.
The poor jackal sat near his den and swallowed his mouth, seeing the peacock feasting with his friends.
“Don’t worry, my friend,” the peacock laughed at him. “The bones will probably sprout soon, and then you will harvest a whole herd of goats.”
And the more angry the jackal was, the more the peacock ridiculed him:
“My poor friend, you are completely exhausted from hunger.” And now there is a drought, so you wouldn’t be left without food at all. Why don't you learn to eat plums?
The jackal's patience ran out and, jumping on the peacock, he growled:
“I have not yet learned to eat plums, but I know well how to eat those who eat plums.” - And, tearing apart the peacock, he swallowed it along with its bones and feathers.
Thus ended the friendship between the jackal and the peacock.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru