Whether it happened or not, one day the jackals gathered for a council. One of them, the grey-haired, the most shabby and the wisest, said the following speech:
- Brothers jackals! Until now, each of us thought for himself and only about himself. Let's choose a leader who, thinking about himself, will think for us. Eh?..
- Hurray! – the whole flock rejoiced and immediately elected the most worthy one from among them as the Great Jackal.
The Great Jackal was distinguished by prudence, modesty... But the jackal is a well-known thing. Very soon he became arrogant, arrogant and began to shamelessly oppress his brothers. The jackals were very dissatisfied, but the jackals are a known fact: they submitted and endured. And they quietly wait for a safe opportunity to restore justice.
Then one day they ran out of the forest as a whole pack and saw a flock of sheep grazing.
- O Great Jackal! - the jackals barked. - You are powerful, you are terrible! How your eyes burn! You probably want to kill that sheep over there? So screw it... No, we won't bother you. We'll stand here on the sidelines.
The Great Jackal crashed into the herd, rushed at the fat sheep and, not without difficulty, but still managed to defeat it.
The jackals ran further. They see a herd of horses grazing.
- O Great of the Great, you are invincible, you are terrible! – the jackals howled again. “Your eyes lit up again.” Well, of course you want to kill that big, stupid stallion over there. So please stop it. Your desire is law for us!
The Great Jackal crashed into the herd, rushed at the stallion... But a horse is not a sheep and a herd is not a herd. The big stallion hit the Great Jackal in the teeth with a very hard hoof, and the other horses also hit with their hooves...
The poor fellow barely made it to his lair. Licking his wounds and abrasions, he kept saying:
- What to do! If every day you are told that you are great, you have to be truly great not to believe it!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru