The next day the jackal Rill went to the river and caught a big fat fish there. But just as he was about to bake it over the coals, the hyena Yaku jumped out of the bushes.
“Yeah,” he says, “now you won’t leave me.” Last time I let you go out of my kindness, but today I will deal with you!
“Well,” Rill thinks, “he’s gone!”
But then the delicious smell of baked fish tickled the hyena’s nostrils. And Yaku decided to eat some fish before dealing with Rill.
- Why don’t you kill me? - Rill asked with a tremble in his voice.
“Wait, you’ll have time,” answered the hyena, licking its lips with greed. “I’ll try this fish first.”
The hyena sat down by the fire and began to eat the fish. Until she ate everything clean, she didn’t say a word. Finally the hyena finished eating, turned to Rill and asked:
- How did you catch such a fish?
“Saved!” - thought Rill and rejoiced. But he answered out loud:
- It's very simple! Go to the river and look for mounds of freshly discarded sand in the shallows. You will find such a mound, dig it up and you will see a fish with its mouth open at the bottom. Then all you have to do is stick your tail into the hole: the fish will cling to it, and you will pull it out. This fish will not bite on any other bait. I would go with you myself, but I need to weed the field. Besides, there aren't many fish there - just one is enough for you. But, however, if you want...
“Okay, okay,” the hyena grumbled. “I can manage without you!”
And, out of greed, forgetting about everything in the world, she ran to the river. And Rill is in the other direction, away from the river.
In the shallows, the hyena found a mound of still wet sand, dug it up - and indeed saw someone sitting at the bottom of the hole and staring at her. The greedy hyena did not notice that it was not a fish, but a huge crab, and stuck its tail into the hole. The crab grabbed the hyena's tail with all his might. Yaku howled in pain and horror in a voice that was not her own, pulled out her tail and ran.
Since then, hyenas, if they eat fish, only rotten ones. But they cannot see jackals calmly.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru