One day a little jackal got very hungry and came to the river. He heard from his smart father that there is always something to profit from in the river.
The little jackal had no idea that an angry, voracious crocodile lived at the bottom of this river.
Not sensing trouble, the little jackal wandered near the water, looking for some fish or crab for lunch. And the crocodile, buried in the mud, did not take his eyes off him - he was still waiting for the right moment to grab his prey. And finally, the crocodile was lucky. The little jackal noticed how a large crab crawled out from under a root near the shore. The hungry jackal quickly stuck his paw into the water and... almost died of fear. He felt that his paw was in the monster's mouth.
And although the little jackal was barely alive from fear, he, as if nothing had happened, cheerfully shouted:
- Cleverly, very cleverly! Perhaps you think that you have my paw in your teeth? You are wrong! You grabbed some rotten root. The mud must have completely covered your eyes!
The crocodile opened its mouth and muttered:
- What a shame! I thought I was going to have a jackal calf for lunch! And the little jackal ran away from the shore and shouted:
- Stupid crocodile! This is the second time I won’t put my paw in your mouth!
- Oh, you deceiver! – the crocodile got angry. - Well, just wait, you still won’t leave me!
The next morning the little jackal again came to the river for prey.
This time the animal was more careful. He knew that the crocodile was hiding somewhere in the mud and was watching his every move. But how to find out where his enemy is lying in wait?
And so he began to walk along the shore and shout loudly:
- Marvelous! Previously, when I came to the river, I always saw crabs sticking out of the mud. And today for some reason not a single crab shows up. I'll go back to the forest!
“Now I’ll stick the tip of my nose out of the mud, the jackal will think it’s a crab, stick his paw into the mud, and then I’ll eat it!” And he stuck the tip of his nose out of the mud. Then the little jackal ran away from the shore and shouted:
- Goodbye, uncle crocodile! I don't feel like hunting for crabs today! I'll go and look for happiness elsewhere!
The crocodile almost bit off its own tail out of rage. The next day the crocodile hid near the shore. As soon as the little jackal approached the water, he would immediately find himself in the monster’s mouth. But the animal stopped five steps from the shore and began to speak loudly again:
– There are completely no crabs in this river! Previously, they always swam near the shore. They sit under the water and gurgle. And bubbles float on the water.
“Well, now I’ll catch him! - the crocodile decided. “If I start blowing bubbles, he’ll think they’re crabs and will come right up to the water.” That’s where I’ll grab him!”
And the crocodile began to gurgle under the water with all his might. Immediately large bubbles floated across the water: poof-poof-poof! glug-glug-glug!
The little jackal, of course, guessed who it was gurgling so loudly.
Having run away into the coastal bushes, he laughed and shouted.
- Goodbye, uncle crocodile! You'll have to go to bed hungry today too!
Unable to bear such ridicule, the crocodile stuck out his mouth and shouted:
– I’ll eat you anyway! I'll laugh when I bite off your stupid head!
“But it’s true! - thought the little jackal. “If I go to the river every day, he will eventually catch me.” I’d better go into the jungle: now is the time to feast on wild figs.”
And, thinking so, he did so.
The crocodile still watched every morning for the enemy he hated. But the little jackal did not show up.
Then the voracious crocodile decided to catch him on land.
At dawn the crocodile crawled to a huge fig tree. Under this tree, the entire ground was strewn with ripe fruits. The crocodile gathered all the figs into one big pile and hid behind it.
Less than an hour had passed when a small jackal appeared on the forest path. From a distance he saw a large pile of fruits and was very surprised: who put them so neatly? Isn't it a crocodile? And to check his suspicions, he exclaimed in surprise:
– Why are there so many worthless figs here? When ripe figs fall from the tree, they always roll in different directions. And these just lie in a heap. You can’t eat figs like that – they’re completely rotten!
“We must make the figs roll! - the crocodile decided. “Then, of course, I will catch this stupid beast.”
And the crocodile moved slightly. Several fruits immediately rolled in different directions.
The little jackal quickly jumped to the side and mockingly shouted:
- Thank you, uncle crocodile, for being so stupid! You'll have to go hungry today too!
The next day, at noon, the crocodile crawled to his enemy’s hole. The hole was dug under a tree and turned out to be deep and spacious.
The delighted crocodile rushed into the hole, but the little jackal was not at home.
“It’s no problem,” the crocodile decided. “Now he can’t get away from me.” Sooner or later, he will come home!
And the crocodile hid in a hole.
The crocodile did not have to wait long. The little jackal returned to his place full and satisfied: he managed to find a large bunch of bananas for lunch. He approached almost to the hole, when suddenly he saw someone’s footprints on the ground near his house. He had never seen such traces before.
“Has some unknown animal climbed into my hole? - the little jackal got scared - We need to check.”
And he shouted:
- Hello, my house! Why don't you greet me today? You always raised your voice when you saw me! Has something bad happened to you?
- Hello, my glorious master! - the crocodile screamed from the hole. – We don’t have any trouble. Feel free to crawl into your home!
The little jackal immediately recognized the crocodile's voice. But he, of course, gave no sign that he had guessed what was going on. And he said as if nothing had happened:
- I’ll come now! Just first I’ll collect some brushwood to cook my lunch.
And he hastily began to drag dry branches, leaves and dead wood to the hole.
At this time the crocodile was sitting in the hole and quietly giggling:
“I finally outwitted this shaggy freak.” I'll have lunch today!
While the crocodile was dreaming of a delicious dinner, the little jackal wasted no time. He stuffed dry dead wood into the hole, dragged a large pile of brushwood to the very entrance and set it all on fire.
The crocodile guessed what was happening, rushed to the exit, and began to fight his way through the fire. It was not an easy task.
The acrid smoke from dead wood and leaves ate his eyes, and the fire burned his mouth.
The crocodile closed his eyes so that the smoke wouldn’t eat them, and things got even worse: he couldn’t find a way out of the hole.
The crocodile sees that death is hunting him, gathered his last strength and rushed through the smoke and fire. He got out of someone else's hole barely alive, he looked, and his tail was black - it was all burnt.
The crocodile was ashamed to return to his home tailless, and he crawled away to live in a completely different place.
And since then the little jackal fearlessly goes to the river to hunt and always returns home well-fed and cheerful.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru