One summer, it had been so hot that the rivers and the streams became dry. The animals were thirsty and miserable. They finally came upon a tiny spring. But it was not enough.
All the animals willingly worked to dig it deeper. Only the lazy jackal refused to work. So, the animals decided that they would set someone to guard the spring so that the jackal might not drink from it.
“That’s only fair, since he hasn’t done any work to help dig the spring,” they said.
A rabbit was set to guard the spring when the animals went home to rest. The jackal watched them go and then went up to the rabbit. He greeted him politely and pulled a piece of honeycomb out of his bag.
He sat down near the rabbit and began to eat the honeycomb. The rabbit watched him, his mouth watering. “This is much better than water,” remarked the jackal, “I don’t feel thirsty at all if I eat this.”
“May I have a bite too?” asked the rabbit.
The jackal gave him a tiny bite and it was so tasty that the rabbit begged for some more.
“Lie down with your paws tied behind you,” said the jackal, “I will then pour it into your mouth.” The rabbit lay down with his paws tied. Promptly, the jackal went to the spring and drank his fill before running off. When the animals came, they saw the rabbit lying there with his hands tied and heard how the jackal had fooled him.
“You are no good at guarding the spring,” they scolded him, and a little hare was put as the guard before they went home.
The jackal came along and fooled the little hare exactly as he had the rabbit. The animals were very angry and they put the tortoise as the guard at the spring.
The jackal came, very sure he could try the same trick on the tortoise too. But the tortoise ignored him completely. He did not reply to his greeting.
The jackal kicked the tortoise out of the way and went to the spring. But suddenly, he yelped in pain. The tortoise bit him hard on his leg. “Ouch! Let me go!” yelled the jackal. But the tortoise hung on tightly.
Then he tried to offer him the honeycomb, but the tortoise wasn’t tempted either! He just gripped his leg more tightly.
By then, the other animals arrived hearing the commotion. The frightened jackal freed himself with a jerk and ran for his life!
