A dog and a jackal were friends and lived together in the forest. They used to hunt together and then eat together. One day, they had bad luck at hunting. As night fell, they felt hungry. A cold wind blew and they shivered with cold. “Oh,” said the dog, “It is so bad to be hungry and cold!” The jackal asked the dog to sleep. He said that in the morning they would again go hunting and catch a young antelope. But the dog could not sleep throughout the night. Suddenly, he saw a red light far away. He woke the jackal up and asked him what that red light was. The jackal told him, “There is a village far away and the red light is the man’s fire.” “Fire is warm and it is cold here,” said the dog.
The Dog Goes to the Village
The dog asked the jackal to go and get some fire. But the jackal said, “If you want these things, go and get them yourself.” The dog did not want to go because he was afraid of men. It was getting colder and the dog’s teeth began to chatter. He felt the cold more intensely than the jackal. He was so hungry and cold that at last, he decided to go and get some fire. He said to the jackal, “I am going to the village to get some fire and some bones. If I don’t come back soon, please cry bo-aa, bo-aa! Then, you come and call me.” So, the dog ran to the village. He saw a hut near the fire and outside lay some bones. They were so good for the hungry dog!
The dog came nearer to the bones. Hearing the noise, the man came out with his spear. He wanted to kill the dog. The dog pleaded for mercy, “Oh, please, don’t kill me! I am a poor dog dying of cold and starvation. I want to warm myself by the fire. Then I will go back to the forest.” “All right,” the man said, “You may sit by the fire. But when you are warm, you must return to the forest.” The dog thanked him and sat by the fire. The dog lay down near the warm fire. He picked up a bone the man had thrown away and began gnawing it. After a while, the man asked, “Have you finished?” “Not yet,” said the dog as he started eating another bone. After some time the man asked again, “Have you finished?” “Not yet,” replied the dog, looking for another bone.
The fire was warm and the bone was tasty. The dog felt happier than he had ever been before. Soon the man asked again, “Aren’t you warm yet?” “Please let me stay a little longer. I am not quite warm yet,” replied the dog. Then, the man came up to the dog. The dog looked into his eyes and said, “Yes, I am warm now, but I don’t want to go back to the forest. Keep me with you. I will help you to hunt birds and animals in the forest. In return, I ask only for a place to live and some bones to eat from your meal.” The man agreed. From that day on, the dog began to live with the man. And when the jackal cries at night, it means he is asking the dog to come back. But the dog never answers and now the jackal lives alone in the forest.
