Near a village there was a huge banyan tree. A pair of crows made their nest in it. The husband and wife lived there happily, and soon they had little nestlings hatching out of the eggs. But there was a great tragedy in their life.
A big black cobra lived in a hollow at the bottom of the tree. He would climb up the tree and eat up the little baby birds. When the parents returned, they were horrified to see the empty nest.
Now, the crows had a wise old jackal as their friend. He lived near the banyan tree. They told him about their sorrow and asked for his help.
The jackal said that they could not fight against the cobra as he was very strong and evil. So, they must use a clever trick to get rid of this danger. He told them to go to the city and find the house of a very rich man. “Then steal some jewellery from that man’s house, but make sure that you are seen by people. Then they will chase you,” instructed the jackal.
“Oh, no! What will we do then?” said the crows.
“You must fly at top speed back to your tree. There, you must drop the jewellery into the hollow where the cobra lives. Make sure the servants see you.”
“What is the use of that?” asked the puzzled crows.
The jackal chuckled. “Then just sit on a branch and watch the fun!” he said.
The next day, both the crows flew to the city. Some women were swimming in the lake. Their costly clothes and glittering jewellery lay on the banks, guarded by their servants. One of the crows swooped down quickly and picked up a heavy gold necklace.
The servant rushed at the crow, shouting and waving his sticks, but before he could stop it, it flew off towards its banyan tree. The crows flew steadily on towards the banyan tree with the servant chasing them.
At the banyan tree, they dropped the necklace into the hollow. Then they sat down on a branch, as the jackal had told them, to watch what was going to happen. When the servant reached there, he saw the necklace shining and glittering in the hollow. But there was a big, black cobra guarding it! There was no way to get the necklace unless he removed the cobra from the hollow. He decided to attack the cobra with his stick. He took up his stick and thrashed the cobra, killing it. Then he picked up the necklace and returned to the city.
The crows flew down and thanked the wise jackal. His trick had helped them to get rid of the evil cobra!
