A wolf was watching a hole carefully. He saw a huge rat coming out, and then another and another….. There were hundreds of rats in the hole. His mouth watered. They would provide him with food for many days. He would have to trick them.
The next day when they came out of their hole, they saw the wolf sitting on his hind legs with his mouth wide open. They were wary, so they asked from a safe distance, “What are you doing, sitting like this and with your mouth open?” “Oh my karma! I must have been very bad in my previous births, so I am punished in this life. I have been lame since the time I was born, so I can’t put my forelegs down. I have to sit like this. And I don’t get enough air, so I keep my mouth open to draw in the air,” said the wily wolf.
The rats believed him and felt very sorry for him. They would spend a little time chatting with him so that he might not feel lonely. The wolf was happy that he had be fooled the rats.
Whenever they left the hole, they trooped out in a row. The wolf waited till the last one was coming out of the hole and grabbed him. He would eat him quickly, wipe his face and get back into his usual pose, so none realized what he was up to. Thus he got one rat every day. In the beginning, the rats did not notice that their numbers were falling. Then one day, the King Rat noticed that some of the rats were missing. He decided to keep a watch.
He watched the wolf and decided to find a way to finish him off. The next day, the rats came out of the hole as usual. The King Rat was the last one to come out. The wolf was waiting to pounce on him since he came out the last. But the King Rat was prepared for him. “You have repaid our affection and trust by eating us! What a nasty and ungrateful creature you are! You will be punished for this,” said the King Rat. The other rats had stopped, hearing the King speak.
The King Rat attacked the wolf by jumping straight for his throat. He bit him hard and the wolf howled in pain. In a moment, he was dead and the rats feasted that night on the wicked wolf.
