SINGH RAJAH AND THE CUNNING LITTLE JACKALS
Lion
Once upon a time there lived in a jungle a great lion. He was so strong a lion that he had made himself Rajah of all the jungle. Every day when this Rajah lion was hungry he would come out from his cave in the deep dark rocks, and roar in an angry voice:
“Grr-rr-rr! Grr-rr-rr! Grr-rr-rr! Come here, all you animals in this jungle! You are all my subjects, and I will eat you up! Grr-rr-rr, Grr-rr-rr!”
Then all of the frightened little animals would run here, there and everywhere, trying to hide from the angry lion. But Singh Rajah would always catch them and eat them for his dinner.
Now, this went on for a long, long time until at last he had left no living creatures in the jungle except two little jackals, a Rajah Jackal and a Ranee Jackal, who were husband and wife.
“What do you mean?” growled the great Singh Rajah.... “I am the king of this jungle.”
These two little jackals were so frightened that they ran here, there and everywhere, trying to get away from that Rajah Lion. But every day he came nearer and nearer.
“Oh dear! oh dear!” moaned the poor little Ranee Jackal; “I am frightened to death. Don’t you hear him roaring louder and louder? He is much nearer us today than he was yesterday. Where shall we hide?”
“Never fear, my dear,” answered her husband, the Rajah Jackal. “I will take care of you. Let us run another mile or two. Come now, run fast! Come, come!” And they would run on and on through the jungle as fast as they could.
They grew more tired and weary every day, and at last the little Ranee Jackal said, “Oh dear! oh dear! I must stop. I really cannot run another step. I am just worn out.”
“Never fear, my dear,” answered her husband, bravely. “I will take care of you! Never fear!”
“Oh dear! oh dear!” gasped she, “I hear him coming nearer and nearer. How loud his roaring sounds! He is in a terrible temper and he will surely catch us and eat us today. Oh dear! oh dear!”
“Never fear, my dear!” said the brave little Rajah Jackal. “Come with me and do just what I tell you, and we can save ourselves. Do not look so frightened. Cheer up! Now, come with me, and we will go right up to that lion.”
And what did those cunning little jackals do but take hold of paws and go prancing boldly right up to the lion.
When he saw them he began to shake his mane about and his eyes glowed with anger as he roared out, “Grr-rr-rr! Grr-rr-rr! You miserable little wretches! Come here and be eaten at once! I have had no dinner for three whole days, and I am very hungry. I am the Rajah of this jungle, and I have called and called you, but you did not come. And I have run and run to catch you while you have always run away, you miserable little jackals, leading me on and on over hill and dale. Come here and be eaten at once! Grr-rr-rr! Grr-rr-rr! Come here-re-re!” And the Rajah Lion gnashed his teeth and looked very terrible indeed. “Grr-rr-rr! Why didn’t you come before?”
“Oh, great Singh Rajah,” answered the brave little Jackal, “we do know that you are our master, and we would have obeyed your voice and come at your call long ago, but, indeed, Sire, there is a much bigger Rajah than you in this jungle. For many days he has tried to catch us and eat us, and we are so afraid of him that we have run and run, trying to find a place to hide.”
“What do you mean?” growled the great Singh Rajah. “I am the king of this jungle. There is no king here but me.”
“Ah, Sire,” answered the jackal, “in truth, one would think that you were the king, for you are most terrible. Your very voice is death. But, indeed, there lives a horrible lion in this jungle. His eyes glow like fire. His step is as thunder, and his power is supreme. We have seen him with our own eyes, and he is as much larger than you, as you are larger than we are. Oh, he is indeed most terrible! When he roars his voice is so loud that the leaves tremble upon the trees. He is far more fearful than you!”
“That is impossible!” roared the Lion. “But show me this Rajah who has so terrified you, and I will destroy him at once. I will show you how quickly I can overpower him, and, after I have eaten him, I will eat you!”
Then the little Jackals ran on and on through the jungle with the great lion following them until they reached a very deep well of water. They cowered down beside the well, looking very frightened, while the Rajah Jackal pointed down into the water with his paw, and whispered in an excited little voice, “See, Sire! Look down there!”
The great Singh Rajah came close to the well and, peering down into the water, he saw a great lion’s face peering up at him. He was very angry. He shook his great mane, and his eyes glowed like flaming fire, as he roared and roared.
Then the shadow lion shook his mane. His eyes were glowing and he opened his mouth to roar.
“Gr-rr-rr!” roared the Rajah Lion.
“Gr-rr-rr!” answered the echo of his voice from the well.
“Come out of your den and I will show you who is ruler here,” roared the lion, gnashing his teeth in rage. But the echo mocked him, and the lion in the well gnashed his teeth.
Now, Singh Rajah was so angry that he could not wait to fight that other lion. So, with a terrific roar, he jumped into the well to kill him.
The well was so deep and the sides were so steep that the great Singh Rajah could not climb out to punish the two little Jackals, who peeped down at him from the top of the well.
Now, when the little jackals knew that he was drowned, they danced round and round the well, singing, “Ao! Ao! Ao! the King of the Jungle is dead. We have killed the great Lion who would have killed us! Ao! Ao! Ao! Ring-a-ting, Ding-a-ting, Ding-a-ting, Ring-a-ting! Ao! Ao! Ao!”
