The merchant was very downcast to find everyone against him and the leopard said, “Well, whom will you consult next? You have so many friends;” so they went on and presently met a jackal and the merchant said that he would appeal to him. The jackal considered for some time and then said “I don’t understand how you hid the leopard; let me see how it was done; and then I shall be able to decide,” The merchant said “I hid him in this sack.” “Really,” said the jackal, “show me exactly how you did it” So the leopard got into the sack to show how he was hidden; then the jackal asked to be shown how the leopard was carried out of danger; so the merchant tied up the sack and put it on the bullock. “Now,” said the jackal, “drive on, and when we come to yonder ravine and I tell you to put the sack down, do you knock in the head of the leopard with a stone.” And the merchant did so and when he had killed the leopard, he took it out of the sack and the jackal ate its body.
CVIII. The Wind and the Sun.
Once the Wind and the Sun disputed as to which was the more powerful. And while they were quarrelling a man came by wrapped in a shawl and wearing a big pagri. And they said “It is no good quarrelling; let us put our power to the test and see who can deprive this man of the shawl he has wrapped round him.” Then the Wind asked to be allowed to try first and said “You will see that I will blow away the blanket in no time,” and the Sun said, “All right, you go first.” So the Wind began to blow hard; but the man only wrapped his shawl more tightly round him to prevent its being blown away and fastened it round himself with his pagri; and though the Wind blew fit to blow the man away, it could not snatch the shawl from him; so it gave up and the Sun had a try; he rose in the sky and blazed with full force and soon the man began to drip with sweat; and he took off his shawl and hung it on the stick he carried over his shoulder and the Wind had to admit defeat.
CIX. The Coldest Season.
One winter day a bear and a tiger began to dispute as to which is the coldest season of the year; the bear said July and August, which is the rainy season, and the tiger said December and January, which is the winter season. They argued and argued but could not convince each other; for the bear with his long coat did not feel the cold of winter but when he got soaked through in the rain he felt chilly.
At last they saw a man coming that way and called on him to decide—“but have a care”—said the tiger—“if you give an opinion favourable to the bear, I will eat you;” and the bear said “If you side with the tiger, I will eat you.” At this the man was terror stricken but an idea struck him and he made the tiger and the bear promise not to eat him if he gave a fair decision and then he said “It is not the winter which is the coldest, nor the rainy season which is the coldest, but windy weather; if there is no wind no one feels the cold much either in the winter or in the rainy season.” And the tiger and the bear said “You are right, we never thought of that” and they let him go.
[1] This is why Santals when going to eat, move the stool that is offered to them before they sit down on it.