The little jackal was terribly frightened. He thought, “Is it possible that the wicked alligator has come to hunt for me here in my own house and is waiting inside to catch me?”
Then he called loudly: “What is the matter, house of mine? Every day when I come home you say, ‘All is well, little jackal,’ but today you say nothing, and I am afraid to come in.”
Of course the house did not really speak to him, but he wanted to find out if the alligator was there, and the alligator believed his words. The stupid creature thought, “I shall have to speak just as the house would speak or this tiresome little jackal will not come in.”
He made his voice as small and soft as he could, and said, “All is well, little jackal.”
Then the jackal knew that the alligator was in his house, and he was more scared than ever. However, he contrived to respond in a cheerful voice: “All right, little house! I will come in as soon as I have been to the brook for a drink of water.”
When the alligator heard these words he was filled with joy. He lay quite still under the leaves thinking: “Now I will have that little jackal at last. This time he shall not escape me.”
But while he waited, the jackal gathered together a great heap of dead wood and brush and piled it against the door of the house. When it was big enough, the jackal set fire to the heap. It blazed up with a great noise, and the wicked alligator was burned to death.
Then the little jackal danced about singing:
“The alligator’s dead, and I am glad!
Oh, ring-a-ting-a-ting; oh, ring-a-ting-ting!
The alligator’s dead, and I am glad!”