One day, when the lion had eaten the good flesh of gazelles and drunk their good blood, he hastened to his lair, where he played with the bull. In the meantime the smaller beasts devoured the remains. The jackal thought, “First, I will go to see whither the lion has gone.” Having followed after the lion, the jackal saw him playing together with the bull, and came to the conclusion that the bull was the adversary of his maw, and that therefore he must set those two comrades at variance. So with drooping ears he appeared before the bull. The bull said, “O uncle, has any hot wind arisen?”
The jackal replied, “O nephew, a very glowing wind has arisen.”
“What is it then that has happened?”
“The lion has asked, ‘Whither has gone the bull which belongs to my stores of flesh? If I find no other flesh, I shall devour that bull.’ ”
The bull replied, “O uncle, our dying mother said to us twain, ‘O children, as ye have both sucked the same dugs, be brothers. The world is full of evil calumniators. Take heed that ye listen to none of them after my death.’ As she has left behind her such a legacy as this, do not talk in that way.”
The jackal said, “O nephew, as you will not listen to my well-meant words, you will go to perdition.”
The bull asked, “O uncle, what then will be the course of events?”
The jackal replied, “O nephew, the lion will come forth from his lair, and will stretch himself, and after he [[327]]has stretched himself he will yawn, and after he has yawned he will look round on all four sides, and after he has looked round on all four sides, he will roar three times, and when he has come to where you are, he will think, ‘This creature will kill me;’ be sure of that.”
Afterwards the jackal betook himself with drooping ears to the lion. The lion asked, “Uncle, has a hot wind arisen?”
The jackal replied, “O nephew, a very glowing wind has arisen.”