After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, went across the river, and having placed the Jackal on the ground on the other side, went into the water.
The Jackal went that day to the dead body of the Elephant, and having eaten it until nightfall the Elephant’s carcase became finished. In the evening the Jackal came to the river, and when he was saying “Friend,” the Crocodile rose to the surface, and asked, “Friend, where is the mate?”
Then the Jackal said, “Andō! Friend, they made a mistake about it to-day; they told me to return to-morrow to invite her to come. Because of that put me on the other bank again. Having come to-morrow I will bring and give you the mate.”
After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, swam across the river, and having put down the Jackal on the ground on this side, went into the water.
Then the Jackal, sitting down on the high ground on this bank, said to the Crocodile, “Foolish Crocodiles! Is it true that a Jackal King like me is going to ask for a wedding for thee, for a Crocodile who is in the water like thee? I went to the land on that bank to eat the carcase of an Elephant which died on that side. To-day the carcase was finished. So now I shall not come again. Thou art a fool indeed.”
Having said this, the Jackal came away.
North-western Province.
This story is known by the Village Vaeddās.
In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 46, this story is given by Mr. E. Goonetilleke, the Crocodile being termed an Alligator.