Another anecdote from the series “Lankan Village Stories” started in our Issue No. 26.
Once upon a time, a hungry jackal went to a nearby village to find some food. But, oh no! He was chased by dogs and got scared. In his hurry to escape, he ran into a washerman’s house. There, he accidentally fell into a big drum filled with blue dye. When he climbed out, he became all blue.
He hurried back to the forest, but the other animals were frightened of him because of his strange blue colour. Seeing the fear in the animals, the blue jackal came up with a clever plan. He told them that he was sent by the gods to be their king. The other jackals believed him and accepted him as their king.
The blue jackal enjoyed being treated like a king by the other jackals. Each morning the other jackals of the pack brought fresh meat and water for their “king” to eat. All the jackals paid respect to the blue jackal because it behaved like a king. The lion, who was the real king of the jungle for the animals, heard about the new king and was determined to go and meet the new king to welcome him.
Life was good for the blue jackal, but one day, when he was resting on a small rock which was his new throne, he heard a group of ordinary jackals howling. “Hooo. Hooo”. This was the natural way for jackals to behave. The blue jackal got excited, and because he was just an ordinary jackal like the rest, he couldn’t resist the urge to howl like the rest of the jackals in the pack. The blue jackal forgot that he should act like a king and started howling too. “Hooo. Hooo”. The other jackals soon realised that they had been tricked by the blue jackal. They quickly threw stones at the “king” and chased the blue jackal away from the pack and the jungle.
When the blue jackal had run away, the rest of the jackals got together and spoke about the lesson they had learned – that is not to believe everything they hear. The story taught the rest of the jackals to be careful and not trust everything people say, especially if it seems too good to be true. They all realised that honesty was important and it’s better to be truthful and trustworthy. On the other hand, the blue jackal could not have anything to eat or water to drink. He soon got very thin and sick. He died soon after.
By Rudra de Zoysa. MNZM – Gold Coast, Australia
Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in New Zealand (Retired after 20 years of service).
Dean of the Wellington Consular Corps (Retired).
Founding Member of United Sri Lanka Association.
Founding Member of the Sri Lanka Association of New Zealand.
