The Village Headman and the Clever Jackal

 The Village Headman and the Clever Jackal

A jackal from the forest, constantly in search of food, ventured close to the village. The village headman’s chicken coop was filled with chickens. The jackal easily caught a chicken and fled back to the forest. Now, every night, the jackal would come to the headman’s house to catch a chicken. The headman tried to stay awake to catch the jackal but failed each time, as the jackal would always manage to escape. The headman was very angry and kept thinking about how to catch this clever jackal.

One night, the headman asked the village housekeeper to cook some delicious pumpkin rice. After the rice was prepared, he put it in a basket, took a good stick, and went near the chicken coop. He placed the pumpkin rice on the path that the jackal would take from the forest to his house. Then he pulled up a large bush and held it with one hand while holding the stick in the other, hiding himself behind the bush and waiting.

After a while, the jackal cautiously approached in the darkness, looking around. From a distance, the jackal saw the basket of pumpkin rice. He thought he didn’t need to bother with the chickens tonight as he could eat the rice instead. But being very cunning, the jackal wondered why the rice was left there. He decided to be careful and watch for a while. The jackal stayed back and observed. The headman, eager to catch the jackal, was growing impatient.

After waiting for a while, the headman couldn't hold his patience any longer. He slowly moved forward, pushing the bush along. The sharp-eyed jackal noticed the bush moving. He looked more closely and saw the headman with the stick. Realizing the danger, the jackal retreated.

"Normally, I go to the bush, but today the bush is coming to me," the jackal said loudly enough for the headman to hear and ran back into the forest.

The headman had nothing left to do. Exhausted and having spent the cold night trying to catch the jackal, he returned home empty-handed.