In a certain country, while cattle are coming along eating and eating
food, a Leopard having been hidden and been there looking out seized
a small Calf out of them, and at first ate an ear.
Then the Calf says, "I am insufficient for food for you. When I
have become big you can eat me, therefore let me go," he said to
the Leopard. At that time the Leopard having said, "It is good,"
allowed the Calf to go.
In a little time, having seen that the Calf has become big the
Leopard came to eat him. Thereupon the Bull (the grown-up calf) says
to the Leopard, "You cannot eat me in that way. Go to the jungle,
and breaking a large creeper [330] come [back with it]," he said.
Then when the Leopard brought a creeper the Bull said to the Leopard,
"Tie an end round your waist [331] and the other end tie on my neck,"
he said.
The Bull having dropped heated dung while the Leopard was doing thus,
began to run in all directions [after they were tied together]. When he
is running thus the Leopard says to the Bull [as he was jolted about],
Bale--di--no--kae--kota While young--not--having--eaten thee
Ma--ata--modakan--kota On my--part--I--did--foolishly.
Gassa--gassa--no--duwa Jolting,--jolting--me,--don't--run,
Periya--kan--kota O thou--great--short--earèd--one.
The Leopard having been much wounded in this way, died.
The Bull went near his master's son; he unfastened the Bull.
North-western Province.
In Tales of the Punjab (Mrs. F. A. Steel), p. 70, a lamb escaped from
several animals that wanted to eat it by telling them to wait until
it grew fatter. In the end it was eaten by a jackal.
In Folk-Tales from Tibet (O'Connor), p. 43, a wolf that was about to
eat a young wild ass was persuaded by it to wait a few months until
it became fatter. When the time came for meeting it, the wolf was
joined by a fox and a hare, to which it promised to give a share of
the meat. The hare's suggestion that to avoid the loss of the blood
the ass should be strangled was adopted, the fox borrowed a rope
from a shepherd, the hare put slip-knots over the necks of each of
the animals, and holding the end of the rope itself gave the word
for all to pull. When they did so the wolf and fox were strangled,
and the ass escaped.