In long-past times there lived in a certain forest a pregnant lioness.
Now it is the custom of lionesses to lay up stores of flesh for the
time when they shall bring forth their young. The lioness, having
followed after a herd of cattle, struck down a cow which had calved,
and which, while taking care of her calf, lagged behind the rest of the
herd. The lioness killed the cow, and dragged it off to her lair; the
calf, which wanted to suck her mother’s teats, following after her. The
lioness was at first inclined to kill the calf too, but reflected that
it would serve as a playfellow for her cub so soon as she brought it
into the world. She gave birth to a male cub, which she suckled along
with the calf.
After they had both grown up, the lioness fell ill, and before her
death spoke thus, “O children, as ye have both sucked the same dugs,
behave as brothers. The world is full of evil calumniators. Take heed,
when I am dead, that ye do not listen to such persons.”
The lion, which ate the good flesh of the gazelles he killed, and drank
his fill of their blood, grew big; and so did the bull, which fed on
the good grass guarded by the lion, and enjoyed clear water. The lion,
as the king of beasts, was followed about by an old, very greedy,
remainder-devouring jackal. When the lion had killed gazelles, and
having devoured their good flesh and drunk their good blood, tranquilly
rested, none of the rest of the smaller beasts dared to draw nigh. Only
the old jackal used to approach, in order to enjoy what remained over
of the good flesh and blood, thanks to which his hide, his flesh, and
his blood all thrived.
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 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.”
“What has happened then?”
“The bull has said, ‘Whither has my lion-grass gone? As his mother
killed my mother, I will slit up his belly.’”
The lion said, “O uncle, our mother, before she died, thus spoke to us
twain, ‘As ye two have sucked the same dugs, be brothers. The world is
full of evil calumniators. Take heed that ye do not listen to any of
them.’ As she has left such a legacy behind, do not speak in such a
manner.”
The jackal replied, “O nephew, if you do not now listen to my
well-meant words, you will go to perdition.”
The lion said, “O uncle, what will take place?”
The jackal replied, “O nephew, the bull will come forth from the
meadow, and will stretch himself, and when he has stretched himself he
will bellow, and when he has bellowed he will tear up the ground, and
when he has torn up the ground he will come snorting into your presence
and will think, ‘This one will kill me;’ know all this.”
Although those two animals were constantly in the habit of acting in
this way according to their natures, they had never taken any notice of
the fact. So when one day after this the lion, the king of beasts, came
forth from his lair, after stretching and yawning and looking around on
all four sides, and roaring three times, he appeared in presence of the
bull. Likewise the bull had come out from the pen, and had stretched
himself, and bellowed, and torn up the ground and snorted, and then it
appeared in presence of the lion. Although they had both been
accustomed to act in this way according to their natures, they had
never taken any notice of the fact. But they noticed it now that the
seed of discord was sown. The bull thought, “He will kill me,” and the
lion thought just the same. The lion seized the bull’s breast with his
claws, the bull slit up the lion’s belly with his horns. And so they
both perished.
A deity uttered the following verse: “Men who pay regard to what is
good, ought not to hold converse with bad men. See how the jackal set
at variance the lion and the bull who had been friends.”