The fool who forsaketh his own party, and delighteth to dwell with the
opposite side may be killed by them; as was the case with the Blue
Jackal.
A certain Jackal, as he was roaming about the borders of a town, just
as his inclinations led him, fell into a dyer's vat;[1] but being
unable to get out in the morning he feigned himself dead. At length,
the master of the vat, which was filled with indigo, came, and seeing a
Jackal lying with his legs uppermost, his eyes closed, and his teeth
bare, concluded that he was dead, and so, taking him out, he carried
him a good way from the town, and there left him. The sly animal
instantly got up, and ran into the woods; when, observing that his coat
was turned blue, he meditated in this manner: "I am now of the finest
colour! what great exaltation may I not bring about for myself?"
Saying this, he called a number of Jackals together, and addressed them
in the following words: "Know that I have lately been sprinkled king of
the forests, by the hands of the goddess herself who presides over
these woods, with a water drawn from a variety of choice herbs.
Observe my colour, and henceforward let every business be transacted
according to my orders."
The rest of the Jackals, seeing him of such a fine complexion,
prostrated themselves before him, and said: "According as your Highness
commands!" By this step he made himself honoured by his own relations,
and so gained the supreme power over those of his own species, as well
as all the other inhabitants of the forests. But after a while,
finding himself surrounded by a levee of the first quality, such as the
tiger and the like, he began to look down upon his relations; and, at
length, he kept them at a distance. A certain old Jackal perceiving
that his brethren were very much cast down at this behaviour, cried:
"Do not despair! If it continues thus, this imprudent friend of ours
will force us to be revenged. Let me alone to contrive his downfall.
The lion, and the rest who pay him court, are taken by his outward
appearance; and they obey him as their king, because they are not aware
that he is nothing but a Jackal: do something then by which he may be
found out. Let this plan be pursued: Assemble all of you in a body
about the close of the evening, and set up one general howl in his
hearing; and I'll warrant you, the natural disposition of his species
will incline him to join in the cry for:
"'Whatever may be the natural propensity of any one is very hard to be
overcome. If a dog were made king, would he not gnaw his shoe straps?'
"And thus, the tiger discovering that he is nothing but a Jackal, will
presently put him to death."
In short, the plan was executed, and the event was just as it had been
foretold. I repeat, therefore: "The fool who forsaketh his own party
and delighteth to dwell with the opposite side, may be killed by them."
[1]A dyer's vat, in Hindostan, is a large pan sunk in the ground, often
in the little court before the dyer's house.