The Lion and the Cunning Jackal

Once upon a time, during the dry season, a light breeze had just arrived to cool the sun’s shimmering heat a little. An old Golden jackal walked slowly across the arid plains. Like always, he was hungry and looking for some tidbit to eat.

He pressed the tip of his black nose against the ground and sniffed around to see if he could smell anything. He paced back and forth, back and forth, imagining all of the yummy things he would like to feast on the most. Perhaps a small antelope or a nice and juicy grass rat.

He was hoping that the breeze would bring him the wonderful scent of prey soon. He was so focused on sniffing the air and smacking his lips while dreaming of a large catch, that he was paying hardly any attention to his surroundings.

“All this running around is utterly useless!” he thought to himself. With the sun beating down as hard as it was, every other creature was resting comfortably in the shade! The old Golden jackal wanted to have a nice little nap in the shade as well, and so he looked around and found a large overhanging rock to relax under.

As he was lying there, enjoying the light breeze, he smelled a familiar stench. Oh, yum! He immediately sprang up, straightened up his whiskers and tried to think very hard about who or what the smell belonged to. He tried and he tried, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Could it be a squirrel?” he asked himself. “Or maybe a fat lizard?”

Suddenly, he figured it out. “Aha!” he thought, and then “Oh no!” This smell that he knew so very well belonged to someone much, much bigger. The mighty lion! The jackal had…