One day a man was walking along the forest roadway. He saw a cage under a big tree. Inside the cage, a lion was trapped. Seeing the man, the lion called him, “Hello, dear Sir, I found this cage here and walked into it accidentally. The door closed behind me. Won’t you open the door please?” He took pity on the lion and opened the door of the cage. The lion came out of the cage and immediately wanted to kill him.
Just then a jackal came along and enquired about the matter. The man said to the jackal, “The lion was in this cage and asked me to open the door. I opened the cage. Now the lion wants to kill me.” The jackal pretended surprise and said to the lion, “Dear lion, you are huge and the cage is small. I can’t believe that you were in the cage”. The man is not speaking the truth. The lion said, “The man is, of course, speaking the truth. I was in that cage”.
On hearing this, the jackal once more showed his astonishment and asked the lion, “Would you mind providing it to me, sir, so that I may be well convinced?” In reply, the lion walked into the cage angrily. At once the jackal closed the door. “Good-bye, dear lion. You look nice in that cage only.” said the jackal. The man thanked the jackal very much and walked away without fear. Thus the clever jackal saved the man’s life.
Moral of the story: ‘Never show mercy to those who do not deserve it.’
