All the children are fond of Panchtantra stories that taught us all the sensible ways of living. Panchtantra is the first anthology of animal stories. Here in the inspirational corridors wall I share with you all one thought provoking tale, which indeed is one of my too.
Long ago, a crow couple lived in a nest on the top of a huge tree. They were living happily, when on one fateful day a huge snake came to live in the hole at the bottom of the tree. The crows were not at all happy with this new neighbor, but they couldn’t help it either.
Soon after the snake’s arrival, Mother Crow laid a few eggs. The couple was so eager to see their first baby crows. But there joy ended shortly. One day, when the crows left the nest in search of food, the snake crawled up the tree and ate all the eggs. When the crow couple returned after a day long quest fro food, they were taken aback to see the eggs broken and nest shattered. They were deeply grieved, but could do nothing.
Another few months went by, but the snake continued his brutal dance of death. In fact on one occasion Mother Crow even tried to fight the snake off, but she fell weak before him. Other crows also came to her aid, but before they could take him, the ruthless snake hurried into its hole.
Tired of losing her eggs again and again, mother crow wanted to abandon the nest as soon as possible. But Father Crow insisted to stay and said that this tree had been their adobe for many years and they must live here. But he also thought of teaching a lifelong lesson to the snake. For this the crow approached a wise old fox in the jungle to help him devise a foolproof plan so as to get rid of the snake.
The fox came up with a fantastic plan. He told the couple to go to the river bank where the queen comes to bathe every morning. Her clothes and valuables would be kept on the river bank. He asked the crows to pick up a necklace and fly away while cawing loudly. This would put the servants on alert and when they will run chasing crows to the tree, the crows would drop the necklace into the snake's burrow.
The next morning the crow couple did as fox told. The servants, as planned, reached the tree chasing crows where they saw one crow dropping the necklace into the snake’s burrow.
When the servants reached the tree, they saw the necklace guarded by the snake. As they were trying to get necklace back with the help of a spear the snake hissed at them angrily. The servants lynched the snake in self defense and retrieved the queen’s necklace. The snake paid his life for his misdeeds and the crow couple lived happily ever after.
