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Panchatantra Tale – The Musical Donkey

The Musical Donkey jackal panchatantra stories from india
Written by Team Tell A Tale

Once there lived a washerman and his donkey in a village. During the day, the donkey would carry the washerman’s bags. During the night the washerman would set him free in the field to eat grass. However, the donkey would sneak into nearby farms and eat the fresh vegetables there.

One day, while wandering thus, he met a jackal. They became friends and the donkey invited the jackal to join him on his rendezvous at night. They started meeting every night. By day break, the donkey would be back home.

This went on for many days. One day the jackal said, “Uncle, I have discovered a new field with ripe, juicy cucumbers not very far off. It is nothing less than a feast for you. I am sure I will also find some small animals for myself in that field. Let’s go there tonight.”

So both of them went to feast on the cucumbers. The donkey feasted to his full, and said, “Nephew. I m so happy today. Look at the full moon. It is so beautiful that it makes me want to sing.”

The jackal said, “Uncle, we are stealing from this field. We cannot make ourselves heard. If you sing, the farmers will wake up and we will be caught. It is better to eat and forget about singing!”

the musical donkey panchatantraThe donkey was annoyed. “A wild animal like you cannot appreciate music. I will show you what real music sounds like.”

The jackal saw that the donkey was determined to sing. So he said, “Uncle, if you want to sing, please wait till I go out of the field so that I can keep an eye on the farmers.” Saying this the jackal ran out and hid himself.

The donkey lifted his face to the moon and started braying at the top of his voice. The farmers woke up and in the light of the full moon, could clearly see him standing in the field. They chased him with sticks and stones and beat him black and blue.

As the donkey limped out of the field, the jackal came out of his hiding place and laughed. “Uncle, that was very nice singing. I see that the farmers have rewarded you well!”

Moral: There is a time and place for everything. 

(Story Source: Stories from Panchatantra. Image from Youtube)

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