Page 20 - TheMoralOfYourStory

20 CHILDART THE MORAL OF YOUR STORY APR-JUN 2021 21

TWO TALES OF THE

HITOPADESHA

THE BLACK SNAKE AND THE GOLDEN CHAIN
A pair of crows made their home in a certain tree. A black snake lived in
the hollow of the tree and often ate their young.
One day, the mother crow said, “Husband, we must leave this tree. We
cannot rear our young ones in this tree while the black snake lives here.”

“My dear,” replied the father crow, “fear not. I will put an end to this.”
The mother replied, “But how can you fight a great black snake?”

“Doubt not,” replied the father.
The father crow then flew to the banks of a certain pond where the women
of the king’s court went to play in the water. Before entering the water
they had taken off their jewelry, their precious golden bracelets, pearl
necklaces and gems, and left them on the bank.

The father crow snatched a gold chain and began to fly back to the tree.
The king’s men saw what happened and gave chase. The crow dropped
the gold chain in the snake’s hole in the hollow of the tree. When the
king’s men arrived at the tree they discovered the gold chain in the hole
with the snake. They killed the snake and recovered the chain.
Thereafter, the crow family lived in peace.

“In cases where brute force would fail,
A shrewd device may still prevail:
The crow-hen used a golden chain,
And so the dreadful snake was slain.”

THE TORTOISE AND THE GEESE
Once there was a pair of geese and a tortoise who lived by a lake and
became great friends. In time, there was a great drought and the lake
began to dry up. People and animals were dying. The geese decided to
look for a better place to live. They went to tell their friend the tortoise
goodbye. The tortoise pleaded with the geese to take him with them. He
explained that he was very old and very slow and would never arrive at
the new lake without help. The geese came up with a plan. They said
they would take the tortoise with them if he would agree to one thing: He
must not speak for the entire journey. If he did speak, he would surely die.
The two geese got a large stick. They each held one end in their beak.
Tortoise gripped the center of the stick with his teeth. The geese began
to fly. Tortoise held tight. The three friends flew high into the sky. Down
below, the people were amazed to see the tortoise flying with the geese.
They had never seen anything like this. They began to laugh and point at
the unusual sight. Tortoise began to feel anxious. Were they laughing at
him? Unable to control his anxiety, he opened his mouth to say, “What are
they laughing about?” Alas, the tortoise fell to his death.

“And now, O mighty master, mark it well.
See thou speak wisely, see thou speak in season.
To death the Tortoise fell.
He talked too much: That was the reason.”

ARTWORK BOLOR-ERDENE AGE 10 MONGOLIA https://icaf.org