Long ago, in a forest where wild creatures wandered beneath towering trees, there lived a jackal who had become terribly hungry. For days, he had searched for something to eat, but fortune had not been kind to him. His stomach ached, and his strength was beginning to fade.
One day, while searching for food, he wandered into an abandoned battlefield deep within the forest. The place was strangely quiet, with scattered remnants of human activity lying among the trees.
As the jackal explored the unfamiliar ground, a tremendous noise suddenly broke the silence.
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BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sound echoed through the forest, startling the hungry animal. He stopped immediately, his ears alert and his heart filled with fear.
“What terrible creature could make such a frightening noise?” he wondered. “Perhaps some enormous beast is hiding nearby. If it discovers me, I may never escape!”
For a moment, the jackal considered running away. But hunger and curiosity struggled against his fear.
Carefully, he began investigating the source of the noise. Before long, he discovered an enormous war-drum lying on the battlefield. Its great wooden body and stretched leather coverings made it look almost like a strange monster.
The jackal stared at it suspiciously.
“Could this object really be making that dreadful sound?” he wondered. “Perhaps it has a voice of its own. Or perhaps something else is causing the noise.”
He watched patiently from a distance.
Soon, the wind stirred the surrounding grass. Some long blades bent forward and brushed against the drum. The instrument sounded again, producing the same deep booming noise that had frightened him.
The jackal watched closely and gradually understood what was happening. The drum was not making the noise by itself. It was simply responding whenever something struck its surface.
His fear began to disappear.
“If this object cannot move or attack me,” he thought, “perhaps there is nothing to fear after all.”
Feeling bolder, he approached the drum and struck it with his paws. The loud sound returned, but this time he was no longer frightened. Instead, he became excited by the possibility of discovering something valuable.
The drum was enormous, and its strange shape made him imagine that it might contain a wonderful supply of food.
“Surely,” he thought, “something this large must be filled with meat and fat. What good fortune! After searching for so long, I may finally have found enough food to satisfy my hunger.”
His imagination grew stronger than his judgment.
The jackal began gnawing at the tough leather covering. It was difficult work, but he persevered until he managed to make an opening large enough to enter.
He squeezed inside, expecting to discover a feast.
But what a disappointment awaited him!
There was no meat, no fat and no hidden treasure. The enormous object contained nothing but wood and stretched animal skin.
The jackal had risked his teeth and wasted his effort for absolutely nothing.
After a moment of disappointment, he began to laugh at his own foolish expectations.
“The noise was enormous,” he reflected, “and I imagined that something equally wonderful must be hidden inside. Yet all my trouble has brought me nothing but wood and leather!”
He carefully backed out of the drum and returned to the forest.
Although he had found no food, he had gained something useful: an important lesson about fear, curiosity and appearances.
He understood that a frightening sound does not necessarily indicate a dangerous creature, just as an impressive appearance does not guarantee that something contains great value.
And so the jackal continued his search for food, wiser than he had been before his strange encounter with the war-drum.
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Moral
Do not allow frightening appearances or unfamiliar sounds to control your judgment. Investigate before becoming afraid, and do not mistake outward impressiveness for inner value.
The jackal’s experience also teaches that curiosity should be accompanied by sensible judgment. Discovering that something is harmless does not mean it must be rewarding.
Knowledge Check
1. Why was the jackal wandering through the forest?
He was hungry and searching for food.
2. What frightened the jackal on the battlefield?
A loud booming noise coming from a war-drum.
3. What caused the drum to make its sound?
The wind moved the surrounding grass, which struck the drum’s surface.
4. What did the jackal expect to discover inside the drum?
He imagined that it contained meat and fat.
5. What did he actually find?
Only wood and stretched animal skin.
6. What is the central lesson of the story?
We should investigate unfamiliar situations instead of judging them by appearances or sounds alone.
Source
Arthur W. Ryder (translator), The Panchatantra (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1925), Book I, “The Loss of Friends,” Story 3, “The Jackal and the War-Drum,” pp. 41–48.
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