Chatur Khargosh Aur Sher | Panchatantra Stories in English
Clever Rabbit and Lion – Panchatantra Story
A huge lion lived in a dense forest. He went out on a hunt every day and gave all the work of not only one, not two, but many animals. The animals of the forest were afraid that if the lion continued to hunt like this, then one day it would come that no animal would be left in the forest.
There was chaos in the entire jungle. It was necessary to take some measure to stop the lion. One day all the animals of the forest gathered and started pondering over this question. In the end they decided that they should all go to the lion and talk to him about it. The next day a group of animals approached the lion. Seeing them coming towards him, the lion got frightened and roared and asked, “What is the matter? Why are you all coming here?”
Best Stories of Panchatantra in English
The leader of the animal team said, “Your Majesty, we have come to make a request to you. You are the king and we are your people. When you go hunting, you kill many animals. You would not have been able to eat them all. In this way our numbers are decreasing. If this continues like this, then in a few days no one will be left in the forest except you. How can a king live without his subjects? If we all die, you will no longer be the king. We want you to be our king forever. We request you to stay at your home. Every day he himself will send an animal to eat for you. In this way both the king and the subjects will be able to live in peace.” The lion felt that there was truth in the words of animals. He thought for a moment, then said good thing. I accept your suggestion. But remember, if on any day you don’t send me a whole lot of food, I’ll have as many animals as I want. I will kill.” The animals have no other choice. So they accepted the lion’s condition and went to their respective homes.
From that day on every day an animal was sent to the lion to eat. For this, from among all the animals living in the forest, one animal was selected in turn. After a few days the turn of the rabbits also came. A small rabbit was chosen for the food of the lion. The smaller the rabbit was, the more clever he was. He thought, it is foolish to die in vain at the hands of a lion. One must do some way to save his life, and if possible, one should find such a way that everyone can get rid of this trouble forever. At the end, he found a way.
The rabbit slowly walked slowly towards the lion’s house. When he reached the lion it was too late.
The lion was getting worse due to hunger. When he saw only a little rabbit coming towards him, he got furious and roared and said, “Who has sent you? One is like a piddi, the other is coming so late. I will fix all the idiots who sent you. If you don’t do one thing at a time, then my name is not even a lion.” The little rabbit bowed respectfully to the ground, “Sir, if you kindly listen to me, then you will not blame me or other animals. They knew that a small rabbit would not be enough for your food,’ so they sent six rabbits. But on the way we met another lion. He killed and ate five rabbits.”
On hearing this the lion roared and said, “What did you say? Another lion? Who is that ? Where did you see him?”
“Your Majesty, that’s a very big lion,” said the hare, “he came out of a big cave built under the ground. He was going to kill me. But I told him, ‘Sarkar, you don’t know what you have messed up. We were all going for our chef’s meal, but you have eaten all his food. Our Maharaj will not tolerate such things. They will surely come here and kill you.’
‘ On this he asked, ‘Who is your king?’ I replied, ‘Our king is the biggest lion in the jungle.’
‘Your Majesty,’ as soon as I said this, he said in anger, turning red and yellow, I am the only king of this stupid forest. All the animals here are my subjects. I can do whatever I want with them. Show me the fool whom you call your king, that thief. I will tell him who is the real king.’ After saying this, the lion sent me here to get you taken.
Hearing the rabbit, the lion got very angry and started roaring again and again. The whole forest was shaken by his terrible thunder. “Tell me the address of that fool immediately,” said the lion, roaring, “I will not rest until I kill him.” “Very good sir,” said the rabbit. That wicked is punished. If I had been bigger and stronger, I would have broken it into pieces myself.”
“Come on, show the way,” said the lion, “tell me immediately where to go?” ”
Come here sir, Here, “The hare, showing the way, took the lion to a well and said, “Sir, that evil lion lives in the fort under the ground. Just be careful. The enemy hiding in the fort is dangerous.”
“I will deal with him,” said the lion, “you tell me where he is?”
“The first time I saw him, he was standing outside. It seems that seeing you coming, he entered the fort. Come let me show you.” The rabbit came near the well and asked the lion to take a peek inside. When the lion peeped inside the well, he saw his own reflection in the water of the well.
Seeing the shadow, the lion roared loudly. Hearing the echo of his own roar coming from inside the well, he understood that another lion was also roaring. He immediately jumped into the well with the intention of killing the enemy immediately.
As soon as he jumped, he first hit the wall of the well, then fell into the water with great force and drowned and died. In this way, the little rabbit returned home after being cleverly released from the lion. He narrated the story of the lion being killed to the animals of the forest. The news of the death of the enemy spread happiness in the whole forest. All the animals of the forest started cheering for the rabbit.
Lesson: Even in the circumstances of extreme crisis, we should act with prudence and cleverness and try till the last breath. By working with intelligence and cleverness, we can overcome the terrible crisis and can defeat even the most powerful enemy.
