The Crows and the Serpent
Also known as Kauwa aur Saanp
- 2 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Panchatantra Stories
A pair of crows nested in a banyan tree, and every year a black serpent that lived in a hollow at the base of the tree climbed up and ate their eggs.
They had tried moving the nest higher. The serpent climbed higher. They had tried driving it off and had nearly been killed doing it.
This had gone on for years, and they had never once raised a chick.
The jackal
At last they went to a jackal they knew, who was old and had seen a great deal, and told him the whole of it.
"You cannot fight it," said the jackal. "It is stronger than you and it lives in the tree you live in. You need something stronger than the serpent to want it dead."
"There is nothing stronger than the serpent."
"There is the King," said the jackal.
And he told them what to do.
The lake
The next morning the crows flew to the lake behind the palace, where the queen and her women were bathing, and their clothes and jewels were laid out on the bank with servants standing over them.
The female crow came down, took a gold necklace off the pile in her beak, and flew off with it slowly.
Slowly enough to be followed.
The servants shouted and ran after her along the bank, and she stayed just ahead of them, low over the ground, all the way back across the field to the banyan tree.
And there she dropped the necklace into the hollow at the base of the trunk.
The guards
The palace guards came up behind, out of breath, and one of them reached into the hollow to get the necklace back.
The serpent came out.
They killed it there in the grass in front of the tree with the tools they had brought for cutting brush, and they took the queen's necklace back to the palace, and nobody ever thought about the crow again.
The crows raised chicks in that tree the following spring, and every spring afterwards.
Moral of the story
If you cannot defeat something yourself, arrange for it to meet something that can. The crows never touched the serpent.
Questions and answers
- What was the crows' problem?
A black serpent living at the base of their tree ate their eggs every year, so they had never raised a chick.
- Why could they not solve it themselves?
The serpent was far stronger than they were, and they had nearly been killed trying to drive it off.
- What did the jackal advise?
That they could not fight it, so they should arrange for something stronger to want it dead.
- What did the female crow do?
She stole a gold necklace from the queen's bathing place and flew slowly enough for the servants to follow her.
- How was the serpent killed?
A palace guard reached into the hollow for the necklace, the serpent came out, and the guards killed it.
Word meanings
- serpent
- A large snake.
- hollow
- A hole or empty space inside something.
- brush
- Rough low bushes and undergrowth.
- outwit
- To defeat someone by being cleverer than them.
Questions about The Crows and the Serpent
What is the moral of The Crows and the Serpent?
That intelligence beats strength. The crows solved a problem they could never have won by force, and never went near the serpent.
Why does the jackal not help directly?
In the Panchatantra the jackal is usually the adviser rather than the actor. The story is about the crows learning to think, not about being rescued.
Is the crow's plan risky?
Very. She had to be caught sight of, followed the whole way and not caught, which is why the story emphasises that she flew slowly and low on purpose.
Which book of the Panchatantra is this from?
Kakolukiyam, the third book, which is largely about dealing with enemies stronger than yourself.