The Lion and the Foolish Donkey
Also known as Sher aur Murkh Gadha
- 3 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Panchatantra Stories
A lion had been hurt in a fight with an elephant and could not hunt, and he had a jackal who fetched things for him.
The jackal was hungry too, so he went out to find something the lion could kill without moving much.
He found a donkey.
The first invitation
The donkey belonged to a washerman and was thin and overworked and covered in sores from the load.
The jackal sat down next to him and was extremely sympathetic.
"Look at the state of you," he said. "Do you know there is a meadow half a day from here where the grass is green all year and no man has ever set foot? And three she-donkeys living in it with nobody to talk to?"
The donkey came.
The lion, who could not judge distance properly any more, sprang too early and missed. The donkey heard him land, understood everything at once, and ran the whole way home without stopping.
The second invitation
The jackal was extremely annoyed and went back.
The donkey was standing in the same yard under the same load.
"What happened?" said the jackal. "You ran off."
"Something attacked me."
"That was one of the she-donkeys," said the jackal. "She was so pleased to see you that she came at you to embrace you and you ran away from her. She has not stopped asking about you since."
The donkey stood there.
And this is the part the Panchatantra wants you to sit with. He did not believe it immediately. He knew what he had heard land behind him. He had felt the ground shake.
But he had been carrying loads for eleven years and nobody had ever been pleased to see him, and he wanted it to be true.
He went back.
The meadow
This time the lion waited until he was close.
Afterwards
The jackal was sent to fetch water while the lion rested before eating, and while he was gone the jackal ate the donkey's heart and ears himself.
When the lion came back and asked where they were, the jackal said the donkey had never had any.
"No heart and no ears?"
"None at all," said the jackal. "If he had had a heart he would have known better, and if he had had ears he would have listened to himself. He came back a second time. Work it out."
Moral of the story
Being fooled once is bad luck. Going back is a decision, and it is usually made because you want the story to be true.
Questions and answers
- Why could the lion not hunt?
He had been injured in a fight with an elephant.
- What did the jackal promise the donkey?
A meadow with green grass all year and three she-donkeys living in it.
- How did the donkey escape the first time?
The lion sprang too early and missed, and the donkey ran home without stopping.
- How was the donkey persuaded to return?
The jackal said the thing that attacked him was a she-donkey coming to embrace him, and the donkey wanted it to be true.
- What does the jackal say at the end?
That the donkey had no heart and no ears, because if he had he would have known better and listened to himself.
Word meanings
- sores
- Painful raw places on the skin.
- meadow
- A field of grass and flowers.
- sympathetic
- Showing that you understand someone's suffering.
- embrace
- To hug someone.
Questions about The Lion and the Foolish Donkey
What is the moral of The Lion and the Foolish Donkey?
That returning to something that nearly destroyed you is a choice rather than an accident, and it is usually made because you wanted the story to be true.
Why is the donkey sympathetic rather than stupid?
The story explains why he goes back: eleven years of work and nobody ever pleased to see him. That detail is what turns a joke into something worth discussing.
Is the jackal's final line meant to be clever?
Yes, and it is a pun the Panchatantra makes deliberately. He is covering a theft with a joke, which tells you what he is.
Is this suitable for younger children?
Ages seven and above. Nothing is described, but the ending is bleak and the discussion afterwards matters more than the story.