Long ago, when the great animals still roamed the plains in friendship and rivalry, the Lion and the Jackal once set out together to hunt an eland, the mighty antelope that was the prize of the savanna. The sun hung high above the grasslands, and the air shimmered with heat as the two hunters crouched in silence, waiting for their moment.
Lion, proud and strong, carried a bow in his great paws. When the eland finally appeared in the distance, moving with the calm dignity of the plains, Lion loosed an arrow. It flew wide and fell uselessly to the ground.
Beside him, the smaller but clever Jackal released his shot. His arrow found its mark. With excitement and triumph, Jackal cried out, “Hah! Hah!”
But Lion, unwilling to accept defeat, growled in his deep voice, “No, Jackal. It was I who struck the beast.”
Jackal bowed his head quickly, masking his cunning with respect. “Yes, my father,” he replied, “it was you who hit.”
Together, they decided to leave the fallen eland where it lay, planning to return once the animal had breathed its last. Yet Jackal’s mind was already scheming. He had no intention of sharing fairly.
As they turned toward home, Jackal quietly slipped away. He struck his own nose until it bled, letting the drops of blood fall upon the trail. He made it appear as though the spoor of the eland was marked with blood, and Lion, following behind, would be fooled. Then, circling back by another path, Jackal hurried to the carcass.
There, with stealth and eagerness, Jackal crawled into the belly of the dead eland. He cut away all the rich fat, storing it for himself. His sharp teeth worked quickly, his eyes gleaming with hunger and greed.
Meanwhile, Lion lumbered along, nose low to the ground, following the false trail stained with Jackal’s blood. For some time he believed he was tracking the dying eland. But at last, after walking far, he realized he had been deceived. The spoor was not the eland’s at all.
Roaring with fury, Lion turned back. He followed Jackal’s own trail this time, and soon arrived at the eland’s body. There he found Jackal still inside, gnawing at the fat. With a single swift movement, Lion seized Jackal by his tail, yanking him out of the carcass and flinging him to the ground.
“Why do you cheat me?” roared Lion, his voice rolling like thunder across the plains.
But Jackal, sly and quick of tongue, spoke smoothly. “No, my father, I did not cheat you. This fat, I was preparing it for you. Do you not see? I thought of you first, my father.”
Lion, though still angry, was softened by Jackal’s words. “If that is so,” he said, “then take the fat and carry it to your mother.” By “mother,” he meant Lioness, his mate. Generously, Lion also gave Jackal the lungs of the eland, telling him, “Take these to your wife and children.”
Jackal bowed and accepted the gifts. But his heart was filled with mischief. When he arrived home, he gave the rich fat not to Lioness, but to his own wife and children. Only the lungs did he deliver to Lion’s family. Worse still, he mocked Lion’s cubs by throwing the lungs at them. Laughing, he jeered, “You children of the big-pawed one! You big-pawed ones!”
Lioness was angered, but Jackal excused himself with more lies. “I must go to help my father, the Lion,” he told her. Yet instead of returning, Jackal fled far away with his wife and children, carrying the stolen fat with him.
From that day forward, Lion never forgot how Jackal had tricked him. And Jackal, ever sly, carried his reputation for cunning wherever he went.
Moral of the Story
The tale teaches that cunning words and clever tricks may win in the short term, but they destroy trust. Just as Jackal betrayed Lion’s generosity, deceit breaks bonds of friendship and respect.
Knowledge Check
1. Who were the main characters in the story?
The story features Lion, symbol of strength, and Jackal, symbol of cunning, in a South African folktale.
2. What animal did Lion and Jackal hunt together?
They hunted an eland, a large antelope of the African plains.
3. How did Jackal trick Lion into following the wrong trail?
Jackal struck his nose to bleed, leaving drops on the path so Lion believed it was eland’s blood.
4. What part of the eland did Jackal secretly take for himself?
Jackal cut out the fat of the eland and gave it to his own family.
5. What moral lesson does the folktale teach?
The story warns against deceit and dishonesty, showing how betrayal ruins trust and respect.
6. What is the cultural origin of this folktale?
This is a traditional South African folktale, part of the region’s oral storytelling heritage.
Source: South African folktale
