In a country teeming with wild beasts of every imaginable sort, where lions prowled and leopards stalked and danger lurked behind every acacia tree, there once lived a jackal and a hedgehog who, despite their remarkable differences in size and nature, had formed an unlikely friendship. The jackal was tall, swift, and cunning, always scheming and plotting his next advantage. The hedgehog was small, cautious, and surprisingly observant, his tiny body covered in protective spines. Yet these two creatures were often seen traveling together, sharing adventures across the wild landscape.
One warm afternoon, as golden sunlight filtered through the dust-filled air, the jackal and hedgehog were walking companionably along a winding road when the jackal, being the taller of the two, spotted something in the distance that made his eyes gleam with mischief and appetite.
“Oh! There is a barn full of corn,” he exclaimed, his voice filled with eager anticipation. “Let us go and eat some.”
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“Yes, do let us!” the hedgehog agreed enthusiastically, his little legs already moving faster at the thought of such a feast.
They approached the barn carefully, and the jackal, ever the clever one, removed his shoes so his footsteps would make no sound that might alert anyone to their presence. They slipped inside and ate until their bellies were round and tight, unable to consume another kernel. Only then did the jackal put his shoes back on, and together they returned to the high road, satisfied and content.
An Encounter with the Panther
They had not traveled far when they encountered a panther,a magnificent creature with sleek fur and powerful muscles rippling beneath his spotted coat. The panther stopped before them, bowing with the elaborate courtesy that marked him as a beast of refined manners.
“Excuse my speaking to you,” the panther said politely, his eyes fixed on the jackal’s feet, “but I cannot help admiring those shoes of yours. Do you mind telling me who made them?”
The jackal glanced down at his shoes with barely concealed pride. “Yes, I think they are rather nice,” he replied with false modesty. “I made them myself, though.”
“Could you make me a pair like them?” the panther asked, his voice trembling with eagerness. He had never owned such fine footwear, and the thought of possessing shoes like the jackal’s filled him with desire.
The jackal’s mind worked quickly, seeing opportunity in the panther’s request. “I would do my best, of course,” he answered smoothly. “But you must kill me a cow, and when we have eaten the flesh I will take the skin and make your shoes out of it.”
The panther, delighted by this arrangement, prowled off immediately and soon spotted a fine cow grazing apart from the rest of the herd. With one powerful spring, he killed it instantly, then called to the jackal and hedgehog to come witness his success. Together they skinned the dead beast, spreading its hide in the sun to dry while they feasted magnificently on the fresh meat. When darkness fell, they curled up contentedly and slept soundly under the stars.
The Treacherous Shoes
The next morning, while the panther still drowsed, the jackal rose early and set to work crafting the shoes. His paws moved with practiced skill as the panther watched with mounting excitement. At last the shoes were finished, beautiful to look at, smooth and gleaming in the morning light.
The jackal arose and stretched, yawning elaborately. “Now go and lay them in the sun out there,” he instructed the eager panther. “In a couple of hours they will be ready to put on; but do not attempt to wear them before, or you will feel them most uncomfortable. But I see the sun is high in the heavens, and we must be continuing our journey.” With that, the jackal and hedgehog departed, leaving the panther alone with his precious new shoes.
The panther, who had the unfortunate habit of believing everything he was told, waited exactly two hours before fastening on his beautiful new shoes. They certainly made his paws look magnificent, and he stretched out his forepaws and admired them with deep satisfaction. But when he tried to take his first step, ah! That was an entirely different matter. The shoes were so stiff and hard, baked rigid by the sun, that each step sent waves of excruciating pain through his feet. He tried to walk, then limped, then finally sank down where he was and began to cry like a lost cub.
The Panther’s Revenge
After some time, a flock of little partridges who were hopping nearby heard the panther’s pitiful groans. These small birds had always been friendly with him, for he had never tried to make a meal of them, and now they fluttered close with concern.
“You seem in pain,” said one of them. “Can we help you?”
“Oh, it is the jackal!” the panther sobbed. “He made me these shoes, and they are so hard and tight that they hurt my feet terribly, and I cannot manage to kick them off.”
“Lie still, and we will soften them,” the kind partridge promised. Calling to his brothers, they all flew to the nearest spring and carried water in their tiny beaks, making trip after trip until the hard leather grew soft enough for the panther to slip his tortured feet free.
“Oh, thank you, thank you,” the panther cried, leaping and bounding with relief and joy. “Now I will go after the jackal and pay him my debts!” His eyes gleamed with righteous anger as he bounded away into the forest.
But the jackal had been cunning, trotting backward and forward, crossing his own trail, making it nearly impossible to track him. When the panther finally caught sight of his enemy, the jackal saw him at the same instant and plunged into a dense thicket where the larger beast could not follow.
Frustrated but determined, the panther lay down to consider his options when an old man happened by. After hearing the panther’s tale of woe, the old man offered wise counsel: “Kill a cow and invite all the jackals in the forest to feast. Watch them carefully while they eat. Most will keep their eyes on their food, but if one glances at you, you will know that is your traitor.”
The panther followed this advice, and during the feast he spotted a jackal whose eyes kept darting nervously toward him. He pounced, seizing the creature’s tail but once again the jackal was too quick. With a knife, he cut off his own tail and vanished into the forest, followed by all the other startled jackals.
The Melon Garden Trap
The old man next suggested the panther search a nearby melon garden, for jackals loved melons and a tailless one would be easy to spot. But the clever jackal had anticipated this advice. While his friends gorged themselves on ripe melons, he crept behind them and tied all their tails together. When he heard the panther approaching, he cried, “Quick! The gardener comes!” The jackals leaped up and fled in all directions, leaving their tails behind.
“They none of them had any tails,” the panther reported sadly to the old man. “I am tired of hunting them. I shall leave them alone.”
The Final Deception
The jackal, now tailless but free, sought out his friend the hedgehog. “I am hungry,” he announced. “Come with me to buy a sheep from that shepherd.”
The shepherd agreed to sell them his finest sheep the next day, but that night he killed a sheep and sewed its skin around his greyhound, placing it on a rope as bait.
Early the next morning, the jackal and hedgehog collected their “sheep” and dragged it to their cave. But when the hedgehog examined the animal closely, he saw the truth. “The wool is indeed sheep’s wool,” he said carefully, “but the paws of my uncle the greyhound peep out from underneath.”
“It is a sheep,” the jackal insisted stubbornly, unwilling to admit error.
The hedgehog, sensing danger, claimed he needed to drink from a spring before eating and hurried away, hiding himself in the long grass. He never returned.
After waiting impatiently, the jackal finally approached the tethered animal alone. But when he heard a low growl, a sound no sheep ever made, he realized his mistake too late. He threw down the rope and fled across the plain, but the greyhound’s legs were longer than his. The chase was brief, the fight even briefer, and soon the jackal lay dead on the ground, his cunning finally exhausted, while the greyhound trotted peacefully back to his master.
The Wisdom of the Tale
This compelling Ivorian folktale teaches us that a life built on deception and trickery, no matter how clever, ultimately leads to destruction. The jackal’s cunning served him well for a time, allowing him to escape consequences and even profit from his schemes. But his refusal to listen to wise counsel, his stubborn belief in his own cleverness, and his willingness to deceive even those who trusted him created enemies and destroyed friendships. The hedgehog’s survival came from his ability to recognize danger and his willingness to retreat when caution demanded it. The story reminds us that intelligence without wisdom, cunning without conscience, and cleverness without consideration for others will eventually bring about our downfall. Those who live by deception die by it, and pride that refuses to acknowledge truth leads inevitably to disaster.
Knowledge Check
1. What was the nature of the friendship between the jackal and the hedgehog in this Ivorian folktale?
The jackal and the hedgehog were unlikely friends who often traveled together despite their significant differences in size and nature. The jackal was tall, swift, and cunning, while the hedgehog was small, cautious, and covered in protective spines. They shared adventures and experiences throughout the story, though their friendship was tested by the jackal’s increasingly dangerous schemes and deceptions.
2. How did the jackal deceive the panther with the shoes he made?
The jackal crafted shoes from cowhide for the panther but instructed him to leave them in the sun for two hours before wearing them. What the jackal didn’t tell the panther was that the sun would bake the leather so hard and stiff that they would become instruments of torture rather than comfortable footwear. This deliberate deception caused the panther terrible pain and sparked his quest for revenge.
3. What role did the partridges play in helping the panther seek revenge?
The kind-hearted partridges heard the panther’s groans of pain and came to help him. They flew repeatedly to a nearby spring, carrying water in their beaks to pour over the hard leather shoes until they softened enough for the panther to remove them. Later, the partridges also helped by flying about with invitations to all the jackals to attend the feast the panther prepared as part of his revenge plan.
4. How did the jackal escape capture at the feast even after being identified?
When the panther spotted the jackal glancing nervously at him during the feast and pounced on him, the jackal demonstrated his quick thinking and willingness to sacrifice anything for survival. He grabbed a knife and cut off his own tail to escape the panther’s grip, then darted into the forest. This self-mutilation allowed him to flee but also marked him as different from the other jackals.
5. What warning sign did the hedgehog notice that the jackal ignored regarding the “sheep”?
The observant hedgehog noticed that while the creature was covered in sheep’s wool, the paws of a greyhound were visible underneath the disguise. He tried to warn the jackal, saying “the paws of my uncle the greyhound peep out from underneath,” but the jackal stubbornly insisted it was a sheep, refusing to listen to his friend’s wisdom. This refusal to acknowledge the truth led directly to the jackal’s death.
6. What does the jackal’s fate teach us about the consequences of living by deception?
The jackal’s death illustrates that a life built on trickery and deception, no matter how clever, eventually leads to destruction. His numerous successful schemes deceiving the panther, escaping multiple revenge attempts, and outwitting various enemies gave him false confidence in his own cleverness. However, his stubborn refusal to listen to wise counsel (the hedgehog’s warning), his pride in his own intelligence, and his pattern of betraying trust ultimately resulted in his downfall when he encountered a deception he couldn’t escape.
Source: Traditional Ivorian folktale (Côte d’Ivoire), retold from Fairytalez.com
