Lurking in the shadows, it entered the town. It could see a few people walking about early in the morning. A few vehicles were moving around the town. The jackal had never seen those vehicles before. It felt nervous. Finding a shallow ditch, it hid there. From there it watched the goings on in the town. A market was nearby. A rubbish heap near the market appeared to have some discarded foods. The jackal was happy at an easy meal. It had to just cross a road to reach the market. Not many people were in the market at such an early hour.
Unfortunately for the jackal, its scent had been caught by a pack of dogs that lived in the town. The dogs were curious about the new scent and they began to track it. The followed the scent and it led to the ditch where the jackal lay.
The jackal was too focussed on the easy food that lay before him to pay attention to the dogs which were closing on him. Only when they were too close to him could he smell them. He managed to leap out of the ditch in the nick of time before they could pounce on him.
The dogs chased the jackal all over the town. He was an intruder in their territory. The terrified jackal ran though the streets. They dogs were too many. He had no place to hide. As he desperately searched for a way out, he saw a large drum in the backyard of a house. He jumped into it.
The dogs searched for him for a while. They could not find him. They slowly left. The jackal was waiting inside the drum and holding his breath. He peered over the drum carefully and looked around. He could see no sign of the dogs. He them came out of drum. He looked around.
It was quite dark. He had run around the town for hours before he had found the drum. He waited near the drum for some more time till the sun set. His first visit to the town had been a terrible experience. He promised never to return.
While he was thus thinking, he suddenly looked at his legs. He were blue in colour. He was surprised. He looked at his body. It was blue too. He looked at the drum from where he had jumped out. It was blue in colour too. He slowly realized what had happened. He had fallen into a drum of blue dye. The house he had entered had belonged to a weaver. The jackal was now shocked. His beautiful coat of fur was not spoilt. How will the other animals in the forest treat him now? He will not be accepted by any of the other jackals.
He was very sad. By now, it was dark. He found a deserted road nearby and carefully walked into the forest, looking for any dogs. He reached his den. He was hungry. He had had nothing to eat the whole day. He could not sleep the whole night. He pondered over his fate. The future seemed dark and hopeless. The animals of the forest may chase him out of the forest because of his strange appearance. While he was thus thinking, an idea flashed in his mind.
The next day, Kakudruma rose early in the morning. He found a huge rock which lay in the middle of the forest. He climbed the rock and sat on it. The sun had just risen and the other animals were just coming out of their caves and places of rest. They were surprised to see a strange blue creature on top of the rock.
They were curious about the new animal in the forest. They slow and cautiously approached the rock. As soon as the animals were gathered around the rock, the jackal began to speak. He told them that he was a special creation of God. He said that God had found that the animals of the forest needed a king and had sent him on this mission. He said that his blue colour was a sign of this.
The ignorant animals of the forest believed this. He said that he would bring in a golden age in the forest where everyone could live in peace and have food to eat. Kakudruma, the jackal, appointed the lion as his prime minister and the wolf as his security chief.
Now that he was the king, Kakudruma demanded a share of the food caught by the lions and other animals. Life was easy for Kakudruma now. He led a life of luxury and comfort. He need not go for hunting and chase animals over long distances for food. The animals of the forest gathered around the rock every day to hear him speak. Kakudruma loved his new position and status. The animals had no idea of the real identity of their king until one day; a group of jackals were passing by the rock where Kakudruma was holding court.
The group of jackals suddenly started howling. Kakudruma, for a moment forgot his new position and unknowingly started to howl along with them. The other animals were shocked to see their king behave in such a low manner. They looked at Kakudruma closely and saw who he really was. He was a mere fox. The animals were furious at being cheated. They pounced upon Kakudruma and killed him.
Children, this story tell us the consequences of cheating others. People who cheat others may be successful for some time. But, they will be discovered sooner or later and will pay a heavy price.