In the mountains, a troupe of monkeys was attempting to endure the winter. Rain, driven by the wind, had drenched them completely.
Desperate, some of the monkeys spotted small, red fruits lying on the ground. Mistaking them for embers, they gathered them and began blowing on them with hope.
A sharp-eyed bird watched their efforts. Pitying their wasted energy, the bird said, “Those aren’t embers; they are fruits! You are wasting your effort. These seeds will never make a fire to warm you! Go find shelter where the wind and rain cannot reach you.”
An elderly monkey scowled. “Silence! What concern is this of yours?”
But the bird simply could not control itself. It persisted. The constant noise and the sting of their own failure proved too much for one frustrated monkey. In a fit of temper, the monkey leaped up, seized the bird by its wings, and violently smashed it against a stone, killing it instantly.
“And so,” said the jackal, “that is why I say:
Advice given to fools, instead of calming them, only makes them more excited. You must not give advice to just anyone. A furious monkey once destroyed a sparrow’s nest for the very same reason!”
“How did that happen?” his brother asked.
The jackal said In a jungle was a tall tree. High on its long branches was the nest of a sparrow couple.
One winter, as the two sparrows were resting, a light rain began to fall. Not long after, a monkey, battered by winds, arrived and huddled miserably under the tree.
When the female sparrow saw the monkey, she spoke up, “With hands and feet like yours, you look much like a human being. Why, then, haven’t you taken the precaution of building a house for yourself?”
The monkey’s eyes flashed with anger. “Why don’t you shut your mouth!” he shouted. Then, he said to himself, “This bird thinks she is a well-schooled woman and won’t stop her yapping. It makes me want to destroy her!”
Then, the monkey called out again, “Why should you trouble yourself? You should only give advice to someone who specifically asks for it. Otherwise, it’s like crying in the wilderness.”
Without another word or moment’s hesitation, the monkey clambered up the tree, reached the nest, and furiously tore the sparrows’ home into a thousand pieces. The jackal said, “This is why you should never give counsel to just anyone. My own advice has fallen flat on you. The actual issue is that you think you are far too clever. Have you not heard the story of two friends? There, the son who thought himself too clever nearly caused his father to suffocate to death by smoke!”
“How was that?” asked the other jackal. In a village, there lived two friends.
One day, the friend, who was poor and not particularly clever, thought of a wicked scheme. ‘I will use my friend’s wits to travel and earn a fortune. Then, I will simply cheat him out of his portion of the wealth and live luxuriously.’
A few days later, the poor friend approached the other friend. “Let us travel to a foreign land and make our fortune!”
The two friends set out.
Thanks to the other friend’s cleverness and judgment, the pair made a huge amount of wealth. After some time, they decided to return home.
As they neared their village, the poor friend stopped. He said, “It is not wise to carry all this money home. Others will demand a share. Let us take a small amount and bury the rest safely in the jungle. We can return for it when we need it.” The other friend agreed.
A few nights later, the sneaky friend came one night and took out every coin, and sealed the pit to look exactly as it had before. He returned home with all the wealth. After a few more days, he went to the other person and said, “I have a large family; my money is already spent. Let us go and retrieve some more from the jungle where we stored it.” When they reached the spot and dug up the pit, they found the pot completely empty. The sneaky friend blamed the other friend and said he would take him to court.
The judges, unable to determine the truth, ordered them to swear on the fire. The sneaky person said he would not and said to let the goddess of the forest decide. He went home and told his father, “I have stolen a lot of money from my friend and I have also taken him before the judges. I need you to save me. In the jungle, there is a large tree with a hollow trunk. You must hide there. When the judges ask who is the thief, take the friend’s name and say he is the thief.”
The next day, the sneaky person, in front of the judges and all, shouted out, “O goddess, who is the thief?” His father inside the tree trunk shouted, “The one who is denying is the thief.”
When the judges were deciding the punishment for this, the innocent friend took dry leaves and grass, put that in front of the tree’s hollow and set it on fire. As soon as it began burning, the father hiding inside jumped out and confessed to the crime. The judges ordered the sneaky person to be hanged to death and they said to the innocent friend, “A clever person will always find out the solution and its consequences. Your friend did not and acted like the heron who got rid of the snake but thinking it would get destroyed also.” “How did this happen?” asked the friend.
In a jungle, in a tree, the herons had built their nests. In the hollow of the tree lived a snake. This snake used to feed on the young ones of the birds.
One heron was crying when a crab heard its cries. The heron told the crab the reason of its grief. The crab was a sly one. He knew that herons ate crabs. So he decided to help the heron initially and also eventually destroy them. He asked them to scatter little bits of fish in front of the den of a mongoose and leave a trail leading to their nests. The herons did that. The mongoose climbed up the tree, killed the snake and, seeing the herons, also killed them.
Ending his tale, the jackal said, “You made two friends fight. Not sure when you will do the same to me. It’s like the person saying the rats ate the iron balance.”
“What was this?” asked the brother.
In a town lived a merchant’s son. Having lost all his fortune, he decided to leave the region and seek his luck elsewhere. He possessed a very heavy iron balance. He deposited this with another merchant for safekeeping and then departed. After a long time, he returned back. He went to the merchant’s house and asked for the balance. The merchant said he did not have it, as the rats had eaten it. The traveller remained calm. He said, “That’s fine. Not your fault. I need to go to the river to have a bath. Ask your son to come with me. He can guard my things while I bathe.” The merchant, guilty about the lie about the rats, agreed. Once the traveller had finished his bath, he took the boy to a cave, pushed him inside and sealed the entrance of the cave. He then went to the merchant’s house. The merchant wanted to know why he was alone. The traveller said that when the boy was standing on the riverside, a bird had flown off with him. The merchant took the traveller to the court. The judges asked the person to return the boy. He said a bird had flown off with the boy. The judges asked, “How could a bird fly off with a boy?” The traveller said that if rats can eat a heavy iron balance, then a bird can fly off with a boy. The merchant confessed to the lies. The two reconciled. The merchant returned the iron balance and the traveller returned the merchant’s son.
The jackal said, “While trying to do good for us, you have caused more harm. You acted like the foolish monkey who killed the king.”
“How was that?” asked his brother.
A king had a pet monkey. Once when the king was fast asleep, the monkey was fanning him. A fly sat on the king’s chest. The monkey tried driving the fly away with the fan, but it kept returning. Not sure how to drive the fly away, the monkey took a sword and tried to hit the fly. The fly flew away, but the monkey ended up killing the king.
The jackal said, “One who wants a long life should not employ stupid people. Listen as I tell you about the thief and the Brahmins.”
In a town, there lived a learned Brahmin who due to circumstances had become a thief. One day, four other Brahmins came to that town to sell their goods. When the thief saw them, he wondered how he could rob them. He pleased them with words and joined them as their servant. The Brahmins sold their goods, exchanged them for precious jewels. They then slit open their thighs, put the jewels there and sealed their thighs with an ointment. The thief was not sure what to do now. He decided that he would travel with them, poison them and then take the jewels. They soon reached a forest where a crow started to scream, “The rich are coming with lots of wealth.” Hearing the crow, robbers came. They searched them but could not find anything. The crow was never wrong. They said to the travellers, “Hand over your treasure, else we’ll kill you, cut you open and look for the treasure.” The thief thought: He would die anyways. If the robbers killed the Brahmins, they would kill him also. But if he dies first, and the robbers did not find anything, they could let the Brahmins go. So he asked the robbers to kill him. The robbers killed him and did not find anything. Thinking the crow was wrong, they let the other Brahmins free.
Ending his tale, the jackal said, “The king was killed by a foolish servant but a wise one saved the Brahmins.”
While the jackal brothers were talking, the lion had killed the bullock. The lion then thought of the words that the bullock used to say to him, and he felt extremely sad for killing a friend. Seeing this, the jackals went to the lion and pacified him. The king went back to his role as the king.
With this, the first book of Panchatantra ends.
Key Takeaways
People who are inherently foolish or blinded by anger will not only ignore good advice but may turn violent against the one offering it.
Before offering counsel, one must consider the recipient’s nature and readiness to listen. Advice given to the wrong person can be counterproductive and even fatal.
Sometimes, silence is safer than speaking the truth to an arrogant or ignorant individual.
Over-cleverness can be self-destructive and leads to severe consequences, as seen by the father nearly suffocating and the son being hanged.
Wisdom and practicality will eventually expose deceit, even when legal systems fail to find the truth initially.
When you plan destruction, you may create a force you cannot control, ultimately leading to general tragedy.
A foolish servant is more dangerous than an enemy.
Absurdity can expose a lie where direct accusation fails.
The thief correctly deduced that his death was the only way to save the others and prevent a mass killing.
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