Week 6 Storytelling: The Clever Jackal

A long time ago, deep in the jungle, there live a tiger. This tiger was fierce and terrifying, able to kill any man that wandered into his domain. Because of this, all the animals feared him. But one day, the tiger fell upon a man hunting in the jungle and ate him whole, and began to feel ill. The tiger, believing that his end was near had his most trusted servant, the hyena send a message out that all animal were to come pay their respects to the tiger. So many came and said their final goodbyes.

Meanwhile, the jackal was lounging about his den when he suddenly remembered about the tiger and his illness. He realized how late he was going to be, as the tiger was on the other side of the jungle than he. So he devised a plan to escape the tiger's wrath.

A couple hours later, the jackal arrived in the tigers home. The hyena scuffed at him saying, "The jackal finally decides to see the king then? Where were you when we summoned you? Surely, you should be punished for your negligence to the great tiger!" (For the hyena and jackal had always been great enemies)

The jackal replied, "I heard the tiger's summons and went out immediately. However, seeing that the tiger is deathly ill, I saw it futile to come empty handed."

He produced several roots and herbs to give tot he tiger, "Eating these should cure you, my lord. However," he smiled, "You need to lay on the skin of a freshly killed hyena in order for the cure to work."

So the tiger slew the hyena and lay on his skin. Soon enough, he began to feel better. For his deeds the jackal was rewarded by the tiger and became a close friend to him.

...

One day the jackal laid in his den playing his drum, when the tiger came forth and asked him, "Nephew, I was betrayed by the cat. I sent him into a village to bring me fire so we could cook a deer, but he never returned. I swore to eat him because he forced me to eat the deer raw, now he won't leave the confines of the village. The very same village is guard by dogs with nooses they can use to hang me! You are like a dog, perhaps you can parlay with them on my behalf?"

The jackal went with the tiger to see these strange dogs and laughed when he beheld them. He told the tiger, "Uncle, you're too foolish! Those are not nooses for which to hang you. They are the dog's tails! They're just curly. Go forward and get the cat, the dogs won't hang you."

And he went back to his den.

...

Again the jackal was in his den, when the tiger came and said, "I need your help once more, Nephew! I left my cave to hunt this morning, and when I returned, a strange beast made a dreadful noise at me from within. He had hemp tied onto his chin and great big horns."

The jackal told the tiger, "If what you say is true, then the beast that haunts your home is of a kind that I eat quite often. Lead me there!"

So they ventured to the tigers cave and tied their tails together, so if the beast grabbed one they could pull eachother away. Then, a small goat jumped out and yelled, "Hum pakpak!" 

The tiger was so started, that he ran out. As he did, his tail scraped all the fur off the jackal's tail. The jackal let out a howl of pain, which frightened the little goat, who quickly ran out of the cave as well. The jackal returned to the tiger with tears we

lling from the pain. He said, "You owe me now double. For removing the beast from your cave and tearing the hair off my tail! You should give me this cave in compensation."

The tiger agreed, and on that day the jackal acquired the home of the mighty tiger.

Author's Notes: This story is the conglomerate of three different stories. The first is about a tiger falling ill from eating too much and the jackals convincing him to kill the hyena to cure himself. The second is about a cat that goes to a village to get fire but realizes quickly that life among humans is much more comfortable than life in the wild, and his tiger friends try to kill him. The third story is about a goat that escapes a village and takes up residence in a leopard's cave. I decided to put all three together and make the jackal the main focus. The jackal plays some role in all three stories, so I figured it be easy to retell them from his perspective more or less. I also wanted to end it with him winning something for all he did for the tiger.

Bibliography: Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909)

Images: (Top) A drawing of a tiger, Source: Pixabay

               (Bottom) A side-stripped Jackal, Photo by Brenard Dupont; Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Santal Stories, Part B

The Tigers and the Cat
The Hyena Outwitted
The Brave Jackal
I think I could tell the story of the Jackal from several of the stories in the selected reading. I'd make them all focus on the same Jackal helping his Uncle the tiger out of various situations like the goat in his cave and the dogs with curly tails. The story could also hold elements from the other stories like the Jackal playing the drum and maybe even mentioning when the tiger was sick in the Hyena outwitted. My story would basically be a conglomerate of all those stories with a single Jackal being the main character. I'd probably start it with the story of the tiger being sick, explaining how the Jackal established a relationship with the tiger, then the story about the tiger being afraid of the dogs, and end it with the goat scaring both the tiger and Jackal.

Illustration by John D Batten for "Indian Fairy Tales" edited by Joseph Jacobs, 1892; Source: Wikimedia

Bibliography: Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909).

Reading Notes: Santal Folklore, Part A

The Jackal and the Crow-

I really like this story, and want to retell it. My retelling might have people as the main characters. That would certainly make it harder to translate it into a human story, but I think I can make it work. Probably, I'd have the Jackal character betray his friend, the crow character. After he realizes how easy it was to do things on his own, he starts to 'screw over' other people as well. Then in the end it all catches up to him. The ending might be changed as well because I love happy endings and characters learning a lesson and not just dying. So I might have the Crow character come back and save his friend in the end and have the Jackal character learn a valuable lesson in friendship and treating others with respect.

The jackal and crow sharing a meal

photo credit goes to Yusuf IJsseldijk; Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909).