The jackal and the drum - Panchatantra stories in English

A jackal was very hungry and wanted to eat something. He came to a place where people had fought before. There, he heard loud and weird noises. He was afraid and thought “I need to get away from here before the thing that is making these noises gets me”. After some time, he said to himself, “I should not leave without knowing why these noises are happening. Let me see what they are and who is making them because one should know why they are scared or happy. Such a person will not be sorry for what they do. So, let me find out what is making these scary sounds”.

Slowly, the jackal went towards the noises and saw a big drum there. He had never seen a drum before and he wondered: “Is that sound this thing’s normal voice?” He saw that when the sticks of the tree above hit it, it made the sound, but was quiet at other times.

So he knew it was weak, and went very close. He played with the drum and he was very hungry, he thought that something making so much noise would have a lot of meat and fat in it.

He decided this, he found a place, made a hole, and went in. But he did not find food inside the drum, but he found some food around it. He saw some rice, flour, and meat that the soldiers had left behind. He ate them and felt happy. He also learned that the drum was not a dangerous creature, but just a thing that made noise when the wind blew. He was brave and curious, and that helped him survive.

Moral of the Story
The moral of the story is that only the brave and those willing to take chances succeed in life. The jackal overcame his fear of the drum and found food, while if he had run away, he would have stayed hungry.