Panchatantra: The Wolf And The Lamb

Long time ago, a shepherd lived in a small village. He used to take his sheep to the nearby forest for grazing. In his flock, there was a little white lamb whom everybody loved.

One day, when the shepherd had taken his flock for grazing, the little white lamb felt thirsty and started looking for water to drink. He wandered far off in the forest in search of water and got separated from his flock. He soon found a freshwater spring and started to quench his thirst.

Meanwhile, the sun set and the shepherd went back to the village with his flock. It did not come to his notice that the little white lamb was missing.
While the lamb was drinking water in the spring, a wolf also came there to drink water. He spotted him and said to himself, “A juicy and plump lamb! It is indeed a lucky day for me!”

He wanted to justify himself in eating the lamb, so he started thinking of a good excuse. He called the lamb and said, “Listen to me, Lamb! This spring belongs to me. You have made this water dirty by drinking it. How will I drink this polluted water now?”

The lamb was standing downstream, so he said politely, “Dear sir, the spring flows from where you are standing down to where I am standing. So, I cannot possibly pollute your drinking water.” The wolf was not expecting such an intelligent answer from the lamb. He then, thought of another excuse to kill the lamb.

The wolf said, “But it looks dirty to me! If it is not you, then it must be your father who has made the water dirty.” The lamb said, “Sir, my father died long ago. So, he also could not have possibly done it.”
The wolf was getting impatient to kill the lamb. So, he said, “I am sure then it must be your grandfather who made this water dirty!” And after saying so, the cunning wolf pounced on the poor lamb and caught him.

By this time, the little lamb had already understood that the wolf was just looking for a pretext to kill him and had already thought of a plan to save his life. The little lamb said to the wolf, “O mighty one! I have just eaten a lot of grass and it is not yet digested. If you eat me now, your stomach may get upset because of the raw grass in my belly.”

The wolf anxiously asked him, “Well, what do you suggest then?”

The witty little lamb said, “I think that doing some kind of physical exercise will help me digest the grass quickly. I am a very good dancer, so if you permit, I will start dancing.”

The wolf was getting impatient to eat the lamb, so he permitted the lamb to start dancing.

When the little lamb started to dance, the bell around the lamb’s neck started ringing. The lamb danced vigorously, so that the sound of the bell grew louder and louder. The shepherd and his hunting dog, who had started looking for the missing little lamb, also heard the sound of the bell. They rushed to the point from where the sound was coming. When the wolf saw the shepherd and his dog, he fled away from there to save his life. This is how the intelligent lamb was able to save himself from the clutches of the evil wolf.

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