THE PANCHATANTRA

by Narindar Uberoi Kelly, Meagan, Jenigen

Genres: Classics

Synopsis

A RAT THAT ATE IRON. A BIRD WITH TWO HEADS. FOUR GREEDY TREASURE-SEEKERS. A DOG THAT WENT TO FOREIGN LANDS TO FIND FOOD. These are only a few of the colourful stories that long, long ago ? it is said ? a sage told three princes so that they could learn to live wisely. Instead of giving them boring lessons, the learned tutor told them fables alive with animals and human characters faced with difficult situations about friendship, cooperation, quarrels and ambition. The tales told by Pandit Vishnu Sharma about 2,500 years ago offer a map of how to make one?s way through life in a moral and wise manner. These stories of friends and enemies, cruelty and deceit, honour and humility, foolishness and cunning, deception and honesty, tell us about the choices we have and how to find a solution to tough questions of right and wrong. This all-colour, beautifully illustrated edition contains stories retold from all five books of the Panchatantra and is designed to make it easy for readers to move from story to story, and across stories within stories ? making it a must-have for readers young and old.

Release date: September 20, 2017

Publisher: Hachette India

Print pages: 367

Sample

Note to the Reader

I fell in love with the Panchatantra stories as a tween who stumbled across them in a library at a time when my family were refugees as a result of the Partition of India between what is now Pakistan and India. I suppose part of the attraction of the stories was to get away from the realities of being homeless in a part of India that seemed a different country, with people speaking different languages and eating food quite unlike anything I was used to. But the stories helped me by giving me some insight into what and why my parents were trying to teach me – and some appreciation for what I was resisting in a world turned upside down by our narrow escape from the violence and turmoil of our loss of home and country.

I decided I wanted my grandchildren to have access to these stories that meant so much to me, but in a language that they could easily understand. As I adapted the stories for modern readers, it occurred to me that one of the great strengths of the Panchatantra (literally ‘the five books’) derives from what at first seems the sheer nonsense of listening in to animals talking like humans. Yet this absurd conceit of animals chatting and arguing and telling stories immediately establishes a strangely safe distance between the reader and these creatures. And even more strangely, we are transformed into observers and compatriots in their struggles with thorny issues of friendship, collaboration, conflict and ambition. If I was particularly taken with these tales at a time of vulnerability and uncertainty in my life, readers approaching and experiencing adolescence and young maturity (when does that process end?) are in some sense similarly adrift and puzzled by the unfamiliar new land of adulthood. Readers of these tales are assumed to be much like I was – expatriates operating in a new landscape they don’t fully understand.

The genius of these stories is their relentless unwillingness to whitewash or romanticize life. They depict the ignoble as well as the noble, cruelty and deceit as well as honour, foolishness as much as cunning, deception as rampant as honesty. They show the underside as well as glimpses of fulfillment in life. The stories unveil the contradictory nature of life, its tensions, risks and dangers as well as its rewards. And it accomplishes this through the disorienting welter of stories within stories that pile up on each other to convey a kind of confusion that forms a powerful antidote to other literary forms designed to convey wisdom – like preaching, teaching, or telling people what to do. Out of this turmoil, somehow wisdom can emerge as a deeper appreciation of the dangers, tensions and value of leading a good life.

A word of caution: some of these stories illustrate Indian practices of many centuries past. Women are not often depicted or treated well, a phenomenon that continues to this day. But the stories have much to tell us. I trust that parents will help their children to understand the age-old realities described in this book and use the occasion to teach their own values.

Narindar Uberoi Kelly



Lion, Bull and Two Jackals



  Book One  

 

About this Book

Book One, here titled simply ‘Lion, Bull and Two Jackals’, deals with friendship. It shows how the close friendship between the Lion and the Bull was formed, grew and eventually was destroyed by a mean and conniving Jackal. It highlights how friendships, indeed all relationships, need tending. Cultivating a friendship, like cultivating a flower, needs careful nurturing, feeding and pruning. But the lessons go beyond how to treasure and keep enduring friendships. They include how to treat others with respect, honesty and loyalty, and how to judge when others are trying to do you harm.

In the frame story, Crafty, an unemployed jackal, looking to win favour with the Lion who rules his forest, introduces the Lion to the Bull. When the Lion and the Bull become close friends, Crafty seeks to destroy the friendship. Cautious, another unemployed jackal, tries to stop Crafty from doing the unforgivable. In the end Crafty succeeds and the Lion kills the Bull.

Inside the frame story are 33 nesting stories. One set are stories that Crafty tells the Lion and Bull to promote himself. Another set are stories the Bull tells Crafty to smooth things over when he himself is obviously in danger (but he is telling them to the wrong animal). Most of the stories form the debate between the two jackals: Cautious tells stories to prevent Crafty from destroying the friendship between the Lion and the Bull, or Crafty tells stories to Cautious to justify his actions. The remaining stories are deeper nesting stories. Three stories are connected because one character appears in all of them. Two are connected because the storyteller is the same. A group of five stories illustrate a David and Goliath situation, and involve ways the weak can prevail but only with the aid of friends.

Each story, or group of stories, is separated into the frame story of the Lion, Bull and two Jackals, and the stand-alone or nesting stories that illustrate the lessons of the frame story. The frame story presents the do’s and don’ts of life and is told on the coloured pages while the stand-alone stories in coloured text on white pages illustrate the point or lesson articulated in the frame story. This arrangement helps the reader to choose to read or ignore the frame stories that deal with life lessons. The frame story can be read without interruption of the illustrating stories. The book can be read in its entirety to experience the original design of this book of stories.

 

Lion, Bull and Two Jackals

 

There was a king called Immortal-Power who lived in a fabulous city that had everything. He had three sons. They were truly ignorant. The King saw that they could not figure things out and did not want to learn. They hated school. So the King asked a very wise man to wake up their brains. The wise man, a Brahmin named Sharma, took the three Princes to his home. Every day he told them stories that taught the Princes lessons on how to live intelligently. To make sure they would never forget, he made them learn the stories by heart. The first set of teaching tales Sharma told was: Lion, Bull and Two Jackals.

Sharma began:

‘The Lion and BullWere friends untilA Jackal intervened,Who was wily and mean –Then friendship died.’

‘How come?’ asked the three Princes, and Sharma told this story.

 



 

Lion, Bull and Two Jackals

There once was a very rich merchant who lived in a city in India called Sunrise. It was a great city – well laid out at the foot of tall mountains and very prosperous. The Merchant was content living there until it dawned on him that although he had lots of money he should try to make more of it by putting it to good use. After all, riches should be hard-earned, carefully protected, ever increased by savvy investing, and shared wisely. Money unused is money unpossessed.

So the merchant collected his merchandise wagon, hired some workers, harnessed his two lucky bulls named Joyful and Lively, and went forth towards a bigger city to make more money.

On the journey, the team had to go through a dense forest. When they were halfway through it, the bull named Lively snapped his yoke, fell and badly injured a leg. He could not go on further. So, with much regret, the Merchant ordered him to be left behind with some feed just in case the leg healed.

After a few weeks in the jungle, Lively did get better. He found plenty to eat and plenty to explore. He began to have a good time and made a lot of noise.

One day a lion named Rusty, with a big bushy golden mane, was passing nearby with his animal staff, servants and subjects. Rusty heard Lively bellow, and was both surprised and bothered. He had never heard such a sound before.

Now a Lion, King of the Jungle, has a company: the lion himself, his ministers and advisors, his attendants and guards, and his subjects, with each class divided into high, middle and low. Rusty was accepted as King by them all because of unbound pride, exceptional courage and incomparable self-esteem that brooked no rivals. Rusty was King because he behaved like a king: fearless, valiant, dignified, selfless, and without reproach, pretence and dependency. His deeds crowned him King.

Among Rusty’s followers there were two jackals, sons of former ministers with some hereditary rights, but currently out of a job. Their names were Cautious and Crafty. When Crafty saw that Rusty seemed bothered by the bellows everyone had heard, he began to plot harm to Rusty. Cautious tried to stop him: ‘Why meddle?’ he said. ‘Remember the wedge-pulling monkey.’

‘Come again?’ asked Crafty. So Cautious told this story.

 

Wedge-pulling Monkey



A wealthy merchant was having a temple built. Every afternoon the workers would take a break and go have lunch away from the site. One day, a troop of monkeys from a nearby park came by and began climbing all over the unfinished temple. It was such fun. One of them noticed a wedge put up by the workmen at the very top of the building frame to keep a huge log from rolling down. Without a thought, the curious monkey pulled the wedge to see what would happen.

Well, the big log rolled down and crushed him before he could get out of the way.



 

‘That is why bright people avoid meddling,’ said Cautious. ‘We may not be employed by King Rusty, but we pick up enough to make do even as hangers-on.’

Crafty wasn’t having it. ‘We could be hired if we show good service and someone else could be fired if he is not deserving.’

‘What are you implying?’ asked Cautious.

‘King Rusty is scared, and his servants are frightened and don’t know what to do,’ said Crafty.

‘How do you know?’ asked Cautious and Crafty replied, ‘Intelligent men can infer correctly from other people’s body language what is going on. I am a judge of occasion and know how to follow do’s and don’ts like:

‘Look for the right time to try persuading someone;

Be cautious;

Don’t take what belongs to others;

Stay close to those in power;

Love the King’s friends and hate his foes;

Serve only masters who have merit;

Invest only where there is profit;

Always be ready to flatter;

Above all, get to know your King.’

So Crafty went to meet Rusty and said, ‘I know you do not need me right now, but I want to see if I can be of use to a master who is fair in his dealings. After all, the quality of the servant depends upon the use the master makes. I am only a jackal, but my worth is not in my birth; rather, it is told by my deeds.’

‘Speak freely,’ said Rusty.

‘Why did you turn back when you heard a bellow?’

Rusty pondered: ‘Even Kings find comfort in sharing their troubles with honest and faithful friends and servants. He seems trustworthy. I will tell him.’

‘Some monstrous creature has come to my jungle,’ Rusty replied. ‘He is unknown, but his bellow must match his nature and power. He sounds dangerous, so I turned back.’

‘What!’ Crafty said. ‘Frightened by a sound? The wise do not leave without making sure that the new place will be better than the old. Besides, there are many sounds that do not warn of danger. Remember how easily one can be fooled. Remember the jackal and the war drum.’

‘What was that?’ asked Rusty, and Crafty told this story.

 

Jackal and the War Drum



A hungry jackal was searching for food. He came upon a king’s battleground in the middle of a forest and suddenly heard a loud sound. He got really scared, thinking: ‘What kind of creature made that sound? It must be huge. I am dead.’

But keeping his wits, he started to cautiously, quietly, look around and saw a war drum. He did not know what it was. He noticed the sound came from it but only when a gust of wind swung a tree branch against it. The jackal got less and less scared and more and more curious.

‘Maybe I can eat this creature and satisfy my hunger,’ he thought, ‘it is fat.’ But the jackal was very surprised when he tried to take a mouthful. ‘What a fool I am,’ laughed the jackal. ‘I thought it full of fat, so I crept in … to find nothing but old wood and dry skin.’



 

‘However,’ objected Rusty, ‘my servants are too frightened to go explore the sound.’

‘I will go and check,’ said Crafty. ‘Be brave until I return.’

When Crafty left, Rusty began to have second thoughts. ‘I was too trusting to show fear to this jackal. I should have remembered that the careful, even when weak, will be safe from the enemy, while the too trusting strong will fall quickly to the foe.’

Meanwhile, Crafty had discovered the bull named Lively and gleefully started plotting to get Rusty in his power by suggesting war and peace with Lively.

Crafty went back to Rusty. ‘Did you see the creature?’ asked Rusty.

‘Yes,’ said Crafty, ‘and with your permission, will bring him to you.’

Crafty then went to Liv. . .