The Goat-Calf
Once a Leopard and a Jackal came to a village. The Leopard caught a goat, and the Jackal caught a cow.
They brought the goat and the cow back. The Leopard put the goat in his field, and the Jackal put the cow in his field.
The Leopard was angry because he had a goat, but the Jackal had a cow. He went at night to the Jack's field and looked at the cow. He saw that the cow had a calf .This made him very angry: he took the calf away and put it in the field with his goat.
Next day the Leopard saw the Jackal in the field. The Jackal said, "Ha! I have a beautiful cow, but you have a little goat."The Leopard said, "Ah! But my goat has a calf.""How can a goat have a calf'?" said the Jackal. "That cannot be! A cow can have a calf, but a goat cannot have a calf, so that calf is mine: it is my calf.""Come and see my goat and her calf," said the Leopard.
The Jackal looked at the calf and said, "The call is standing near the goat, but the goat is not its mother. If a calf is standing near a horse, do you say that the horse is the calf's mother? No!-So that is my calf.""We will go and ask the Donkey," said the Leopard. "We will hear what he says."So they told their quarrel to the Donkey. The Donkey was afraid of the Leopard. So he said, " When I was young, cows had calves, but other beasts did not have calves. But many things have changed: there are many new things now. Every day I see or hear some new thing. So now goats may have calves. It may be."The Jackal said, "That Donkey knows nothing! And he is afraid of you. We will ask the Dog."So they went to the Dog and told him their quarrel.
The Dog was afraid of the Leopard; so he said, "All goats are not the same. There are goats which are owned by men, and there are goats which are owned by leopards. Goats which are owned by men cannot have calves, but goats which are owned by leopards may have calves. That is what I think."The Jackal said, " That Dog does not want to quarrel with you, so he said what you want. We will ask the Cat. She is very old, and remembers everything."So they went and told their quarrel to the Very Old Cat.
The Very Old Cat said, " In the old times, the King of All the Beasts said, "Cows will have calves; lions will have little lions; leopards will have little leopards. Every beast will have his own kind of young." But now people do many new things and do not live in the old ways as they did when I was young. Go away! I want to sleep.""Now you have heard!" said the Leopard. "You have heard the Donkey, and the Dog and the Cat; and they all say that the calf is mine."" We have not heard the Monkey," said the Jackal. "He sits on the top of a big stone where you cannot jump up at him, so he is safe and will not be afraid of you. And he knows everything."So they came to the Monkey. He was sitting on the top of a very big stone. Many beasts were standing near, because they all brought their quarrels to the Monkey Who Knew Everything.
He was eating his food. The Leopard and the Jackal told him their quarrel. The Monkey went on eating.
"What do you say?" said the Leopard. "Is it my calf Can a goat have a calf?"The Monkey took up a little stone and rubbed it.
"What are you doing?" said the Leopard. "Why do you not answer?""I have just eaten," said the Monkey. "Now I must have some music."The Monkey rubbed the stone.
"What are you doing?" said the Leopard.
"I am making music," answered the Monkey.
" I cannot hear any music!" said the Leopard. "No music can come from a stone!""If a calf can come from a goat, then music can come from a stone," said the Monkey.
Then all the beasts said, " Ha! Ha! Ha! The Monkey knows everything. When music comes from a stone, the Leopard may have that calf."So the Jackal took the calf and went home.
"Bah!" cried the Leopard. "These beasts! They all know nothing!" |