Stories from the Panchatantra are well-known for their moral lessons and delightful narration. These stories generally have animals as their central characters, each having a unique touch. The stories contain moral lessons that are easy to understand and remember for a long time. The ‘Blue Jackal’ story is one such story from the collection that is often taught to kids. The story is about an ordinary jackal who fooled his jungle mates and learnt the biggest lesson of his life. Here’s the ‘Blue Jackal’ story in English for you to read to your child.
Origin And History Of The ‘Blue Jackal’ Story
The Panchatantra is a collection of stories originally written in Sanskrit by the Hindu scholar Pandit Vishnu Sharma, more than 2500 years ago. It is said that he wrote the Panchatantra to teach his disciples. These stories are well known for their moral values and have been translated into many languages, including English.
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What Type Of A Story Is The ‘Blue Jackal’?
The ‘Blue Jackal’ story is a Panchatantra story and can be read out as a bedtime story to your little one.
Story Characters
The main character of this tale is the jackal. He tried to act cunning with his fellow jungle mates but could not hide his real identity for a long time and ended up being beaten up by them.
The ‘Blue Jackal’ Story For Children
Once upon a time, in a faraway jungle, lived a jackal. One day, he was walking in the jungle in search of food. Suddenly, he reached a quiet village and started roaming around.
When the dogs in the village saw him, they surrounded him and tried to attack him. Not knowing what to do, he started running to save his life.
‘Come here, you jackal! Where do you think you are going? This is our area, and we won’t allow anyone else to wander here’, shouted the dogs as they ran behind the jackal.
To save himself, the jackal ran into a nearby house, which belonged to a washerman. In the backyard of the house, he saw two large tubs filled with blue dye. He looked here and there and, without thinking anything, jumped in the tub to save his life.
After a while, he came out of the tub, not realising his body was all blue. When the dogs saw him, they did not recognise him and were terrified, and they started running away, thinking it was some strange creature that could harm them.
Confused about what was happening, he left for the jungle. When he reached the jungle, he saw the strange reactions of his jungle mates. Some started running after seeing him, while others started talking about things behind his back.
He still did not understand what was happening. After some time, he went to the nearby river to drink water. Suddenly he saw his reflection in the water and realised what was happening.
‘Oh!’ exclaimed the jackal. ‘This is why everyone is behaving so strangely.”
That was when a cunning idea struck his mind.
Immediately, he stood on a huge rock and gathered all the animals.
‘Oh, my fellow mates! Please don’t be afraid of me’, announced the jackal. ‘The creator of this universe, Brahma, has crafted me with his own hands. He has asked me to be the king of this jungle, as there is no suitable king here. I am here to protect you all and be your caretaker. Live happily in my kingdom!’
All the animals believed him and obeyed all the instructions he gave them.
He asked the monkeys to bring fresh fruits and the tigers and lions to bring meat for him. Everyone was engaged in obeying his orders and serving him.
The very first thing he did after becoming the king was that he chased away all the jackals from the jungle. He was afraid they might recognise him, which would cause him trouble.
This went on for a few days, and he was living the best of his life.
Suddenly one day, while surrounded by the other animals, he heard the voice of jackals howling in a distance. Hearing the sound, he could not control himself.
He stood up and started howling too.
That was when the animals realised what was happening, and a cunning jackal had been fooling them for so many days.
Meanwhile, he realised his foolishness and ran for his life. However, he couldn’t escape from so many angry animals and met an unfortunate end.
Story Summary
Given below is the summary of the ‘Blue Jackal’ story:
Once upon a time, a jackal reached a quiet village searching for food. As soon as he reached there, the dogs in the neighbourhood surrounded him and started attacking him. The jackal ran for his life and reached a washerman’s house. He noticed two tubs of blue dye kept in the backyard and jumped into one of them. After he came out, the dogs couldn’t recognise him and were terrified. They started panicking and ran away.
After some time, he reached the jungle and noticed similar reactions from his fellow jungle mates. He saw his reflection in the river and understood what was happening. He thought to play a prank on the animals and announced that he was sent by Bramha, the creator of the universe who had asked him to be the king of the jungle. All the animals obeyed all his instructions and served him with respect.
One day, while sitting with the animals, he heard a pack of wolves howling at a distance. Hearing that, he couldn’t control himself and started howling too. The animals realised what had happened and did not forgive him!
Moral Of The Story
The moral of the story is that people cannot hide their true selves for a long time.
In the given story, it was the jackal’s instinct to howl, and he could not control himself from doing so and ended up losing his life.
Similarly, in life, we come across many people who are not what they pretend to be. However, one day or the other, their true selves come out to the public, and the results are beyond imagination. We should always try to stay away from such people.
This story also teaches that a life full of lies is very short-lived.
The jackal lied to the animals about being sent by the creator of the world and lived the life of his dreams. Eventually, when his truth was exposed, he was not forgiven by all the other animals.
In life, we should always try to speak the truth as lies may give us comfort for a shorter period, but as soon as the truth is revealed, it causes problems.
How Can Children Apply The Moral Of The Story In Their Real Life?
This short story teaches children to tell the truth, no matter how difficult the circumstance is because lying can lead to worse issues. Honest people are trustworthy and loyal and well-liked by those around them.
Reading this story can be a great experience for children as well as parents. If you can get your hands on a book that has the story with pictures, your child could retain the story and its lessons for a long time.
