The Blue Jackal

Once upon a time, there was a jackal called Chandarava who lived at the edge of a forest, close to a town.

One night, he was so hungry that he crept into the town to look for food. He sniffed along the dark streets, past the sleeping houses.

Suddenly, a pack of town dogs smelled him.

Woof! Woof! WOOF!

Splash!

Chandarava ran for his life. The dogs raced after him, barking and snapping. He dashed round a corner and into a yard.

The yard belonged to a dyer, a man who coloured cloth. In the middle of it stood a huge tub full of blue dye, the deepest, brightest blue you can imagine.

The jackal didn't see it in the dark. He ran straight into it.

SPLASH!

He sank down, and came up spluttering. The dogs ran into the yard, sniffed around, saw nothing they knew, and went away.

When everything was quiet, the jackal climbed out and crept back to the forest.

The strangest animal in the forest

In the morning, when the sun came up, Chandarava looked down at himself in a pond.

He was blue. Bright, shining blue, from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail.

Just then, a deer came to the pond to drink. She saw him and froze. Then she ran away, crying, "A strange creature! A blue creature! Nobody has ever seen anything like it!"

Soon every animal in the forest was talking about the blue animal. The lions and the tigers, the elephants and the monkeys were all a little bit afraid of him. They had never seen an animal that colour.

Chandarava had an idea.

He climbed onto a big rock and called out, "Do not be afraid! The god of the forest has made me blue and sent me to be your king. My name is King Blue. From now on, you must all obey me!"

The animals looked at each other. Then the lion bowed. The tiger bowed. The elephant bowed. Every animal in the forest bowed down to the blue king.

King Blue

Chandarava loved being king.

The lions and tigers brought him the best food. The elephants fanned him with leaves. The monkeys sang him songs. He gave orders all day long, and everybody did exactly what he said.

But there was one thing he did. He sent all the other jackals far away, to the very edge of the forest. He was afraid that if they came close, they might recognise him.

The moon and the howl

One night, the moon rose round and bright over the forest. King Blue was sitting on his rock, surrounded by lions and tigers.

Far away, at the edge of the forest, the jackals began to howl at the moon, the way jackals always do.

Aaa-ooo! Aaa-ooo!

Chandarava heard it. Something inside him stirred. His nose lifted. His throat tickled. Before he could stop himself, he threw back his head and howled too.

AAA-OOO!

The forest went very quiet.

The lion stared at him. The tiger stared at him.

"That's not a king's voice," growled the lion. "That's a jackal's howl!"

"He's just a jackal painted blue!" roared the tiger. "He's been fooling us!"

Chandarava jumped off his rock and ran faster than he had ever run before. He ran out of the forest, and the angry animals chased him all the way. He never dared to come back.

And the forest, without a king, was perfectly happy, just as it had been before.

About this story

This fable comes from the Panchatantra, a collection of animal stories written in ancient India to teach wisdom through simple tales. The blue jackal is one of its most famous characters. This version is a shortened, simplified retelling.