________________
109. THE STORY OF A MONGOOSE
A herdsman's wife kept a mongoose as a pet. Her child and the mongoose were born at the same time and she was impressed by the coincidence. She also felt that the mongoose would be an interesting playmate for her baby.
Once she was busy pounding grain. She had put the baby to sleep in its crib. She was so much engrossed in her work that she did not notice how a snake had crept into the crib and bit the baby. However, the mongoose saw it as it was slithering out of the crib; it promptly pounced on it and cut it into pieces. It proudly marched up to the mother as if to announce its brave deed and be petted for it. The mother noticed its blood-stained mouth and jumped to the (unfortunate) conclusion that it must have bitten baby. She hit it hard with the pestle in her hand. The mongoose died instantaneously. The mother rushed to the crib only to see the pieces of the snake.
She realised, alas, too late what had happened and felt terribly remorseful for the rashness with which she had behaved.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
