________________
108. TORTOISE AND JACKAL
There was a big lake formed by the river Gangā called Mrtagangātira on the north eastern side of Vārānasi. Its water was deep and cool and many lotus plants blossomed there putting forth blue and red lotuses, beautiful and fragrant white lotuses, lotuses with hundred petals and even thousand petals. It was a very picturesque lake abounding in a variety of fish, tortoises, crocodiles, sharks and porpoises that lived there without any fear or anxiety. In the vicinity of that lake there was a dense forest where two wicked jackals lived. They were vicious, fierce and greedy with claws red with blood, wandering in search of flesh in the evening and at night. During the day time they hid themselves in the thick undergrowth. Once after sunset when very few people were seen on the bank of the lake and everything around looked quiet, two tortoises slowly came out of the lake in search of food. That was the time when the two jackals noticed them. They wanted precisely such an opportunity. They crept quite close to them. The tortoises noticed the iackals crawling towards them. They became frightened. They contracted their hands, feet and neck inside their shell and remained motionless. The jackals made straight towards the tortoises. They went round and round them, scratched them with their nails, tried to drag them with their teeth but they could do no harm whatever to the tortoises. They could not even make a single scratch on their shell. They became tired, decided to go away leaving the two tortoises alone, went to a solitary corner and remained there motionless and silent. Quite for some time there was no movement either on the side of the jackals or of the tortoises. One of the tortoises, however, stretched out one of its
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
