The Blue Jackal
The fool who forsaketh his own party, and delighteth to dwell with the opposite
side may be killed by them; as was the case with the Blue Jackal.
A certain Jackal, as he was roaming about the borders of a town, just as his
inclinations led him, fell into a dyer's vat;[1] but being unable to get out in the
morning he feigned himself dead. At length, the master of the vat, which was
filled with indigo, came, and seeing a Jackal lying with his legs uppermost, his
eyes closed, and his teeth bare, concluded that he was dead, and so, taking him
out, he carried him a good way from the town, and there left him. The sly animal
instantly got up, and ran into the woods; when, observing that his coat was
turned blue, he meditated in this manner: "I am now of the finest colour! what
great exaltation may I not bring about for myself?" Saying this, he called a
number of Jackals together, and addressed them in the following words: "Know
that I have lately been sprinkled king of the forests, by the hands of the goddess
herself who presides over these woods, with a water drawn from a variety of
choice herbs. Observe my colour, and henceforward let every business be
transacted according to my orders."
The rest of the Jackals, seeing him of such a fine complexion, prostrated
themselves before him, and said: "According as your Highness commands!" By
this step he made himself honoured by his own relations, and so gained the
supreme power over those of his own species, as well as all the other inhabitants
of the forests. But after a while, finding himself surrounded by a levee of the
first quality, such as the tiger and the like, he began to look down upon his
relations; and, at length, he kept them at a distance. A certain old Jackal
perceiving that his brethren were very much cast down at this behaviour, cried:
"Do not despair! If it continues thus, this imprudent friend of ours will force us
to be revenged. Let me alone to contrive his downfall. The lion, and the rest who
pay him court, are taken by his outward appearance; and they obey him as their
king, because they are not aware that he is nothing but a Jackal: do something
then by which he may be found out. Let this plan be pursued: Assemble all of
you in a body about the close of the evening, and set up one general howl in his
hearing; and I'll warrant you, the natural disposition of his species will incline
him to join in the cry for:
"'Whatever may be the natural propensity of any one is very hard to be
overcome. If a dog were made king, would he not gnaw his shoe straps?'