Ganga Poudel
The forest of Raniban was home to a number of rabbits. The rabbits walked in group, wherever they went. Setu was the smartest of the rabbits. As the group roved through the forest, he would instantly tell of an incoming danger, if he sensed any.
One day, a jackal saw Setu, and said, “What are you doing here, little dwarf? Don’t you know this forest is mine?”
Setu did not like the jackal calling him a dwarf. Yet, he decided to neglect the beast, and continued munching green grass on the ground.
“Didn’t you hear me, silly little dwarf?”
Setu was really irked this time. The hair on the side of his ears stood, as anger swept across his face. He was almost blind with fury. He roared out, “Clumsy jackal; you are yourself a dwarf, and so are your brother, and your sister. Do not boast of your bigness. Did you understand that? And, I don’t at the least believe that the forest of Raniban is yours. It’s common to all animals living here. It’s something handed down to us by our ancestors. So, I have equal right on, as you do.”
The jacked fumed, hearing the rabbit’s argument. He reprimanded, “Would you talk more, you little dwarf? Stop babbling, lest I should swallow you at once.”
“You, the down-headed! How long would you say, ‘dwarf, dwarf’? Come; I challenge you to race with me. The one who touches the babul tree there first, shall own this forest. Ready?”
The jackal could hardly control his rage, hearing such an animal calling him names. Yet, he subdued his anger, and said, “We need an audience to see us run. Go; call your parents.”
But Setu instantly understood the jackal’s trick. The beast wanted to eat him, along with his parent, if by any means he won the race. So, the rabbit decided not to go home. Rather, he decided to remain there, and vanquish the jackal in the race.
The jackal too was musing, ‘The dwarfish rabbit cannot fill my tummy. If his parents turn up, they will make a nice meal.’
But Setu said, “I don’t like to hear you calling me ‘dwarf’. Do call me Setu.”
“That’s fair. Do not call me ‘down-headed’ either. No one has called me by that name till now,” the jackal replied.
The clever rabbit had been looking for a chance to trick the beast. So he said, “Our race will commence in a while. You are the one to win, you know! To see your victory, I will call my parents, along with all the small animals of Raniban. Close your eyes and stay standing for a while. I will run quick, and return in a flash.”
The jackal closed his eyes, and sat there, musing of a nice meal later in the evening. He thought that as soon as the dwarf was outdone in the race, he would get hold of him, and devour. ‘Then, I will turn to his parents. That will fill my tummy, after a long, long time. What then, am I to do with the rest of the animals? I will kill all, and pile them up here, so that I can eat tomorrow, day after, and for many days of course. I won’t have to rove around, looking for food,’ he thought.
Tired of standing for a long time with his eyes closed, the jackal felt an awful aching on all the four of his limbs. So, he called out, “Setu, Setu!” But his voice was carried away by the wind, and thrown into the wilderness. Setu, who had joined his group, did not hear the shout.
Without running a step, the jackal felt a bitter sense of defeat in the race, and walked home, embarrassed like a vanquished wrestler.
[Ganga Poudel is a senior writer of children’s literature. She has published more than twenty books for children. She is associated with Bhanu, a literary month magazine. She has won several awards for high-quality writing. ]