A lion was the king of a jungle. He had many animals who followed him. The lion would hunt and after he had taken his share, the rest was given to his followers. Among his followers were a jackal and a crow. They were happy to follow the lion because they were always sure of getting enough to eat!
Once a caravan went past the jungle and unfortunately a camel wandered away and got lost. He strayed into the jungle looking for food. The other animals had never seen a creature like the camel before. What a strange thing this was! It looked funny and it walked in a very awkward manner! But it was big and would provide food for many of the animals.
So, they took him to the lion. The camel was very polite and, after bowing to the king, he told him all about himself. The lion was a very generous king. Therefore, he asked the camel to live comfortably in the jungle with all the animals. The camel could eat the fresh grass and leaves and did not have to carry heavy burdens on his back. The camel settled down happily in the jungle.
But the crow and the jackal were not happy at all. They had lost a nice dinner! So, the two wicked friends waited for a chance to kill the camel.
One day, it so happened that the lion had a fight with an elephant. The lion was badly wounded. He could barely stand up; so he could not hunt for food. The animals who shared the lion’s food were all hungry too. This was the chance the crow and the jackal were waiting for. They called all the animals together for a meeting. “Our beloved king is seriously wounded. He cannot get any food. He has cared for all of us for so long. Now we must take care of him.”
“What can we do to help?” asked the animals. Some of them did not know how to hunt, so how could they feed the lion?
“We are going to offer ourselves to him as food,” said the cunning pair.
“That is a good idea!” said everyone. Then the camel said, ”Wait! The lion has been very kind to me. And I am large enough to satisfy his hunger. So, I will offer myself first.” This was just what the crow and the jackal wanted. They took the camel to the lion. Soon they persuaded the lion and the lion killed the camel. After the lion had eaten his fill, the crow and the jackal also ate their share. And that was the end of the poor foolish camel!
