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The Blue Jackal Hello,

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this is Jana and welcome

0:06

to Story Nori. I'm

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here with a story from the Panchatantra about

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a jackal. The Panchatantra

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is an Indian collection of animal fables

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written in the ancient language of Sanskrit.

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It was composed around the 3rd century

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BC. A jackal

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is a little like a fox. In

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stories, jackals are often

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depicted as low-life characters.

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In Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book,

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the jackal character is Tabaki.

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The other animals do not like him because

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he's always toadying up to Shere

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Khan the tiger. In

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this story, the jackal's name is

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Chandaraka, which means

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ray of the moon in Sanskrit. We

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think you will find this story lively

0:57

and amusing. But before the

0:59

story, we'd like to tell you about

1:01

a podcast made by some old friends

1:03

of Story

1:03

Nori. For as long as

1:05

we can remember, we've carried a musical

1:08

series called Rockford's Rock Opera,

1:11

or Lost in Infinity, on our website.

1:14

And it's very popular with our listeners. Well,

1:17

the makers of Rockford now have a

1:19

new podcast called Kids' Stories,

1:22

Science and Secrets. It

1:24

tells the story of Rockford's journey

1:27

into a land of extinct creatures

1:29

and has a new factual dimension.

1:33

The podcast is packed with true

1:35

science, history, inventions,

1:38

animal wonders and great

1:41

songs too. So

1:43

search Kids' Stories, Science

1:45

and Secrets now on Apple

1:47

Podcasts or wherever you love to listen.

1:50

And remember to start at Episode 1

1:53

of Kids' Stories, Science and

1:55

Secrets. Now, on

1:58

with our story. There

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was once a jackal called Chandaraka.

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He had a lean and hungry look and

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was always searching for scraps of

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food. If he stumbled

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upon a bone, he would gnaw

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on it for hours. He

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had not the slightest qualm about

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stealing eggs from a bird's nest. The

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rubbish dump outside the village was

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one of his favourite places to dine. No

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matter how rotten the food was, it

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was good enough for Chandaraka.

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When he met other animals, he was most

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respectful, especially if they

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were larger than he was and had sharper

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teeth and claws.

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He would bow down before the lion,

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his tail wagging submissively, saying,

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Great Lord of the jungle! Your

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Majesty's presence graces

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us all!

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All would grovel before the tiger, lording

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his fearsome stripes and unparalleled

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hunting skills. And he would fawn

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over the elephant, extolling his wisdom

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and immense

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strength.

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And if any of these big beasts of the jungle

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left him so much as the tiniest morsel

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of food, he would express

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his gratitude as if he had been

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given the greatest feast. Normally,

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he kept away from

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humans in case they threw rocks at

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him or even spears. But

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one morning,

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Chandaraka felt a deep gnawing

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hunger in his belly. Indeed,

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his stomach growled almost as

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fiercely as a tiger. His

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hunger pulled him towards the entrance to the village,

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where the smell of dosa and masala

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vada reached his nose. As

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he inched closer, a dog

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lying unnoticed suddenly sprang

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up and dashed at him, teeth barred,

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letting out ferocious growls. I

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needn't tell you, Chandaraka ran

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for his life, not even ca-

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all directions. Seizing

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this opportunity, Chandaraka

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bolted from the house and sprinted

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into the forest, with fur now

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a vibrant shade of blue.

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The unusually coloured

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creature elicited awe and

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fear among the other animals. The

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monkeys saw silence mid-sentence, their

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eyes bulging with astonishment.

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A normally quiet elephant let

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out a surprise trumpet, scattering

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a congregation of birds into a fluttering

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frenzy. Even

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the tiger believed that a higher

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power had descended upon the forest, for

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blue is the hue associated

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with the gods. How

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should the animals behave before

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this divine stranger? They

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chose the wise old turtle as

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their go-between. The turtle, carrying

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the weight of this responsibility on his back,

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slowly approached Chandaraka. With

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a bow he greeted the blue-hued

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creature. O

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divine one, we

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are humbled by your presence.

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May we know the purpose of your

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visit, you are humble abode?

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Chandaraka,

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suddenly finding himself the object

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of reverence, was delighted, and

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decided to milk the situation for

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all it was worth,

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he proclaimed. Fear

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not! Please inform

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my fellow creatures of the

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forest that I am a special

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envoy sent by Indra,

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king of the gods, to

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rule over this jungle and

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bring order to your chaotic

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lives.

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In return, I ask

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only for your loyalty and

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a small tribute of food

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each day. The animals,

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eager to please their new king, ready to be

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agreed to his terms.

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From that day forward they brought

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the Blue

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Jackal their choicest mortals

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of food, and treated him with the reverence

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reserved for a god or

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a king. The Jackal

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appointed the tiger as his prime

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minister, the peacock as

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his messenger,

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and the monkeys as his attendants.

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Anyone wishing to speak to the divine

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one had to kneel. And

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of course, if they wanted

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a favorable judgment, they

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brought some tasty treats, delectable

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fruits, sweet sugar cane,

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an abundance of baby rats, and

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so on, for a royal banquet.

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Among all the inhabitants of the forest,

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only the Jackals remained suspicious of

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their

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new sovereign.

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They exchanged whispers, casting

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furtive glances at the self-styled

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ruler. There's

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something amiss about this Blue Raj,

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they murmured. One

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fine evening, Chandarakha sat

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on his favorite rock, enjoying

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peace and solitude after a

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busy day holding court. He

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felt happy and content, his

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belly was full and the night air

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was cool and refreshing. Everything

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had turned out so well in ways

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he never expected. He

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looked up at the bright full moon.

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He felt so happy that

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he couldn't help but let out a long,

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loud howl of joy.

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The howl did not go unnoticed.

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A group of minor birds flying overhead were

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startled by the sound and

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immediately recognized it as the

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call of a Jackal. They

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quickly reported what they had seen and

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heard. the other animals in the forest. When

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the tiger heard the news, he

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squinted at the divine ruler,

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and realised that the blue

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fur was growing out, revealing

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patches of grubby grey beneath.

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It dawned upon him.

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This messenger from

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the gods is

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nothing more than a

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common deceitful

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jackal. Angry

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and embarrassed for

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having been taken in by the imposter,

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the tiger roared.

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Come

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around,

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everyone! We have been

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deceived by

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this rubbish, stiff

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dog, who claimed

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to be a divine envoy sent

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by Y behold,

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his furry grows

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to reveal his true

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conniving,

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crafty,

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cheating

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character.

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The other animals were no less

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angry than the tiger at the deception. Together

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they chased the trickster

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out of the forest, never

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to return.

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And that was the story of the blue

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jackal, read by me,

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Jana, for Story Nori.

11:42

Perhaps the moral of this story is

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that you can fool some of the people, some

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of the time, but not all

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the people, all the time. And

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by the way, Rudyard Kipling,

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the author of the Jungle book, wrote

11:56

a story

11:56

called The Man Who Would Be King.

11:59

It tells how two British soldiers in India

12:02

travelled to a remote village in Afghanistan

12:05

where they were mistaken for gods.

12:08

The story was made into a film with Sean

12:10

Connery and Michael Caine and

12:12

has some of the same themes of the ancient

12:14

tale of the Blue Jackal. And

12:17

don't forget, we now have another

12:19

podcast called Relaxivity with

12:21

stories for grown-ups. The

12:24

stories are of a calm and spiritual

12:26

nature and they are always so fascinating.

12:30

Both our podcasts are in all good

12:33

podcast apps and

12:35

we post our stories to YouTube. Our

12:37

websites are a great place to explore

12:40

our huge collection of stories. We've

12:42

been telling stories since 2005. We

12:46

are definitely one of the longest running

12:48

podcasts out there. You

12:51

can find us at StoryNori.com

12:54

and Relaxivity.app.