Karalakesara the lion had a friend, a jackal, who helped him. One day, Karalakesara got hurt fighting a big elephant! He couldn’t hunt, so he and the jackal were very hungry.

The jackal said, “Master, I’m too weak! I haven’t eaten in days!”

Karalakesara said, “Jackal, find me something to eat, or we’ll both starve!”

The jackal went to a village and saw a donkey eating grass. He said, “Hello, Uncle Donkey! You look tired. Why?”

The donkey said, “My owner is mean! He makes me work hard and doesn’t give me much food.”

The sneaky jackal said, “Come with me! My master, the lion, protects animals. There’s lots of yummy grass in his cave!”

The donkey believed him and followed the jackal to the lion’s cave. Karalakesara, who was still hurt, jumped at the donkey! But he missed! The donkey ran away!

Karalakesara felt bad. The jackal said, “Let me bring him back. This time, wait until we get closer!”

The jackal caught the donkey and tricked him again. “That was just a friendly donkey who wanted to hug you!” he said. The donkey believed him and went back to the cave.

This time, the lion got the donkey. But Karalakesara was too tired. He went to the river, and told the jackal to watch the donkey.

The hungry jackal ate the donkey’s brain! When Karalakesara came back, he was angry.

The jackal said, “Master, the donkey didn’t have a brain! If he did, he wouldn’t have come back after you tried to get him!”

Karalakesara believed him, and they both ate.

Sometimes, nice words can trick you!