Long ago, in a jungle, lived a lion named Madotkata. He had friends: a leopard, a jackal, a crow, and many other animals.

One day, they saw a camel! The camel was lost from its family. Madotkata wanted to meet this new animal.

The crow, who had traveled far, said, “Master, that’s a camel! They live in villages. Their meat is tasty! Let’s eat it!”

But Madotkata said, “No! The camel isn’t from the jungle. It’s our guest! Be kind to it, and bring it to me.”

The animals brought the lost camel to Madotkata. The camel bowed and told Madotkata how it got lost.

Madotkata said, “Camel, you’ll have to carry heavy loads in the village. Stay here in the jungle with me. You can eat all the yummy grass you want!”

The camel stayed, and they all lived happily. But then, Madotkata got hurt in a fight with a big, angry elephant!

Madotkata couldn’t hunt. He and his animal friends got very hungry. Madotkata said, “Find me an animal I can eat, so we all have food.”

The animals searched, but found nothing. The sneaky jackal had an idea.

He whispered to the crow, “The camel! We can eat it!”

The crow said, “But the lion promised to protect the camel!”

The jackal said, “I’ll convince the lion!”

The jackal told Madotkata, “Master, we found no food! If you eat the camel, we’ll all have enough!”

Madotkata said, “No! That’s not right! I promised the camel it would be safe!”

But the jackal tricked Madotkata. He said, “If the camel offers itself, it’s okay to eat it.” He even suggested the lion eat one of them instead to avoid breaking the promise.

The jackal told the other animals, “The lion is sick. To repay him, let’s offer ourselves as food.”

All the animals went to Madotkata and offered themselves. But Madotkata refused!

The camel watched. It thought, “They are all meat-eaters like the lion. I will offer myself.”

The camel said, “Master, eat me! I’ll go to a good place in the sky.”

The other animals were happy. The lion, tricked by the jackal, ate the camel.

The story teaches us: Be careful around tricky people! Don’t believe everything they say!