Once there lived a washerman. He had a donkey named Uddhata. Throughout the day, the donkey would help the washerman and carried the clothes but during the night, he was set free by the washerman to eat the green grass in a nearby farm. The donkey grazed in the nearby field for few days but after sometime he reached into the nearby farm where a number of vegetables grew. The donkey ate the vegetables of his choice there and then he returned to the washerman’s house.

One night when the donkey was grazing in the nearby farm, he met a jackal there. First he got feared with the jackal but after sometime they became good friends and then they started meeting every night.

As the donkey was very fat, he was able to break the boundary marker of the farms and then the jackal easily entered the farm. While the donkey ate on the vegetables the jackal ate the poultry on the farm. But before the sunrise, they both return to their homes to meet again next night. This all continued for many days and days passed away in this way.

One night when they both were at the farm, the donkey said to the jackal, “Dear, I want to sing tonight, as the moon is full and beautiful tonight. What do you want to listen.” The jackal got feared and suggests him, “Uncle, we are here to steal and he should keep quiet as possible. And your voice is not pleasant as you think and not so smooth, can be heard from a long distance. It will wake up the farmers who are sleeping at some distance and we will caught by them. Please don’t do this.

The jackal continued, “Please uncle, eat as much you like but forget about singing. It may get us into trouble. When the donkey heard this he became very angry and he said, “My Dear, I know you are a wild animal so you don’t know about the music. Thus you don’t appreciate the music. I want to sing a melodious so. Wait till you hear it then you understand who melodiously I would sing.”

When the jackal understood that the donkey was firmed to sing, he did not want to take any risk. He said, “Dear, if you really want to sing, then please wait till I go outside the boundary to keep a watch on the farmers.” Then the jackal immediately went away outside the boundary and hid himself. On the other hand the donkey started singing at the top of his voice.

As he started, the farmers heard the donkey braying, they could see easily in the full moon light that the donkey was in their farm. This all made the farmers very angry and they chased the donkey with sticks. As they approached near to the donkey, they beat him so hard that the donkey got hurt very much and he fell on the ground. Then they tied a wooden mortar around his neck and let him go.

When the donkey returned through the broken boundary, the jackal saw him and he began to laugh at him. He said, “Uncle, that was such a musical Raaga! I enjoyed it very much and I saw the farmers were also enjoyed your song and thus they rewarded you with this necklace.”

The wise indeed say:

There is always a proper place and time for doing anything.