Once there lived a couple of lion and lioness in a jungle. They were very happy as they had given birth to two male cubs and they had newly become parents of the cubs. They both divided their duties so thy properly took care of their cubs. The lion was responsible for hunting in the jungle to provide food to the lioness and the two cubs. Thus the lion everyday went out in the morning in the jungle and came back in the evening with food and then gave this food to the lioness, who then feed the cubs and herself. Till the lion returned in the evening the lioness took care the cubs. 

Days passed away and they were lived happily. One day when the lion wandering in the jungle, he did not get any food till the sunset. So he decided to return home empty hand. As he returned, on his way he saw a baby jackal and finally he got food for his family. But the lion took pity on the jackal as it was just a baby. So he decided not to kill him and he carried the baby jackal live to his home to present the lioness. 

As he reached he presented him to the lioness. The lioness said to him, “My dear, how can I kill this jackal as he is only a baby. How can I kill and eat this jackal that you have not killed yourself. We cannot kill this baby so let us raise the jackal with our own babies. They will soon like each other company and then become good friends.”

Thus the lion and lioness started taking care of the baby jackal as their own babies and raising him without making any discrimination between him and their own cubs. But as they grew up they behave differently opposite to lion and lioness expectations. They always fought among themselves. This was because the jackal belong to the different trait. But the lion and lioness overlooked their childhood actions.

One day when they were playing near their den, suddenly a wild elephant approached him. As the jackal saw him he feared and prepared to escape from there. But the young cubs moved towards the elephant to attack on him. The young jackal immediately said to them, “Don’t go near him as the elephant is a natural enemy. Come with me, let us go home immediately.”

The young lions then followed the jackal back to home but they were surprised by their brother’s cowardness. They laughed at him and made fun of him. They even mocked and narrated the story to their parents. This all made the jackal very angry. So he decided to take revenge from them.

After some time when the lioness saw him alone she talked to the young jackal. The jackal said to the lioness, “Mother, I am not inferior to them in any actions. May it be bravery, or looks or education or intelligence. Look at how they both insult me and made joke on me. I have promised myself to kill them and take my revenge.”

When the lioness heard these words she surprised, but she knew what to do next. She said to him, “My son, whatever you say is true. You are not inferior to them in anyway but you are a jackal and then you behave like your own species. You don’t know the truth that many years ago, I took pity on you and raised you among my cubs as my own son without any differentiation. But now you want to take revenge from them, I must ask you to leave this place.”

Then the lioness roared on him, “Jackal, Go away, and do not return again here, or I shall kill you myself. This time I am take pity on you. Return to your race where you belong.”

When the jackal heard this he feared and he immediately fled to find his own race and then he live among them.

The wise indeed say:

Know the truth about yourself and act accordingly.