The Jackal and the Crocodile

Once upon a time, Mr. Jackal was trotting along gaily, when he caught

sight of a wild plum-tree laden with fruit on the other side of a

broad deep stream. He could not get across anyhow, so he just sat

down on the bank, and looked at the ripe luscious fruit until his

mouth watered with desire.

Now it so happened that, just then, Miss Crocodile came floating down

stream with her nose in the air. 'Good morning, my dear!' said Mr.

Jackal politely; 'how beautiful you look to-day, and how charmingly

you swim! Now, if I could only swim too, what a fine feast of plums

we two friends might have over there together!' And Mr. Jackal laid

his paw on his heart, and sighed.

Now Miss Crocodile had a very inflammable heart, and when Mr. Jackal

looked at her so admiringly, and spoke so sentimentally, she simpered

and blushed, saying, 'Oh! Mr. Jackal! how can you talk so? I could

never dream of going out to dinner with you, unless--unless--'

'Unless what?' asked the Jackal persuasively.

'Unless we were going to be married!' simpered

Miss Crocodile.

'And why shouldn't we be married, my charmer?' returned the Jackal

eagerly. 'I would go and fetch the barber to begin the betrothals at

once, but I am so faint with hunger just at present that I should

never reach the village. Now, if the most adorable of her sex would

only take pity on her slave, and carry me over the stream, I might

refresh myself with those plums, and so gain strength to accomplish

the ardent desire of my heart!'

Here the Jackal sighed so piteously, and cast such sheep's-eyes at

Miss Crocodile, that she was unable to withstand him. So she carried

him across to the plum-tree, and then sat on the water's edge to think

over her wedding dress, while Mr. Jackal feasted on the plums, and

enjoyed himself.

'Now for the barber, my beauty!' cried the gay Jackal, when he had

eaten as much as he could. Then the blushing Miss Crocodile carried

him back again, and bade him be quick about his business, like a dear

good creature, for really she felt so flustered at the very idea that

she didn't know what mightn't happen.

'Now, don't distress yourself, my dear!' quoth the deceitful Mr.

Jackal, springing to the bank, 'because it's not impossible that I may

not find the barber, and then, you know, you may have to wait some

time, a considerable time in fact, before I return. So don't injure

your health for my sake, if you please.'

With that he blew her a kiss, and trotted away with his tail up.

Of course he never came back, though trusting Miss Crocodile waited

patiently for him; at last she understood what a gay deceitful fellow

he was, and determined to have her revenge on him one way or another.

So she hid herself in the water, under the roots of a tree, close to a

ford where Mr. Jackal always came to drink. By and by, sure enough,

he came lilting along in a self-satisfied way, and went right into the

water for a good long draught. Whereupon Miss Crocodile seized him by

the right leg, and held on. He guessed at once what had happened, and

called out, 'Oh! my heart's adored! I'm drowning! I'm drowning! If

you love me, leave hold of that old root and get a good grip of my

leg--it is just next door!'

Hearing this, Miss Crocodile thought she must have made a mistake,

and, letting go the Jackal's leg in a hurry, seized an old root close

by, and held on. Whereupon Mr. Jackal jumped nimbly to shore, and ran

off with his tail up, calling out, 'Have a little patience, my

beauty! The barber will come some day!'

But this time Miss Crocodile knew better than to wait, and being now

dreadfully angry, she crawled away to the Jackal's hole, and slipping

inside, lay quiet.

By and by Mr. Jackal came lilting along with his tail up.

'Ho! ho! That is your game, is it?' said he to himself, when he saw

the trail of the crocodile in the sandy soil. So he stood outside,

and said aloud, 'Bless my stars! what has happened? I don't half like

to go in, for whenever I come home my wife always calls out,

'"Oh, dearest hubby hub!

What have you brought for grub

To me and the darling cub?"

and to-day she doesn't say anything!'

Hearing this, Miss Crocodile sang out from inside,

'Oh, dearest hubby hub!

What have you brought for grub

To me and the darling cub?'

The Jackal winked a very big wink, and stealing in softly, stood at

the doorway. Meanwhile Miss Crocodile, hearing him coming, held her

breath, and lay, shamming dead, like a big log.

'Bless my stars!' cried Mr. Jackal, taking out his

pocket-handkerchief, 'how very very sad! Here's poor Miss Crocodile

stone dead, and all for love of me! Dear! dear! Yet it is very odd,

and I don't think she can be quite dead, you know--for dead folks

always wag their tails!'

On this, Miss Crocodile began to wag her tail very gently, and Mr.

Jackal ran off, roaring with laughter, and saying, 'Oho!--oho! so dead

folk always wag their tails!'