XI.
SINGH RAJAH[1] AND THE CUNNING LITTLE JACKALS.
ONCE upon a time, in a great jungle, there lived a great Lion. He was Rajah of all the country round; and every day he used to leave his den, in the deepest shadow of the rocks, and roar with a loud, angry voice; and when he roared, the other animals in the jungle, who were all his subjects, got very much frightened, and ran here and there; and Singh Rajah would pounce upon them, and kill them, and gobble them up for his dinner.
This went on for a long, long time, until, at last, there were no living creatures left in the jungle but two little jackals,—a Rajah Jackal and a Ranee Jackal—husband and wife.
A very hard time of it the poor little Jackals had, running this way and that to escape the terrible Singh Rajah; and every day the little Ranee Jackal would say to her husband, 'I am afraid he will catch us to-day,—do you hear how he is roaring? Oh dear! oh dear!' And he would answer her, 'Never fear; I will take care of you. Let us run on a mile or two. Come, come,—
- ↑ Lion King.
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