The Jackal and the Partridge

A jackal and a partridge once promised to be friends for ever. But the jackal was very demanding and jealous.

“You don’t do half as much for me as I do for you,” he used to say, “and yet you talk a lot about our friendship. A real friend, to my mind, can set me laughing or weeping, find me a fine meal, and rescue me from death if it comes to that. You couldn’t do any of that!”

“We’ll see,” said the partridge. “Follow me, not too close, and if I don’t make you laugh soon, you can eat me!”

So she flew on until she came to two weary travellers trudging along the road, one behind the other. Their feet were sore, and they were very tired. The first one carried his bundle on a stick over his shoulder, and the second carried his shoes in his hand.

As lightly as a feather, the partridge landed on the first traveller’s stick. He did not notice and trudged on. But the second traveller saw the bird sitting so tamely right in front of his nose. “What a chance for a supper!” he thought, and he threw his shoes at it, since they were in his hand. At once the partridge flew away, and the shoes knocked off the first traveller’s turban.

“What on earth are you doing?” he cried, spinning round angrily. “Why did you throw your shoes at my head?”

“Brother, don’t be cross,” said the other mildly. “I didn’t throw them at you. I threw them at a partridge that was sitting on your stick.”

“On my stick? Do you take me for a fool?” shouted the first man, furious. “Don’t tell me such silly stories! You insult me, and then you tell cowardly lies about it. I’ll teach you some manners!”

And without another word he set upon his companion, and the two of them fought until their eyes were swollen shut, their noses were bleeding, their clothes were in rags, and the jackal had nearly died laughing.

“Are you satisfied?” the partridge asked her friend.

“Well,” said the jackal, “you have certainly made me laugh, but I don’t believe you could bring me to tears. Anyone can play the clown. It is much harder to stir the deeper feelings.”

“We’ll see,” said the partridge, a little offended. “A hunter is coming down the road with his dogs. Hide inside that hollow tree and keep your eyes on me. If you aren’t weeping hot tears by the end, you have no heart at all!”

The jackal did as he was told and watched the partridge. She fluttered about among the bushes until the dogs saw her, and then she flew to the hollow tree where the jackal was hiding. Of course the dogs smelled him at once. They set up such a yapping and scratching that the hunter came over, saw what was there and dragged the jackal out by his tail. The dogs knocked him about to their hearts’ content and at last left him lying as if he were dead.

After a while he opened his eyes, for he had only been pretending, and saw the partridge sitting on a branch above him.

“Did you cry?” she asked anxiously. “Did I stir your deeper feel…”

“Be quiet, will you!” snarled the jackal. “I’m half dead with fright!”

So the jackal lay there for some time, getting over his bruises, and meanwhile he grew hungry.

“Now is the time for friendship!” he said to the partridge. “Get me a good dinner, and I will admit you are a true friend.”

“Very well,” said the partridge. “Just watch me, and help yourself when the time comes.”

Just then a group of women came by, carrying their husbands’ dinners to the harvest field. The partridge gave a sad little cry and began fluttering from bush to bush as if she were hurt.

“A wounded bird! A wounded bird!” cried the women. “We can easily catch it!”

Off they went after her, but the cunning partridge played a thousand tricks on them, until they got so excited by the chase that they put their bundles down on the ground so that they could run faster. Meanwhile the jackal seized his chance, crept up and ran off with a fine dinner.

“Are you satisfied now?” asked the partridge.

“Well,” said the jackal, “I admit the dinner was excellent. And yes, you made me laugh, and, ahem, cry as well. But the greatest test of friendship is beyond you. You could never save my life!”

“Perhaps not,” the partridge agreed sadly. “I am so small and weak. But it is getting late, and we should be going home. It is a long way round by the shallow crossing, so let’s go straight across the river. My friend the crocodile will carry us over.”

So they set off for the river, and the crocodile kindly agreed to take them across. They sat on his broad back, and he swam out with them. But just as they reached the middle of the river, the partridge said, “I think the crocodile means to play a trick on us. How awkward it would be if he dropped you into the water!”

“Awkward for you too!” said the jackal, turning pale.

“Not at all! Not at all! I have wings, and you haven’t.”

At that the jackal shivered and shook with fear, and when the crocodile growled in a horrible voice that he was hungry and wanted a good meal, the wretched jackal could not say a word.

“Pooh!” cried the partridge breezily. “Don’t try any tricks on us. I would fly away, and as for my friend the jackal, you couldn’t hurt him. He is not so foolish as to bring his life with him on little trips like this. He leaves it at home, locked up in the cupboard.”

“Is that so?” asked the crocodile in surprise.

“Certainly!” said the partridge. “Try to eat him if you like, but you will only tire yourself out for nothing.”

“Goodness me, how very strange!” gasped the crocodile, and he was so puzzled that he took the jackal all the way to the bank without harming him.

“Well, are you satisfied now?” asked the partridge.

“My dear madam,” said the jackal, “you have done all four things: the laughing, the crying, the dinner and the rescue. But, honestly, a friend as clever as you is more than I can handle. So, goodbye!”

And the jackal kept well away from the partridge after that.

Where this story comes from

This tale comes from Tales of the Punjab, Told by the People, by Flora Annie Steel, with notes by R. C. Temple. It is one of several stories in the book in which a jackal is the main character.

The fight between the two travellers is told a little more gently than in the original, and the dogs are said to knock the jackal about rather than to maul him.

Read the original: Flora Annie Steel, Tales of the Punjab (Project Gutenberg #6145, The Jackal and the Partridge)

Reading guidance: ages 9–12. The comic contest includes a bloody fight, an attack by dogs, theft, and a threat of being eaten.

A closer reading

The jackal turns friendship into four tests of what the partridge can do for him, without offering anything in return. She meets the literal requirements while defeating their supposed purpose: laughter comes from injured travelers, tears from an attack on him, and dinner from stealing someone else’s meal. Completing a checklist is not the same as caring for a friend.

The crocodile scene is different because her quick explanation does avert an immediate danger. Yet by then the jackal has learned that her ingenuity can expose him to harm as well as rescue him. His decision to leave is an acknowledgment that this relationship is unsafe, rather than proof that small friends cannot be capable. Neither demands for proof nor dangerous demonstrations create trust.

Try this with the story

List the four tests. Beside each, record how the partridge meets it and who pays the cost. Then rewrite the jackal’s opening demand as a fair request that allows the other friend to say no. Compare that request with the actual ending, where he chooses distance.

Questions to ask

• What four things did the jackal say a true friend should be able to do?
• How did the partridge make the jackal cry?
• How did she save his life on the crocodile’s back?
• Why do you think the jackal decided the partridge was too clever to be a friend?

Related stories

• The Jackal and the Crocodile — another Punjabi jackal tale from Steel’s collection
• The Jackal and the Iguana — another Punjabi tale in which a jackal is outwitted
• The Sparrow And The Crow — another Punjabi tale about two birds and their quarrels