14. The Jackal and the Peacock

Laura Gibbs · 14. The Jackal and the Peacock

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A jackal and a peacock were friends.
One day the peacock ate some plums, while the jackal ate a lamb.
The peacock then planted the plum-pits. "I'll grow some plums!"
The jackal planted the bones. "I'll grow some lambs!"
The plum-pits sprouted, but not the bones.
The peacock mocked the jackal. "Your crop is a failure," he said, laughing.
Then one day the jackal didn't catch anything for supper, and he thought about how the peacock had mocked him.
"If I can't have lamb," the jackal decided, "I can have peacock!"
So the jackal killed the peacock and ate him.

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Inspired by: Tales of the Punjab by Flora Annie Steel
Notes: The term peahen refers to a female peafowl, and the peacock is a male; I made the story about a peacock.

(Indian peahen)