The wise she-goat – A folktale from Bharat

Here is a light-hearted folk tale from Bharat. Which part of Bharat, I know not.

Once upon a time, in a cave situated in a dense forest there lived an old lion. Due to his age, he could not run fast and chase his prey as before.

There was a village near the forest and it was the practice of the villagers to graze the cattle at the far end of the village from where the forest began. One day, a young lad took his herd of goats to graze there. In the evening when they were coming back, the oldest she-goat of the herd strayed away from the group. In a short while she had entered the forest and lost her way. She was roaming around looking for her group.

The sun was setting and it would be dark soon. The goat spotted the cave where the lion lived. Not knowing that a lion was there, she went inside the cave. She was shocked to see a lion staring at her. However, she did not exhibit her fear. The lion was surprised too that a goat was straying into the cave without being scared. It was strange that the animal did not behave like other goats he had seen. For a moment, the lion wondered if this was really a goat or some other being in the form of a goat.

“Who are you?” he roared. “Don’t you know that I live here?”

The she-goat was very wise since she was old. Not displaying her fright, she said in a bold voice, “I am a goat with supernatural powers. I have taken a vow of eating ten tigers, ten elephants and ten lions once in a year, every year. And I am in the process of fulfilling my vow this year. I have eaten ten tigers and elephants and came in search of lions, and here, I have found you!”

The lion was alarmed at her confidence. It looked like what he thought was true. This was no ordinary goat. Maybe it was a demoness in the form of a she-goat and she would really gobble him up if he did not escape!

“Err.. I.. I am just going to have a drink of water, Madam Goat!. I …. I promise, I will come immediately and be of use to you” said the lion. Not waiting for her answer, putting his tail between his hind legs, he quietly slid away from the cave to the nearest watering hole. The goat heaved a sigh of relief but wanted to wait for a while till he had gone afar and then escape.

At the watering hole, a fox spotted the lion. “The king looks terrified! And is coming with his tail between his hind legs… there is something certainly wrong” thought the fox . He went up to the lion and enquired, “Is everything okay O King? Why does your face look pale?”

The lion narrated what had happened and said, “But she looks like a normal goat and it is my good luck that I escaped from her!”

The wily fox understood the game the she-goat had played. He said to the lion, “O King! there is nothing supernatural about that she-goat. She has cheated you. Now come with me and have her for your dinner”. The lion was pacified to some extent, though he was not fully convinced. He however, decided to go back with the fox.

When the she-goat saw the lion approaching with the fox, she knew that the fox had come with some cunning plan. She was terrified but did not show her panic. Now she had to think fast. And she did!

She put up a stiff pose with a stern face  and addressed the fox. “Hmm.. you are useless! I told you to bring me ten lions and after wasting so much time, you have brought only one huh? If you don’t bring nine more before this night, I will kill you!”

The lion got extremely frightened and did not even think. In an instant he pounced on the fox and as he was killing him, the wise she-goat escaped!