Page:Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes, 1879).djvu/33

 V.

THE JACKAL AND THE KITE.

HERE were once a she-jackal and a she-kite. They lived in the same tree; the jackal at the bottom of the tree, and the kite at the top. Neither had any children. One day the kite said to the jackal, "Let us go and worship God, and fast, and then he will give us children." So the jackal said, "Very good." That day the kite ate nothing, nor that night; but the jackal at night brought a dead animal, and was sitting eating it quietly under the tree. By and by the kite heard her crunching the bones, instead of fasting. "What have you got there," said the kite, "that you are making such a noise?" "Nothing," said the jackal; "it is only my own bones that rattle inside my body whenever I move." The kite went to sleep again, and took no more notice of the jackal. Next morning the kite ate some food in the name of God. That night again the jackal brought a dead animal. The kite called out, "What are you crunching there? Why are you making that noise? I am sure you have something to eat." The jackal said, "Oh, no I It is only my own bones rattling in my body." So the kite went to sleep again.

Some time after, the kite had seven little boys—real little boys—but the jackal had none because she had not fasted. A year after that the kite went and worshipped God, asking him to take care of her children. One day—it was their great day—the kite set out seven plates. On one she put