The Jackal and the Fish-Wagon: 5 African Fables of Deception

The Jackal, driven by olfactory sensation, perceived the presence of piscine matter.

Subsequently, his visual perception registered a wagon, replete with fish, traversing the thoroughfare.

Exercising intellectual alacrity, the Jackal adopted a recumbent posture upon the road, feigning demise.

Upon observing the supine figure, the driver brought his conveyance to a halt, exclaiming, “Fortuitous circumstance!” He added, “I shall procure from this creature a most exquisite pelt for my esteemed spouse.”

He seized the Jackal and deposited him upon the summit of the fish.

With utmost circumspection, the Jackal proceeded to jettison the fish from the wagon, seriatim.

Thereafter, he alighted from the vehicle, collected the scattered fish, and returned to his abode, where he partook of a sumptuous repast.

Upon the man's return to his domicile, he discovered himself to be devoid of both fish and prospective fur.

The Jackal extended an invitation to the Hyæna for an evening repast; however, the avaricious Hyæna consumed the entirety of the piscatorial fare.

This action incited the ire of the Jackal.

“Doth thou desire a further surfeit?” he enquired.

The Hyæna, with affirmative inclination, signified assent.

Thereupon, the Jackal explicated his stratagem of feigning mortality. “Attend to my words,” quoth he, “for whatsoever transpires, thou must maintain absolute immobility. Remain, I implore thee, in a state of profound quiescence.”

The Hyæna, in expression of gratitude to the Jackal, hastened with alacrity to the thoroughfare, prostrated herself upon the ground, and awaited the unfolding of events.

The waggon duly arrived, whereupon the driver, in a paroxysm of indignation, alighted from his conveyance. “Thou miscreant!” he vociferated, and forthwith commenced to administer a series of forceful kicks.

The Hyæna, adhering to the injunction, remained steadfastly unmoved.

The driver, in a further display of displeasure, employed his whip upon the Hyæna; yet, she persisted in her state of unwavering stillness.

Eventually, the man, his vexation unabated, resumed his position upon the waggon and drove away.

“I meticulously observed the precepts imparted by the Jackal,” lamented the Hyæna.

“Wherein, I prithee, did I err in my execution?”

To commemorate his union with Hyæna, Jackal purloined a bovine creature from the race of the Formicidæ.

He did slaughter the beast and prepare its flesh for consumption; thereafter, he bestowed the hide of the aforementioned bovine upon Hyæna, that it might serve as her bridal raiment.

When the Formicidæ did ascertain that Jackal had absconded with their bovine, they hastened in pursuit. They did strike the bovine to urge it homewards, whereupon Hyæna, ensconced within the bovine's hide, did exclaim, “Oh, Jackal! Thy embraces and osculations are most vigorous!”

Thereupon, the bovine's hide did fall away; she perceived it was not Jackal, and when the Formicidæ beheld Hyæna, they pursued her and smote her with augmented severity.

In celebration of his union with the Hyæna, the Jackal did erect a kitchen upon a lofty platform. Therein, he prepared a stew of beef, and, with cunning artifice, did conceal within the pot a sharp stone enrobed in fat. 'Come, ye creatures of the wild,' he proclaimed, 'and partake of this joyous feast!'

'I shall be the first!' roared the Lion, whereupon the Jackal, with seeming alacrity, commenced to hoist him aloft by means of a rope. Yet, when the Lion was nigh unto the summit, the Jackal, with treacherous intent, did sever the rope, causing the Lion to plummet earthward.

'Pray, forgive me!' exclaimed the Jackal, feigning contrition. 'It was, alas, a rope of advanced age and infirmity. I shall procure one of newer make forthwith!'

The Jackal, with renewed diligence, did once more haul the Lion upward.

'Pray, open wide your maw!' quoth the Jackal, and with malicious force, he did thrust the scalding stone into the Lion's gullet. The Lion, having unwittingly swallowed the same, did succumb to its deadly effects and breathed his last.

'You are, I venture to suggest, a veritable fool, Goat,' quoth the Jackal, 'consorting with these fowl instead of devouring them! Release the chickens from their coop, and I shall demonstrate the proper course of action.'

The Goat, thus persuaded, did release the chickens from their coop, whereupon the Jackal proceeded to devour them all.

Then, upon a certain day, the Jackal, in his imprudence, did leap down into a water-hole, from whence he found himself unable to extricate himself.

'This water, I declare, is of surpassing quality, Goat!' he bawled. 'Pray, descend and partake of its delights!'

The Goat, succumbing to this artifice, did leap down, whereupon the Jackal, with cunning agility, leaped upon the Goat's horns and thus escaped his predicament.

Upon the Jackal's next visit to the farm, the Goat, now wise to his wiles, did chase him hence with considerable vigour.

And thus, the Jackal is now compelled to pilfer chickens, the Goat having withdrawn his erstwhile assistance.