There was an old deserted village in India a long time ago. The old houses, streets, and shops were deserted. The windows were open, and the stairwell was damaged. You can bet it's a great environment for mice to run around in!
Indeed, the mice had been happily living in this location for hundreds of years, long before the people came to create a hamlet and eventually left.
But this was the best time for the mice yet. They dug tunnels all through those beautiful ancient houses and buildings, creating huge mazes. What fun they had with their numerous dinner parties, festivals, weddings, and feasts.
And thus the years passed.
A herd of hundreds of elephants stampeded through the community one day on its way to a large lake in the west.
All the elephants could think about as they marched was how refreshing a swim in that lake would be. They had no idea that as they marched through the village, those giant elephant feet were pounding down on the mice's network of mazes and tunnels. What a shambles the elephants left!
The mice convened swiftly.
"If the herd comes back this way again, our community is doomed!" exclaimed one mouse.
"We won't stand a chance!" exclaimed someone else.
There was only one option. A band of daring mice followed the elephant tracks all the way to the lake. They discovered the King of the Elephants there. Bowing before the King, one mouse spoke for the others, saying, "O King, our mice community is not far from here." You'll find it in that ancient deserted village you're passing through. "Do you remember it?"
"Of course I remember it," the Elephant King replied. "We're elephants," they say. But we had no idea there was a mouse community there."
"How could you?" exclaimed the mouse.
"However, your herd destroyed many of the homes where we had lived for hundreds of years." If you returned in the same manner, it would be the last of us! We are little in comparison to you. Please allow us to ask you. Will you not find another means to get home? Who knows, maybe one day we mice will be able to assist you as well."
The Elephant King smiled and said " Imagine if little mice could ever help an elephant! But he was sorry that his herd had crushed the mice village without even realizing it. There is no need for you to be concerned," he continued. I'll guide the herd home in a different way."
A few days later, a group of hunters set up a trap for the elephants. They set up the nets inside the lake. All of them got caught in the trap. There was no escape route, The Elephants started trumpeting in panic.
It just so happened that the mouse king heard the trumpets of the elephant and came towards the noise to see what had happened. He saw what had happened.
The Elephant King summoned her. He instructed her to return to the ancient deserted settlement and bring back the mice that lived there.
He got his entire village of mice to come over and they started chewing at the ropes
They chewed and chewed at breakneck speed. The mice soon nibbled the ropes all the way through, releasing their huge buddies.
The elephant king realised that even though he mocked the mice, its a great thing he did by not trampling them and agreeing to find another route.
Moral of the story:
One good turn deserves another, Remember to be good and helpful to everyone, you never know when you might need help.
This short story is an amalgamation of two Panchatantra stories and has been put together by team EKdali. Our team recommends that you buy India Mapfor wall to teach kids more about India.
