Half-Educated
 
A jackal met a wolf and the two got to talking.
"How far have you studied?" asked the wolf, suddenly.
"To tell you the truth, I'm only half-educated," said the jackal.
"Then I'm twice as educated as you," said the wolf. "From now on you should address me as 'Sir'."
Just then a ferocious tiger stepped out from behind a bush.
"What shall we do...Sir?" asked the jackal.
But the wolf was so frightened he couldn't talk.
"Going somewhere?" growled the tiger, positioning himself to leap.
"We were in fact coming to consult you, Sir," said the jackal, thinking quickly. "A dispute has arisen between us and only you with your superior intelligence could settle it for us."
The tiger was pleased.
"What's this dispute about?" he asked, relaxing.
"I have caught two plump chickens," said the jackal. "My friend says that as he is more educated than me he should get one. Now is that fair?"
"How far have you studied?" asked the tiger, looking the wolf up and down.
The wolf's teeth chattered in fright.
"He says he has as many qualifications as there are teeth in his mouth," interpreted the jackal.
"Is that so!" said the tiger. "Then I'm far better educated... see!" And he opened his mouth to show his fearsome teeth.
The sight so unnerved the wolf that his legs gave way and he fell flat on his face.
"He admits you're more educated and is prostrating at your teeth," explained the jackal. "I should prostrate too for the wisdom you've shown in settling our dispute."
"I have?" said the tiger, perplexed.
"Now that you've claimed the chickens for yourself, my friend and I no longer have a dispute," said the jackal. "Please follow me to my house and I'll give you the chickens."
The tiger was delighted. He rarely got to eat chicken. Also, his superior intelligence told him that once he had eaten the chickens there was nothing to prevent him from eating the jackal and the wolf too.
"Lead the way," he said.
The jackal led him to the mouth of a tunnel in the side of a hill.
"Here we are," he said. "My friend will go in and bring the chickens."
The opening was much too small for the wolf but he was so eager to gain the safety of the tunnel that he somehow squeezed himself through it.
When he did not come out for some time, the jackal said he would see what was keeping him and deftly slipped into the tunnel, too.
It took some time for the tiger to realise that he had been tricked. Then he was so furious that he forgot he was educated and putting his face close to the opening roundly cursed the jackal and flung the choicest abuse at him.
After he had gone, the wolf, helped by the jackal, squeezed out of the tunnel.
He had got his voice back.
"You may be uneducated," he said admiringly, "but you've certainly got brains."
"Thank you," said the jackal. "Sir!"

The Scheming Rat
 
A rat about to emerge from his hole, espied a cat outside. He went back to the colony of rats at the bottom of the hole and invited one of his acquaintances to join him in a visit to a nearby cornfield.
"I would've gone alone," he said, "but I could not deny myself the pleasure of your distinguished company."
"I'll certainly come," said the acquaintance, pleased. "Lead on."
"Lead!" exclaimed the other. "How could I walk in front of a rat as great and illustrious as you? It is you who must lead. I'll follow!"
Greatly flattered, the acquaintance led the way out of the hole and was promptly caught by the cat.
The other rat slipped out unnoticed and went on his way.

The Diplomatic Reply
 
The Lion, the king of animals, one day called all his subjects to his court, a vast, smelly cave.
The bear felt nauseated by the smell and held his nose. The lion was offended and gave him a blow that knocked him senseless.
"Does my court smell that bad?" he asked the monkey.
"Not at all, Your Highness," said the monkey, ingratiatingly. "I would say your court smells like a bouquet of flowers."
The lion knew this was not possible and knocked him senseless too.
The other animals, including a fox, began to sidle out of the cave but the lion caught the fox's tail and pulled him back.
"Let us have your opinion," he said. "Does my court smell?"
"I have a terrible cold, Your Highness," said the fox, forcing a sneeze. "I cannot smell a thing so I cannot tell you whether your court smells or not."
The lion liked his clever reply and gave him an important post at his court.

 
Outwitting a Crocodile 
 
Sang Kancil, an intelligent mouse-deer was known for his cunning and wit. Several times he outwitted the big, bad crocodile, Sang Buaya.
Sang Kancil's home was full of trees and food and so Sang Kancil had no trouble finding food when he was hungry. Sang Kancil spent his days running and jumping, and his favourite pastime was to look at his own reflection in the river.
Sang Buaya, a crocodile, and a few other crocodiles lived in the river and were waiting for a chance to have Sang Kancil for dinner. One day, as Sang Kancil was walking by the riverside, he saw red, ripe fruits hanging on the trees across the river. Sang Kancil wanted to taste the delicious looking fruits because he was getting tired of eating only leaves on his side of the river. He walked to the riverbank and thought hard how to cross the river with Sang Buaya waiting for him at the bottom of the river.
Sang Kancil thought and thought and suddenly an idea came to him. He called out to Sang Buaya, "Sang Buaya! Sang Buaya!" Slowly Sang Buaya emerged from the water. "What is it, Sang Kancil? Why are you shouting my name? Aren't you afraid that I would grab you and have you for dinner?" asked Sang Buaya, opening his big mouth.
"Of course I am afraid but I have a mission to do. The King has ordered me to count the crocodiles in the river. He is having a feast and all of you are invited to attend. There will be plenty of food, but first I need to count how many of you are here. So would you please ask your fellow crocodiles to line up across the river so that I can count you up?" said Sang Kancil.
Sang Buaya was excited. He gathered all the crocodiles in the river and told them about the feast. Soon all the crocodiles made a line across the river. "Don't try to eat me while I am counting. Otherwise I would not be able to report to the King," warned Sang Kancil. "We won't eat you," the crocodiles promised.
Sang Kancil stepped on top of Sang Buaya's head and counted one. When he came to the second crocodile, Sang Kancil counted two and so to the rest of the line until he reached to the other side of the river. Sang Kancil turned to Sang Buaya and said, "Thank you, Sang Buaya for helping me to cross the river. This is my new home."
"What do you mean? You tricked us to help you cross the river?" shouted Sang Buaya. He was shocked. "There isn't any feast, is there?" The other crocodiles looked at Sang Buaya angrily. They knew they had been tricked.
After that, Sang Kancil lived happily in his new home and had plenty of tasty fruits and green leaves to eat. Sang Buaya, however, was ignored by the other crocodiles because of his foolishness.