Once upon a time, there lived in a dense forest a cruel lion, Bhasuraka. He was very arrogant, powerful and ferocious. All the other animals in the forest were his prey. This became a cause of great worry for them because they felt soon there would be no animals left. They decided they should meet the lion and arrive at a friendly agreement with him. They invited the Bhasuraka to attend the meeting and gathered under a big tree.
The representative of the animals said,” Your Majesty, it is our joy that we have you as our king.” The lion thanked them and asked, “What is the matter? Why we have gathered here?” The animals looked at each other. They were trying to gather the courage to open the subject.
One of them stood up and said, “Sir, it’s natural that you have to kill us for your food. But killing more than what is required is not sensible. If you keep killing animals without purpose, there will soon come a day when there will be none left in the forest.” The lion roared, “So what do you want?” One of the animals replied, “Your Majesty, we have already discussed the problem amongst ourselves and have come upon a solution. We have decided to send one animal daily to your den. You can kill and eat it the way you like. This will also save you the trouble of hunting.”
The lion replied, “Fine. I accept this proposal, but make sure the animal reaches me on time. Otherwise, I will kill all the animals here.” The animals agreed. From that day onwards, an animal was sent to the lion daily for his meal. The lion was happy to have his food right there in front of him without needing to make any effort.
One day it was the turn of a rabbit to go to the lion’s den. The rabbit was old and wise. He did not want to go, but the other animals insisted he go. The rabbit then thought up a plan which would save his life and the lives of the others as well. He took his own sweet time to get to the lion’s den, reaching a little later than the appointed time.
The lion was becoming impatient with the delay and when he saw a small rabbit for his meal he was enraged. He swore he would kill them all. The rabbit explained with folded hands, “Your Majesty. I am not to be blamed. Actually, six rabbits were sent for your meal, but five of them were killed and devoured by another lion. He also claimed to be the king of the forest. I somehow escaped to reach here safely.”
The lion howled in great anger and said, “Impossible, there cannot be another king of this forest. Tell me, who is he? I’ll kill him. Take me to the place, where you saw him.”
The clever rabbit took the lion towards a deep well, filled with water. Pointing to it, the rabbit said, “This is the place where the lion lives. He might be hiding inside.” The lion looked into the well and saw his reflection. Thinking it was the other lion he started growling. The reflection in the water was equally angry. Increasingly furious and agitated, the lion jumped into the well to attack the ‘other lion’, hit his head against the rocks and drowned in the deep well.
The rabbit, with a sigh of relief, returned to the other animals and narrated the story. All the animals were overjoyed and thanked the rabbit for his wisdom and intelligence.
Picture Courtesy: Pata scroll painting by Gurupada
Gurupada Chitrakar was born in 1965 in Naya Village, West Bengal. He is part of a community of Pata scroll painters, also known as Patuas, from West Bengal.
These scrolls are pictorial narratives of folklore. The scrolls are made by sewing together sheets of paper usually backed with fabric, and are then painted with vegetable dyes mixed with vegetable gum. Though not formally trained, Gurupada learnt how to paint from his family and community. He also composes the songs which accompany the stories and are sung as the scroll is unfurled. He has been the recipient of the State Award for the year 1993-94, Kalashri Award in Suraj Kund in 1997 and the National Award in 2004.
