Reading Notes, More Jataka Tales: The Wise Goat and the Wolf

Wild goats

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

There were once a group of wild goats that lived in a cave in the side of a hill. There was a pair of wolves that lived by the cave and loved goat meat so they caught the goats one by one, eating all of them except the one that was clever enough to escape the prowl of the wolves no matter how hard the wolves tried. One day the wold looked at his mate and said, "Let's trick that goat. I'll lay here and pretend to be dead and then you go to her and ask if she sees me laying here. Tell her that you're sad and you have no friends and then ask her to help you bury my body. When the goat comes to help, I'll jump on her and then we'll kill her."

The wolf laid down and pretended to be dead and the other wolf went to go convince the goat to come help bury the wolf's body, but the goat said: "My family and friends have all been eaten by your mate. I am not going to put myself in danger to help you two." "He's dead. How can he threaten you in any way now?" the wolf told the goat. The wolf continued to pressure the goat into helping and she finally agreed. As the goat followed the wolf to go help her bury the dead wolf, she questioned herself of how she would know the wolf is dead. The goat told the wold that she should walk in front of her to be on the safe side.

The Wolf thought he heard them coming so he raised his head to see if he could see them and the goat saw him raise his head so she turned around and ran back to the cave. The wolf asked her mate why he raised his head when he was supposed to be pretending to be dead, but he didn't have a reason. They were so hungry that they had no choice but to go back and try to catch the goat again. The wolf went to the goat and said, "My friend saw you coming so that why he felt better and raised his head. He would like to thank you and celebrate his survival. Come with us." The goat was skeptical but she had a plan to trick the wolves. She told the wolves to go back home and get ready and the goat would bring her friends. The wolf was sketched out so she asked who her friends were. The goat said  "I will bring two hounds and they are going to bring a couple of their huge dog friends. The wolf immediately got scared and ran all the way home.

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. The Wise Goat and the Wolf.