"Drumikin! Drumikin!
Have you seen Lambikin?"

And Lambikin, curled up in his snug little nest, replied gayly:

"Lost in the forest, and so are you,
On, little Drumikin! Tum-pa--"

But he never got any further, for the Jackal recognized his voice at
once, and cried: "Hullo! you've turned yourself inside out, have you?
Just you come out of that!"

Whereupon he tore open Drumikin and gobbled up Lambikin.

181

The next story, dealing with the idea of
"measure for measure," is from Mary Frere's
_Old Deccan Days_. Miss Frere spent many years
in India, where her father was a government
official. She took down the tales as told by
her _ayah_, or lady's maid, who in turn had
heard them from her hundred-year-old
grandmother. It may be said of this story that
while retaliation is certainly not the highest
law of conduct, yet the ungracious,
inconsiderate action of the jackal makes it
impossible to feel the least sympathy for him.

TIT FOR TAT

There once lived a Camel and a Jackal who were great friends. One day
the Jackal said to the Camel, "I know that there is a fine field of
sugar cane on the other side of the river. If you will take me across,
I'll show you the place. This plan will suit me as well as you. You will
enjoy eating the sugar cane, and I am sure to find many crabs, bones,
and bits of fish by the river side, on which to make a good dinner."

The Camel consented, and swam across the river, taking the Jackal, who
could not swim, on his back. When they reached the other side, the Camel
went to eat the sugar cane, and the Jackal ran up and down the river
bank, devouring all the crabs, bits of fish, and bones he could find.

But being so much smaller an animal, he had made an excellent meal
before the Camel had eaten more than two or three mouthfuls; and no
sooner had he finished his dinner than he ran round and round the
sugar-cane field, yelping and howling with all his might.

The villagers heard him, and thought, "There is a Jackal among the sugar
canes; he will be scratching holes in the ground and spoiling the roots
of the plants." And they went down to the place to drive him away. But
when they got there they found to their surprise not only a Jackal, but
a Camel who was eating the sugar canes! This made them very angry, and
they caught the poor Camel and drove hi