id we not agree that Whatever
plunged down the steps was to be my portion?" and, so saying, he
proceeded to devour him at his leisure.

The Tiger and the Shadow

There was a "salt-lick" in the jungle to which all the beasts of the
forest resorted, but they were greatly afraid by reason of an old Tiger
which killed one of them every day. At length, therefore, P'lando' the
Mouse-deer said to the Tiger, "Why not permit me to bring you a beast
every day, to save you from hunting for your food?" The Tiger
consented and P'lando' went off to make arrangement with the beasts.
But he could not persuade any of them to go, and after three days he
set off, taking nobody with him but Kuwis the smallest of the Flying
Squirrels.

On their arrival P'lando' said to the Tiger: "I could not bring you any
of the other beasts because the way was blocked by a fat old Tiger with
a Flying Squirrel sitting astride its muzzle." On hearing this the
Tiger exclaimed, "Let us go and find it and drive it away." The three
therefore set out, the Flying Squirrel perched upon the Tiger's muzzle
and the Mouse-deer sitting astride upon its hind quarters. On reaching
the river, the Mouse-deer pointed to the Tiger's likeness in the water
and exclaimed, "Look there! That is the fat old Tiger that I saw." On
hearing this, the Tiger sprang into the river to attack his own shadow,
and was drowned immediately.

The King-crow and the Water-snail

A Water-snail was coming up-stream from the lower reaches, when a
King-crow heard it. Said the King-crow to himself: "Who can it be
coming up-stream that exclaims so loudly at the rapids? One might say
it was a man, but that there is nothing to be seen." So the King-crow
settled on a tree to watch, but as he could see nothing from his perch
on the tree he flew down to the ground, and walked along by the
water-side. And when he thought to see some man exclaiming, he caught
sight of the Water-snail.

"Hullo, you there," said he, "where do you come from?" "I come from
the eddy below the rapids," said the Water-snail, "and I only want to
get as far as the head-waters of this river." Said the King-crow:
"Wait a bit. Suppose you go down to the river-mouth as quickly as you
can and we will have a wager on it." (Now rivers are the Water-snail's
domain, in which he has many comrades.)

"What is to be the stake?" asked the Water-snail. "If I am beaten I
will be your slave, and look after your aroids