There was once a forest that was lush green with abundant water and food.

All the animals lived happily there until one day, a cruel lion name Leo came to live among them. Leo would kill the animals for fun, irrespective of whether he was hungry or not.

All the other animals were terrified of him. But one day, they had had enough, and they all went together to meet the Leo.

“You are killing us for pleasure, even when not hungry. Very soon, we will all die, and you will have no one to eat,” said a deer.

Leo was furious but before he could say or do anything a monkey intervened,
“Please do not get angry. We will not deny you your meal. We will send one animal each day to you to satisfy your hunger. This way, you will always have food.”

After thinking for sometime, Leo agreed. “It is an excellent plan. But ensure my food reaches on time. Otherwise, I will come and kill each one of you,” he threatened.

From that day on, each day, one animal would go to the Leo just to be eaten.

One day it was the turn of a rabbit named Bunny. She spent a sleepless night worried about her fate the following day.

In the morning, with a heavy heart, Bunny went to meet Leo.

On her way she came across a river and wanted to quench her thirst.

Looking at her reflection, she sighed, “I wish there was a way by which I can escape Leo.”

She kept staring at the river when suddenly, an idea occurred to her. “Will my plan work? I don’t have anything to lose. So I might as well try”, she thought.
Bunny finally reached Leo’s cave. He growled, “Why were you so late?”

Bunny replied timidly, “Sir, we were a total of five rabbits when we started today. On the way, we saw another lion who killed the other four rabbits. I escaped because I hid before the lion could catch me. Hence, I was late in coming to you.”
Leo was shocked to hear this. “Another lion in my territory?” he growled. “I cannot allow this. Take me to the other lion. I will kill him immediately.”

The Rabbit took Leo to a well. “Sir, please peep and look in. You will find the other lion there.”

When Leo peeped into the well, he saw his reflection. Thinking it was another lion, he jumped into the well. Unfortunately, he did not know to swim, so he drowned and died.
Bunny happily came back and narrated the entire incident to the other animals. The animals were delighted to hear this. They were finally saved from cruel Leo and praised Bunny for being so smart.

Author’s Note:

All Panchatantra Stories have Morals associated with them.

This story teaches us about the about how intelligence is far more important than physical strength.

Another moral that is associated is “To think before you leap”.