In a lush green forest, where sunlight peeked through the leaves and the air carried the scent of flowers, lived a clever crow named Kala. Kala earned the respect of all animals with his wisdom and resourcefulness. In the same forest lived a lazy jackal named Dhila. Dhila slept all day and depended on others, as he disliked working hard.
One season, winter arrived in the forest. Cold winds began to blow, and the trees bore fewer fruits. The animals started gathering food together, but Dhila wandered around, saying, “I’m hungry, someone give me food!” Kala, who observed this, thought it was time to teach Dhila the value of hard work.
One day, Kala devised a plan. He spotted a large mango tree in a corner of the forest, still laden with a few ripe mangoes. He called out loudly, “Look, there are delicious mangoes over there! But someone will have to climb the tree to get them.” Dhila, whose eyes gleamed with greed, immediately said, “I’ll take them! But let someone else climb; I’ll collect them from below.”
Kala smiled and said, “Fine, but there’s a condition. You must work for an hour under the tree—collect leaves. Then I’ll pick the mangoes for you.” Reluctantly, Dhila agreed, driven by his hunger. He collected leaves for half an hour but then sat down, exhausted, and said, “That’s enough, no more!”
Kala plucked a mango from above and tossed it toward Dhila, but it landed in a thorny bush. Kala said, “Now you’ll have to get it out of the bush yourself, because fruit comes only with effort.” Dhila tried, but in avoiding the thorns, he got even dirtier. Finally, he gave up and asked Kala for help.
Kala said, “Brother Dhila, success in life comes only through hard work. If you give up laziness, everyone in the forest will support you.” Dhila realized his mistake. He promised to work hard from then on. The next day, Dhila began gathering food for himself and started working alongside the other forest animals.
Moral Lesson: Laziness makes life difficult; hard work brings true happiness and respect.