There once lived a jackal in a dense forest near an army camp .He enjoyed living in the beautiful forest because there was plenty to eat and he had many friends to play with.

Then one day, he heard a lot of noise coming from the army camp . He wondered what it was . Let's go and see why these people are making such a noise ," he said to his friends

Now the animals of the forest liked to keep away from the strange men So they refused to go with him.

"We don't want to be caught by these men! " said one .

"God knows how terrible they can be," trembled another.

"The men will hunt us down , and I don't want to die!" Exclaimed the third

But there was no way to hold the jackal black. And even though his friends asked him not to go, he decided to see for himself .

" Oh these cowardly animals don't know a thing," he muttered ,"it's just men after all... How frightening could they be?"

So off he went scampering down to the army grounds , thinking of all the delicious food he would get to eat . You see, he had not eaten all day , and was very hungry now.

When he reached the camp , he saw the men drinking , eating and making merry . They were making a great deal of noise, and it seems they were having a lot of fun !

"See! There is nothing to be scared of. These people are harmless ," he spoke to himself .

"Aaah! The food smells delicious , I wonder how I can get my hands on some of it."

And just as he was about to make a move, loud BOOM sounded in the camp.

The noise frightened the jackal , and he quickly his behind a tree.

BOOM BOOM BOOM! The noise kept on. He saw all the men rise and go into their tents in a hurry ! In a minute the party had ended and there was not a person in sight!

Ooooh! This must be some terrible, terrible beast!" quivered the jackal , his hair standing up in fear . He did not know that it was just a dream- beat announcing sleeping time! Many hours passed, but he kept to his hiding place,

not daring to even take a look at the camp.

Then suddenly a rumbling sound came from his stomach . He was really hungry now! He wondered what to do. Dare he go into the camp?

"There certainly has been no sound for a long time," he thought, " maybe the beast has left."

So, he stepped out from behind the tree and looked around . No one was in sight. Treading softly, and trying to be brave, he reached the ground and began hunting around for food.

But there was absolutely nothing! All the delicious food was gone! Where could it have vanished? He was still wondering , when he suddenly saw the drum.

"Ah ha ! So this is where they keep all the food," he thought

He walked around the drum and sniffed it. The drum did not smell delicious at all but surely there was some food inside it, thought the jackal.Looking for an opening, he tapped the drum gently with his paw.

BOOM! It went.

"I have poked the full belly of the beast!" screamed the jackal and he ran away and hid behind a bush, waiting to escape if the beast came after him. But the drum did not move.

"This can't be a beast , its not moving and breathing," he thought. "This has to be the their food container . Let me go and open it "

So he went to the drum again poked the skin of the drum a little harder, hoping to find food inside. The harder the jackal poked, the more the drum sounded, but it did not open.

The jackal hunted around until he found a large stick , and hit the drum so hard that he broke the skin.

Then the jackal thrust his paw through the hole looking for the food . But of course, there was no food !

The inside of the drum was just a hollow wooden barrel.

The jackal laughed at himself for being so silly. "I've been scared of something so silly,just because others had put a fear in my head. I will be more sensible next time ," he said to himself as he walked back to the forest.

Moral:- Only the brave can succeed at what they do.