In one jungle, Lion Sher Singh was the king. His Public Welfare Minister was a monkey named Bandru. Since Bandru became the Minister, he grew arrogant. Whenever someone came to him with a problem, he would ask for favors to settle the matter. He cunningly took benefits from both sides of every dispute.
One day, a dog and a wolf had a fight over hunting. The dog went to Bandru, the Minister, to file a complaint. “Sir,” the dog said, “this wolf comes into my area for hunting and kills animals. He even hunts baby animals, despite the rule that only old animals should be hunted. This is causing a problem for me, as I am left with no food.”
Bandru listened carefully and then smirked. “I will solve your problem,” he said, “but you must give me a gift in return.”
“What gift do you need, Sir?” asked the dog, feeling helpless.
Bandru leaned in and whispered, “Daily, you must bring me one kilo of fresh meat.”
The dog, having no choice, agreed to the deal.
Later that day, Bandru sent two crow sepoys to the wolf’s cave with a message to summon him to the court. When the wolf arrived, Bandru, the Minister, greeted him with a threatening tone.
“Wolf,” Bandru began, “there have been complaints against you. You are trespassing into the dog’s territory and hunting animals there. You are also killing baby animals. Such behavior is against the jungle’s rules. If this matter reaches King Sher Singh, you may face capital punishment.”
The wolf, much frightened by the threat, asked, “Minister Bandru, what should I do to save my life? Please help me.”
Bandru’s eyes gleamed with greed as he replied, “There is a way to save yourself. If you agree to bring me one kilo of fresh meat every day, I will not take this matter to the King.”
The wolf, desperate to avoid punishment, reluctantly agreed. “Sir, I will do as you say. You will get one kilo of fresh meat from me daily. But, you’ll have to allow me to kill the baby animals also.” Bandru said, “I’ll take care, you do as you wish.”
For days, Bandru enjoyed the benefits of his corrupt scheme. Both the dog and the wolf delivered fresh meat to him regularly. When even after a month, killing of baby animals did not stop, the dog again went to the Minister. He told him that the wolf is still killing the baby animals. Bandru asked him angrily, “Has he killed your baby? Are you not able to fill your stomach with the leftover animals? ” The dog replied, “It is not the case Sir, but the rules, neither allow him to enter my territory nor to hunt baby animals.” “Oh! Doggy, forget about rules. But never forget about your promise of delivering me meat.” Said, the Minister laughingly.
The encouragement from Bandru had made the wolf fearless and he started hunting in other territories also. One day, he ventured into the King’s hunting territory, he saw that a baby bear was playing with other animal kids. He silently went there and called the baby bear.
Since, it was a rule there that nobody would kill baby animal, moreover it was King’s own territory, the baby bear went to him fearlessly. But as soon as he reached near him. The wolf pounced upon him and killed the baby bear in a single stroke. Other animal kids watched this and ran from there directly to the King’s palace and told everything to the baby bear’s father who was the army commander of the animal kingdom. The commander got much annoyed, he told everything to Lion, the King. The King ordered the commander to bring the wolf before him and said, “I would my self kill and eat the traitor.” Animal soldiers brought the wolf before the King after much search. King asked him roaring, “How dare you to kill baby animals and that too venturing into other’s territory.” The wolf said trembling, “My Lord, it is your Minister, Bandru who has allowed me to kill babies and also to hunt in other’s territory by taking one kg of meat on daily basis.” In the meantime, the dog also entered the courtroom and told that Bandru had been taking one kg of meat from him as well and did nothing on his complaint.
The lion became much annoyed and asked the commander, bear to kill both immediately. The both were killed and a new minister was appointed.
Moral of the Story:
Greed and corruption will always be exposed. True justice can only be served with honesty and fairness.