The mongoose and the farmer's wife, Stories from Panchatantra for your children

Long time ago there lived a farmer and his wife. They had a new born son. The farmer's wife wanted to have a pet animal to protect the child which would also be a companion to the child. They had a talk and decided upon a mongoose. So they brought a mongoose and started rearing it.

A couple of months later, one day the farmer and his wife wanted to go out of the house leaving the child at home. The farmer thought that the mongoose would take care of the child while they were away. So they left the mongoose and the child at home and went out.

The farmer's wife returned earlier and on returning home found that the mouth of the mongoose was stained with blood and she immediately inferred that the mongoose had killed the child. In anger she threw a box on the mongoose and the mongoose was hurt badly. She then rushed inside to see what happened to the child. She was surprised to find a dead snake lying in the room. She could guess that that the mongoose had saved the child's life by killing the snake. Realizing the mistake she went out of the room only to find the mongoose dead on the floor. She cried out load at her hasty action.

Story moral: Don't act in haste. Think and act.

Read more Panchatantra stories

• The brahmin's gift
• The Foolish lion and the clever rabbit
• The fox reared by the lion
• The Monkey and the crocodile
• The moon lake
• The Elephant and the sparrow
• The sage's daughter
• The Blue jackal
• The mongoose and the farmer's wife
• The greedy jackal
• The day dreaming priest
• The heron and the crab
• The crows and the serpent
• The gold giving serpent
• The swan and the owl
• The cat partridge and the hare
• The geese and the tortoise
• The mice and the elephants
• The bird with two necks
• The three fishes