Once upon a time a family of crows lived in a huge banyan tree. There was
a Father Crow, a Mother Crow, and many baby crows.
One day a huge snake came to live in the hole at the bottom of the tree.
The crows were unhappy about this, but could do nothing.
Soon Mother Crow hatched a few more eggs and some more baby crows
were born. When the crows flew out in search of food, the snake ate up
the babies. When the crows returned, they could not find their babies.
They hunted high and low, but to no avail.
After a few months, Mother Crow gave birth to some more baby crows.
This time Mother Crow stayed home when Father Crow went out in search
of food. Ignoring the fact that Mother Crow was keeping a watchful eye
on her babies, the snake still slithered up the tree and attacked the
babies. Mother Crow tried to fight the snake off, but she was not strong
enough. Other crows came to her aid, but the snake had already eaten
the little ones and crawled back into its hole.
When Father Crow returned, he found all the crows weeping. He consoled
his wife who wanted to leave the tree house immediately. Father Crow
said that this tree had been their home for many years and they must live
here. He thought of asking a wise old fox for help in order to get rid of the
snake.
The old fox came up with a brilliant plan. He told them to go to the river
bank the next morning where the ladies of the royal family would be
bathing. Their clothes and valuables would be kept on the river bank while
the servants would be watching over them from a distance.
The fox asked the crows to pick up a necklace and while away making a
raucous noise. This would make the servants chase them to the tree
where the crows would drop the necklace into the snake's hole.
So the next morning when the crows flew to the river bank, Mother Crow
picked up a pearl necklace and flew off as Father Crow cawed loudly to
attract the servants' attention. The servants ran after Mother Crow and
reached the banyan tree where they saw her drop the necklace into the
snake hole. As the servants were trying to take the necklace out with the
help of a long stick, the snake came out of the hole and hissed at them
menacingly. The servants beat the snake to death. And so Mother and
Father Crow lived happily ever after in the banyan tree.
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