The Donkey in the Tiger Skin: “Listen,” Hiranyagarbha began. “There was once a washerman named Vilasa who lived in the city of Hastinapura. Every day, he piled heavy loads of his customers’ laundry onto his old, frail donkey. Vilasa was incredibly stingy—he overworked the poor animal and barely fed it enough to survive.
The Donkey in the Tiger Skin
One day, the washerman hatched a crooked scheme to fatten up his donkey for free. He led the animal out to the lush fields at the edge of the jungle. Knowing the farmers would chase a donkey away, Vilasa draped a tiger skin over it and set it loose.
The trick worked perfectly. The local farmers spotted the ‘tiger’ from a distance and were too terrified to come anywhere near it. Left to graze in peace, the donkey ate and ate, eventually growing wonderfully plump.
Now, this plan might have ended well if Vilasa had only done it for a few days. But he was greedy, and the donkey, completely clueless, just kept grazing. Eventually, their luck ran out.
One farmer had grown suspicious. He couldn’t understand why this ‘tiger’ just loitered in the fields grazing instead of hunting or retreating into the forest. The farmer decided to investigate. He grabbed his bow and arrow. Then, he disguised himself under a grey, donkey-like animal skin. Finally, he crept into the fields.
When the donkey saw the farmer in the grey skin, it didn’t see a human—it thought it had found a female donkey. Thrilled, it let out a loud, echoing bray to say hello. Realizing he had been tricked, the furious farmer instantly shot the donkey.
And that,” the Swan king concluded. He paused for effect. “This is why I say we shouldn’t overstay our welcome in enemy territory.”
The Crane’s Grievance
But Dhirgamukha completely missed the moral of the story. He was too caught up in his own drama and just kept complaining.
“The peacocks were relentless!” he vented. “They surrounded me, called me names, and even pecked at me. They yelled, ‘You have no shame! You eat from our land and dare to disrespect our king? Did you really think we’d just stand by and listen to that?’
Then they turned their insults to you, my king. They called me a clueless crane and said, ‘Your king is pathetic. He can’t even protect what’s right in front of him. How on earth is he going to protect an entire kingdom? You’re like a frog stuck in a well. You only know your tiny little world. You have no idea how things actually work out here. If you did, you’d know the swan is a nobody. You’d never ask us to serve him.’
They didn’t stop there,” Dhirgamukha continued. “They started lecturing me about leadership. They told me to think of a massive, deeply-rooted tree. People value a great tree because it offers wide shade and shelter, even if it doesn’t bear fruit. They said, ‘If you’re going to dedicate your life to serving someone, pick a true leader. Don’t serve just a bird who gave himself the title of king.’
They even claimed that just being associated with someone truly powerful is enough to guarantee a good life. ‘You’ll be safe, respected, and people will go out of their way for you,’ they boasted. ‘If you don’t believe us, just look at how the rabbits used the moon to defend themselves against the elephants.’“
Dhirgamukha sighed. “I have to admit, they sparked my curiosity. What could the moon possibly have to do with rabbits? I swallowed my pride. I asked the peacocks to tell me the story of the old hare and the elephants.”
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