Snap! A large, lazy crocodile who had been lying in the water snapped his jaws and caught the jackal's paw. The little jackal did not cry out, although he was very frightened. Instead he laughed.
"Ha! Ha! That crocodile in the river thinks he has caught my paw, but the stupid animal does not realize he has snapped up a piece of wood and is holding it in his jaws".
The crocodile immediately opened his mouth for he did not want to be seen with a log of wood in his jaws. Quickly the little jackal danced away and called cheekily from a safe distance:
"I'll catch some crabs another day, Mr. Crocodile".
The crocodile lashed his tail with rage and resolved to catch the little jackal and eat him the next time he came to the river.
A week later, when his paw was healed, the jackal came back to the river to catch crabs. He did not want to be eaten by the crocodile, so he called out from a safe distance:
"I can't see any crabs lying on the bank. I'll have to dip my paw into the water near the edge", and he watched the river for a few minutes.
The crocodile thought, "Now is my chance to catch the jackal", and he swam close to the river bank.
When the little jackal saw the water move, he called out:
Thank you, Mr. Crocodile. Now I know you are there, I'll come back another day.
The crocodile lashed his tail with rage until he stirred up the mud from the bottom of the river. He swore he would not let the little jackal trick him again.
The jackal could not stop thinking about the crabs, so a few days later he went down to the river again. He could not see the crocodile so he called out:
"I know crabs make bubbles in the water, so as soon as I see bubbles I'll dip my paw in and then I'll catch them easily".
When he heard this, the crocodile, who was lying just beneath the water started to blow bubbles as fast as he could. He was sure that the jackal would put his paw in where the bubbles were rising and Snap! This time he would have the little jackal.
But when the jackal saw the bubbles, he called out:
"Thank you, Mr Crocodile, for showing me where you are. I'll come back another day for the crabs".
The crocodile was so angry at being tricked again that he waited till the jackal's back was turned, then he jumped out of the river and followed the jackal, determined to catch him and eat him this time.
Now the jackal, who was very hungry, made his way to the fig grove to eat some figs. By the time the crocodile arrived, he was having a lovely feast munching the ripe blue fruit, and licking his lips with pleasure.
The crocodile was exhausted by walking on land which he found was much more difficult than swimming in the river. "I am too tired to catch the jackal now", he said to himself. "But I'll set a trap and catch him next time he comes for the figs".
The next day, the greedy jackal returned to the fig grove. He did love eating figs! To his surprise he saw a large and rather untidy pile of figs that had not been there before. "I wonder if my friend the crocodile has anything to do with this?" he said to himself, and he called out:
"What a lovely pile of figs! All I need to do is to see which figs wave in the breeze, for it is always the ripest and most delicious figs that wave in the breeze. I shall then know which ones to eat".
Of course the crocodile was buried under the pile of figs and when he heard this he smiled a big toothy crocodile smile. "All I have to do is to wriggle a bit", he thought. "When the jackal sees the figs move he will come and eat them and this time I will certainly catch him".
The little jackal watched as the crocodile wriggled under the pile of figs, and he day laughed and laughed.
"Thank you, Mr. Crocodile", he said, "I'll come back another day when you are not here".
Now the crocodile was really in a rage so he followed the little jackal to his house to catch him there. There was no one at home when the crocodile got there, but the crocodile thought, "I will wait here, and catch him when he comes home tonight".
He was too big to go through the gate, so he broke it and then he was too big to go through the door, so he smashed that. "Never mind", he said to himself. "I will eat the little jackal tonight whatever happens", and he lay in wait for the jackal in the jackal little house.
When the jackal came home he saw the broken gate, and smashed door, and he said to himself, "I wonder if my friend the crocodile has anything to do with this?"
"Little house", he called out, "Why haven't you said HELLO to me as you do each night when I come home?"
The crocodile heard this, and thought he ought to make everything seem as normal as possible, so he shouted out:
"Hello little jackal!"
Then a wicked smile appeared on the jackal's face. He fetched some twigs and branches, piled them up outside his house, and set fire to it. As the house burned he called out:
"A roast crocodile is safer than a live crocodile! I shall go and build myself a new house by the river where I can catch all the crabs I want".
With that he skipped off to the river bank and for all I know he is still there today, eating crabs all day long, and laughing at the way he tricked the crocodile.