The Brave Jackal and the Mysterious Drum
A Panchatantra Tale for Young Children
Chapter 1: Gomaya the Hungry Jackal
In a lush green forest filled with tall trees and singing birds, there lived a clever jackal named Gomaya. He had golden-brown fur that shone in the sunlight and bright, intelligent eyes that sparkled with curiosity.
One sunny morning, Gomaya woke up with a rumbling tummy.
“Grumble, grumble, GRUMBLE!” went his stomach, so loud that even the squirrels in the trees could hear it.
“Oh my!” Gomaya said, patting his belly. “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole watermelon! I need to find some food right away.”
He sniffed the air with his keen nose. Sniff, sniff, sniff! But he couldn’t smell any tasty treats nearby.
“Well then,” Gomaya said to himself, “I’ll have to venture out and search for food. Adventure, here I come!”
He wagged his fluffy tail and trotted deeper into the forest, his paws making soft pat-pat-pat sounds on the forest floor.
As he walked, Gomaya talked to himself, as jackals often do when they’re thinking hard.
“Maybe I’ll find some berries by the river,” he mused. “Or perhaps there are some delicious roots I can dig up. Oh! Maybe I’ll even find some leftover picnic food from the humans who visited last week!”
But as he searched high and low, morning turned to afternoon, and poor Gomaya found nothing to eat.
“My tummy is getting grumblier by the minute!” he sighed.
Chapter 2: The Mysterious Battlefield
As Gomaya wandered further than he had ever gone before, he noticed the forest was changing. The trees were becoming sparser, and the cheerful bird songs were growing quieter.
“Hmm,” Gomaya said, looking around. “This place looks different. I wonder where I am?”
Soon, he reached the edge of the forest and found himself standing before a vast, open field. It was unlike any place he had ever seen. The grass was trampled flat, and there were strange objects scattered about.
“What is this place?” Gomaya wondered aloud. “It looks like… like a place where humans came to fight!”
Indeed, it was an old battlefield where a great battle had been fought many years ago. The soldiers had long since gone home, leaving behind forgotten pieces of armor, broken weapons, and other remnants of their conflict.
Gomaya’s nose twitched as he sniffed the air again. Sniff, sniff, sniff!
“I can smell something interesting here,” he said excitedly. “Maybe there’s food!”
He took a tentative step into the battlefield, his paws crunching on the dry grass.
Just then, from somewhere in the distance, came a sound that made Gomaya’s fur stand on end:
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“YIKES!” Gomaya yelped, jumping so high that all four paws left the ground. “What was that terrible noise?”
Chapter 3: The Frightening Sound
The mysterious sound continued: BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Gomaya’s heart beat so fast it felt like a tiny drum inside his chest. Thump-thump-thump-thump!
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!” he cried, running in circles. “That must be the sound of a terrible monster! A giant, scary creature with huge teeth and massive claws!”
He started to run away, his paws scrambling over the uneven ground.
“I should get out of here right now!” he panted. “That thing sounds absolutely enormous! It could gobble me up in one bite!”
But after running a few steps, Gomaya suddenly stopped.
“Wait a minute,” he said to himself, sitting down and wrapping his tail around his paws. “I’m being silly, aren’t I?”
He tilted his head and listened more carefully to the sound:
BOOM! … pause … BOOM! … pause … BOOM!
“You know what, Gomaya?” he said to himself (for jackals are very good at giving themselves pep talks). “Running away without knowing what’s making that sound is not very smart. What if it’s not dangerous at all? What if I’m missing out on something wonderful?”
He stood up and puffed out his chest bravely.
“I am Gomaya the Jackal, and I am clever and brave! I should investigate this mystery properly. After all, how can I know if something is truly dangerous if I don’t even look at it?”
Taking a deep breath, Gomaya turned back toward the battlefield.
“I’ll be very careful,” he promised himself. “I’ll sneak up quietly and peek at whatever is making that sound. If it really is dangerous, then I’ll run away. But if it’s not… well, then I’ll have solved the mystery!”
Chapter 4: The Brave Investigation
Gomaya crept forward slowly, placing each paw carefully on the ground so he wouldn’t make any noise. Tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe.
The sound continued steadily: BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“I’m getting closer,” Gomaya whispered to himself. “The sound is getting louder. I must be very near now.”
He hid behind a large rock and peeked around it carefully, his bright eyes searching for the source of the mysterious noise.
And there, under a big old tree, he saw something that made him gasp in surprise.
“What in the world is that?” Gomaya exclaimed.
It was a large, round object made of wood and leather. It was as big as a rain barrel and looked very strange indeed. Every time the wind blew, the branches of the tree above it would sway down and hit the object, making the loud BOOM! sound.
“Oh my goodness!” Gomaya said, his eyes growing wide. “It’s not a monster at all! It’s just a… a… well, I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely not alive!”
He watched for several minutes as the branches continued to hit the mysterious object.
BOOM! went the object when a big branch hit it.
Thump! went the object when a small branch tapped it.
BOOM-BOOM! went the object when two branches hit it at once.
“How interesting!” Gomaya said, becoming more and more curious. “I wonder what that thing is made of. And I wonder what would happen if I touched it myself!”
Gathering all his courage, Gomaya stepped out from behind the rock and approached the strange object.
Chapter 5: The Great Discovery
As Gomaya got closer, he could see that the mysterious object was beautifully made. It had a smooth wooden body and was covered with what looked like animal hide stretched tightly across the top and bottom.
“Hello there, mysterious thing!” Gomaya said politely. “I’m Gomaya the Jackal. What are you?”
Of course, the object didn’t answer, but Gomaya didn’t mind. He was used to talking to himself anyway.
“I think you might be some kind of human contraption,” he mused. “Humans make all sorts of interesting things.”
He walked all around the object, examining it from every angle. Then, feeling very brave indeed, he reached out with one paw and gently touched it.
TAP!
The object made a soft sound, much quieter than when the branches hit it.
“Oh!” Gomaya said, delighted. “You make noise when I touch you too!”
He tried tapping it with both front paws: TAP-TAP!
“What fun!” he laughed. “You’re like a giant music maker!”
Then Gomaya had an idea. He sat up on his hind legs and began to pat the object with both front paws in a steady rhythm:
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!
“Listen to that!” he said excitedly. “I’m making music! I’m like a one-jackal band!”
He was having so much fun that he didn’t notice right away that the wind had stopped blowing. The branches were no longer hitting the object, so the only sounds were the ones Gomaya was making himself.
“Wait a minute,” he said, stopping his tapping. “I think I understand now. This thing makes noise when something hits it. The branches were hitting it, and that’s what made the scary sound!”
He looked up at the tree branches, then back at the object, then up at the branches again.
“You know what?” he said with a big grin. “I think this is called a drum! I’ve heard the village humans talking about drums before. They use them to make music!”
Chapter 6: The Reward for Courage
Now that Gomaya understood what the drum was, he was no longer afraid at all. In fact, he was quite proud of himself for being so brave.
“Good job, Gomaya!” he said, patting himself on the back. “You faced your fear and discovered something wonderful!”
But his stomach chose that moment to remind him why he had come out searching in the first place: GRUMBLE!
“Oh yes,” Gomaya said, “I still need to find some food. I wonder if there’s anything to eat around this old battlefield.”
He began to explore the area around the drum, sniffing carefully with his excellent nose.
Sniff, sniff, sniff!
“Wait!” he said suddenly. “I smell something delicious!”
Following his nose, Gomaya discovered that there was an old soldier’s tent nearby, hidden behind some bushes. When he peeked inside, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Oh my whiskers!” he gasped. “Look at all this food!”
The tent was filled with supplies that the soldiers had left behind: dried fruits, nuts, bread that was still good, and even some honey cakes!
“This is incredible!” Gomaya said, his tail wagging with joy. “If I had run away when I heard the scary sound, I never would have found this treasure!”
He spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the most delicious meal he had ever tasted. And whenever he wanted some entertainment, he would go back to the drum and play a little music.
TAP-TAP-TAP! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
“You know what, Mr. Drum?” Gomaya said as the sun began to set. “You taught me something very important today. You taught me that scary sounds aren’t always made by scary things. Sometimes they’re just made by… well, by drums!”
Chapter 7: The Wise Lesson
As Gomaya made his way back home through the forest, his belly full and his heart happy, he thought about his adventure.
“I learned so much today,” he said to himself. “I learned that being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you do the right thing even when you ARE scared.”
He stopped walking and sat down in a pretty clearing where fireflies were beginning to dance in the gathering dusk.
“When I first heard that sound, I was so frightened,” he continued. “I thought it must be something terrible and dangerous. But instead of running away forever, I decided to investigate. And look what happened! I found a wonderful drum and plenty of food!”
A wise old owl hooted from a nearby tree: “Hoo-hoo-hoo!”
“Yes, Mr. Owl,” Gomaya said, looking up at the big bird. “I think you’re saying that curiosity and courage are very important. And you’re absolutely right!”
The owl hooted again, as if agreeing with the clever jackal.
“You know,” Gomaya mused, “if I had let my fear make all my decisions for me, I would still be hungry and I would never have learned about drums. But because I chose to be brave, I had a wonderful adventure!”
He stood up and continued on his way home, humming a little tune that matched the rhythm he had played on the drum:
“TAP-TAP-TAP, I was brave today! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM, and it worked out great! TAP-TAP-TAP, don’t run from fear! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM, good things might be near!”
Chapter 8: Home Sweet Home
When Gomaya finally reached his cozy den in the forest, the moon was rising high in the sky, casting silver light through the trees.
“What an adventure!” he said, stretching and yawning. “I can’t wait to tell all my friends about the mysterious drum!”
As he settled down for the night, Gomaya thought about all the other jackals who might be wandering around, afraid of strange sounds and mysterious things.
“Tomorrow,” he decided, “I’ll tell everyone about my discovery. I’ll teach them that sometimes the things that seem scary are actually wonderful, if you’re brave enough to investigate them properly.”
He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of drums and music and delicious food.
And from that day forward, whenever Gomaya heard a strange or frightening sound, he would remember his adventure with the drum. Instead of running away immediately, he would stop, think, and carefully investigate.
This made him the wisest jackal in the whole forest, and whenever other animals were frightened of mysterious sounds, they would come to Gomaya for advice.
“Don’t be afraid,” he would tell them kindly. “Be curious instead. You never know what wonderful things you might discover when you’re brave enough to face the unknown!”
And they all lived happily ever after, with a little more courage and a lot more wisdom.
The End
The Moral of The Story
Fear of the unknown can prevent us from discovering wonderful things. When we face our fears with courage and curiosity, we often find that what scared us was not dangerous at all. Being brave doesn’t mean we’re never afraid – it means we don’t let fear stop us from doing what’s right.
Fun Questions for Young Readers:
- What do you think made Gomaya brave enough to investigate the scary sound?
- Have you ever been afraid of something that turned out to be harmless?
- What would you have done if you heard the mysterious BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! sound?
- How do you think Gomaya felt when he realized the “monster” was just a drum?
- What other things in our world might make scary sounds but aren’t actually dangerous?
This story teaches us that courage and curiosity are wonderful qualities that can lead to amazing discoveries. Like Gomaya, we should try to understand our fears instead of always running away from them.
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