Panchatantra Story: The Loyal Mongoose


brown animal

Photo by Manfred Schnell on

In a small village, a farmer lived with his baby boy and pretty wife. One day, while coming home from his field, the farmer saw a hurt mongoose lying on the side of the road. The farmer felt terrible for the poor mongoose and picked him up and took him home. But, his wife was not very happy. She was scared that the mongoose would harm their baby. But the farmer wanted to be sure that the mongoose was healthy and well before he let it go.

Taking care of the hurt mongoose was a tough job. But, the kind farmer was happy to care for this sick animal. The mongoose was hurt and was bleeding in many places. The farmer put medicine on the many cuts and scratches on the mongoose’s body. He made sure that the mongoose had a warm bed and food and water. The farmer’s wife could not understand why her husband would take so much care of a sick mongoose.

Also Read: Panchatantra Story: The Crab and the Stork 

As the farmer’s wife was not very happy about a mongoose in their home, she said to her husband, ‘dear husband, you have brought home a wild animal, why don’t you leave him back in the jungle?’ The farmer replied, ‘dear wife, please do not be scared, this is a sick mongoose, once he is well, he will go back to the jungle.’ But the farmer’s wife was still unhappy.

After a few days, the mongoose was well again. The cuts and scratches on his body had healed. He was very thankful to the farmer for taking good care of him. The mongoose now wanted to live in the farmer’s house. He did not want to leave the kind farmer. He wanted to stay by his side as he loved him and his family. The farmer was also happy with his new friend and saw the mongoose as one of his family.

Soon the farmer and the mongoose loved each other dearly. The farmer enjoyed playing with the mongoose. The mongoose enjoyed his time with the farmer. The mongoose ate out of the farmer’s hand and was very happy to sit in the farmer’s lap or climb all over the farmer’s body. The farmer loved the mongoose as much as he loved his baby. But the farmer’s wife was still scared of the mongoose. The mongoose was now big and strong. He had sharp pointy teeth; he was quick and had sharp claws.

The farmer’s wife feared that the mongoose would hurt her baby. She wanted the mongoose to go back to the jungle where he came from. Many times, she said to her husband, ‘why don’t you take this mongoose back to the jungle.’ ‘He should not live in our home; he is a wild animal, and may hurt our baby.’ But the farmer trusted the mongoose; he knew that this animal would not hurt his family in any way. He loved the mongoose and did not think that the mongoose would ever harm his baby. So, he did not listen to his wife’s word, and the mongoose remained in their home.

Also Read: Panchatantra Story: The Monkey and The Crocodile

Many days passed, and the mongoose stayed with the farmer and his family. The farmer’s wife was very unhappy about this. But she had to do as her husband said, and could not get the mongoose out of the house. The mongoose became bigger and stronger. He was always ready to stop any harm from coming to the farmer and his family.

One day while the farmer was in his fields, and his wife was busy in the kitchen, the village caught on fire. Everyone ran to the fire to put it out with large buckets of water. When the news of the fire reached the farmer’s wife, she went running as well. At this time, the mongoose was alone with the baby at home. The clever mongoose knew that he needed to protect the baby while the farmer and his wife were away.

The fire spread from house to house, and in some time, the farmer’s house was on fire. The smart mongoose knew he had to do something, so he carried the baby by the diaper in his mouth, and he ran out of the house. All the villagers were running here and there, and the fire was all around.

The mongoose knew he had to keep the baby safe, so he ran to the forest with the baby. By evening, the farmer was back home, and his wife was crying loudly, ‘your mongoose has run away with my baby while our house was burning.’ ‘What will we do now, we will never see our baby again.’ ‘I’m sure that mongoose has eaten our baby by now.’ The farmer was very sad and afraid. The farmer’s wife was crying loudly. The farmer still believed that his dear friend would not hurt his son. He tried to make his wife understand, but she was too afraid for their baby’s safety.

In the forest, the mongoose was afraid as well. He knew that all the wild animals of the jungle would be happy to eat a baby for dinner. This forest had many tigers, leopards, and even bears. So, he climbed up a tree and placed the baby in an empty bird’s nest. The baby was missing his mother, so he was crying very loudly. The mongoose did not want any wild animals to hear the sounds of the crying baby. So, he licked the baby’s face until the baby fell asleep.

The mongoose stayed awake all night and kept his eyes on the baby. He knew he had to take good care of the farmer’s child, just like the farmer had taken care of him. All night, the mongoose was very tired and hungry. He had not eaten anything for many hours, and he was so tired after carrying around the heavy baby. But, the mongoose knew his job; he knew he had to keep the farmer’s baby safe.

So, the next morning, when he heard the sound of the villagers cheering from far away, he carried the baby by the diaper and started walking to the village. Now the brave and smart mongoose was very tired and weak because he had not eaten anything for a long time. He could not walk straight, he was dizzy, and carrying the baby was a hard job.

Just then, the mongoose saw a dead bird. So, he decided to eat the bird so that he could get some strength. The mongoose knew that he had to eat something to get the energy he needed to carry the baby back to the village. He quickly ate the dead bird, and while eating, he licked the baby to comfort him. Now both the mongoose and the baby were covered in the blood of the dead bird.

After eating, he again started walking with the baby towards the village. When he reached the farmer’s house, he kept the sleeping baby near the farmer’s feet. When the farmer’s wife saw the baby and the mongoose’s face covered with the blood of the dead bird, she thought that the mongoose had hurt her baby. She cried out to the farmer, ‘see what this mongoose has done, he has killed our baby, hit him, kill him.’

But the farmer still had some trust left in his friend, the mongoose. He picked up his son gave him a tiny pinch. The baby woke up and started crying. Both the farmer and his wife were very happy to see that their baby was alive and safe. Then the farmer and his wife knew that the mongoose had saved their baby. They knew the baby was alive because the mongoose carried the baby out of the burning house into the forest. The farmer’s wife now knew that the clever mongoose was no danger to her family. Seeing this, she now trusted the mongoose just as much as her husband did.

From then on, the farmer, his wife, his baby, and the mongoose were one happy family. The brave and smart mongoose protected the farmer’s family from any harm. The farmer took him to the field every day, where he killed many snakes and kept the farmer safe. At home, the farmer’s wife loved and cared for the mongoose, just like her son.

Moral: Do not judge someone before you know them.

2 thoughts on “Panchatantra Story: The Loyal Mongoose

  1. Pingback: Panchatantra Story: The Monkey and The Crocodile | MORAL STORIES THAT ENLIGHTEN, BOOK REVIEWS AND ARTICLES

  2. Pingback: Panchtantra Story: The Tortoise and the Rabbit | MORAL STORIES THAT ENLIGHTEN, BOOK REVIEWS AND ARTICLES

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