Once upon a time, it rained so much that a flash flood hit a forest. A lion’s cubs were drowning when a goat passing by saw them. She rescued the cubs, bringing them to dry land, and went on her way. A crow sitting on a tree nearby was watching.
When the lion found his cubs, he saw that their den was underwater, and the cubs were drenched. He asked his children, “Our home has drowned, how did you make it out here?”
The cubs told the lion that they were rescued by a she-goat. The lion sent a message to the goat and told her to pay him a visit. He thanked her, and told her that she was free to roam and does as she pleased in the forest. From now on, no one would touch her or her children, for she was under the lion’s protection.
The crow began to look up to the goat. He thought to himself that she merely did what she thought was the right thing to do, but fate smiled upon her.
Many months later, the crow saw some baby mice drowning in the river. He remembered how the goat had been rewarded for doing someone a good turn, so he quickly flew down and pulled the baby mice out.
Soaked, the baby mice were very cold, so the crow spread his wings to keep them warm. However, the mice pecked at his wings, injuring him. Heartbroken and injured, no longer able to fly, the crow half-limped and half dragged himself to see the goat.
He cried out to her, “You did a good deed and you got rewarded. I did a good deed and those baby mice pecked at my wings! This is not fair.”
The she-goat smiled. “Well, now you know. When you help the well-mannered and the honourable, they share with you what they have. When you help those who lack manners and honour, they will take away what you have. You will be wise to remember that next time!”
Notes:
Pakistani culture at large, is very socio-centric. Such a fable, which teaches children to think before they help someone, or in a way, is uncommon. Self-sacrifice is often a very dominant theme in local folklore, especially as far as people are concerned.
Despite the fact that on the face of it, the tale is teaching boundaries, as mentioned earlier, it also has another lesson within it: do not help other people for selfish reasons, hoping to gain something in return. Perhaps this is the larger lesson, because how can one tell it the person who needs help is honourable or not.
The precise words used in Urdu are “Aala-Zarf” and “Kam-Zarf” - neither of which have precise English translations. Aala, in Urdu, means “great” - whilst kam means “less” - the latter can also be used for small, lower, or anything with a similar connotation depending upon the context. Zarf, is a social attribute. It collectively refers to qualities such as being patient, truthful, helpful, a giving person, courageous, and honourable.
Source: Recorded by Zuhaib Khan, in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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