Once upon a time, there lived a Brahmin and his wife.
She gave birth to a male child.
At the same time, a mongoose delivered
its younger one, and died.
The Brahmin took pity on the mongoose and brought it home.
His wife said,
I will bring up this mongoose, along with my son,
very carefully and affectionately.
She was very affectionate towards his son,
and the mongoose.
She knows that the mongoose is a wild animal,
which has got sharp teeth.
So, to safeguard her son from the mongoose,
she never use to leave her son alone,
with the mongoose and go out.
One day, she told her husband,
I am going to the river, to get water.
"The child is alone at home",
"So, Please take care of him", and left for the river.
After some time, the Brahmin left the house,
and went to beg for food from others.
So, the child was alone with the mongoose, in the house.
Suddenly, a black snake came inside the house,
and went near the cradle in which the child was sleeping..
When the mongoose saw the snake,
it realized that the snake its natural enemy.
The mongoose wanted to save the child, from the snake.
So, it bounce on the snake and cut her into pieces.
Then it went out in search of the Brahmins wife,
to show its bravery.
When she saw the mongoose with blood around its mouth,
she was tensed....
She was frightened and said,
What an ungrateful animal, you have killed my son.
And she threw the pot full of water in the mongoose head,
and killed it on the spot.
Then, she ran inside the house,
and she was shocked to see,
that her son was sleeping peacefully in the cradle.
And the black snake was lying dead near the cradle,
cut into pieces.
She understood what had taken place...
The mongoose killed the snake, to save her son.
The blood stains on the mouth of the mongoose,
were the blood of the snake.
Before realizing the truth,
she has killed the mongoose.
She felt guilty and repented for her action.
After some time the Brahmin returned home,
and came to know what had happened,
He scolded his wife for killing the mongoose unnecessarily.
Moral, "Never act hastily, think before you act."