Story: Adventures of a Jackal

(The panther, source) 

Everyone living in the land of the animals knew of the fairly gullible but friendly panther. Whenever he passed a stranger he would always strike up a conversation, and made it a point to compliment them in some way. He was a people-pleaser. However, because of his kindness he was often taken advantage of. 

This day was no different. 

On his way to visit some friends, the partridges, he happened to pass a jackal and a hedgehog traveling together. As usual he stopped and waved to the two animals but before he spoke he noticed that the fox was wearing bright red shoes. 

The panther couldn’t help staring before speaking. 

“Um, excuse me sir. I couldn’t help but notice your shoes. Would you mind telling me where you bought them?

The jackal glanced at the hedgehog momentarily before responding, “I made these myself actually. They’re not from a store.” 

“Would you make me a pair like yours?” The panther asked eagerly. 

“Uh, sure.” the jackal shrugged. “I just need some materials. Kill a cow for me so that I can eat it, and then I’ll make shoes for you from its hide.”

The panther agreed to this right away and set off to find a cow. An hour or so later he returned and after the jackal finished eating he began to work on the shoes. As he worked the panther watched happily with stars in his eyes. When the jackal finished he handed the red shoes to the panther. 

“Now lay these in the sun for two hours, and after that you can wear them. Don’t put them on too early though, or they’ll be uncomfortable.” 

With a final goodbye the jackal and hedgehog continued on their way and the panther followed the jackal's instructions exactly. 

When the two hours were up he excitedly put the new shoes on his feet and stood up to admire them. They looked great and he couldn’t help smiling to himself. After a few moments he began to walk away but was stopped by excruciating pain coming from his paws. The shoes were still stiff and crushed his feet every step he took. He immediately tried taking them off but they wouldn’t budge. 

Feeling overwhelmed and disappointed the panther fell to the ground and started to cry. He had only wanted nice shoes like the jackal. 

Later, the panther’s partridge friends heard his sobbing and flew to his side. 

“What’s wrong?” asked one of the birds. 

The panther looked up at them and wiped away some tears. “A jackal made me these shoes, but now they’re stuck on my feet!”

After hearing this the partridges came up with a plan to remove the red shoes. They went to the nearest stream and flew back with water in their beaks. Then they poured it over the panther’s feet and the leather began to soften. Eventually he was able to take the shoes off. 

“Thank you!” The panther exclaimed. “Now I need to find that jackal and teach him a lesson!”

The little birds attempted to stop him, but the panther ignored them and ran into the jungle nearby.  

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Eventually the panther caught up to the jackal but before he could get close enough the jackal saw him and scurried into the foliage. It was too dense for the panther to follow and he angrily went around it. However, the jackal was already long gone. 

The panther briefly wondered if he should go home and forget the jackal, but shook the idea from his head. The jackal had given him bad shoes and he needed to pay. 

However, each time he came close to catching the jackal he always failed. He had tried luring him with a cow and also some melons. Each time the jackal outsmarted him. 

After a while the panther decided to give up on chasing the jackal and sadly headed back to his house. On the way back the partridges found him and handed him a present with a large bow on top. The panther gave them a confused look before opening the box. 

Once he saw the item inside his eyes lit up with joy, and he thanked the birds over and over. They had given him a pair of red shoes! A pair of red converse to be exact. He quickly put them on and forgot all about his run in with the jackal. 

Author’s Note: In the original story the panther wasn’t the main character, but I decided to make my re-write about him instead of the jackal. I kept most of the story the same but I changed the ending for the panther. I felt bad that he never got the shoes he wanted, so I had the partridges give him a pair. 

Bibliography: "Adventures of a Jackal" by Andrew Lang in the African Tales Unit.