The Camel and the Jackal

There once was a jackal who hated water but needed to cross a river. He decided to come to an agreement with a camel.

'If you carry me to the other side of the river,' he proposed to the camel, 'I will show you a field full of sugar cane. Then, while you eat the sugar cane, I will dine on the fish and crabs I find on the river-bank.'

The camel agreed to this bargain and the jackal jumped up on his back. The crossing went perfectly, but after wards the jackal, who had a much smaller stomach, satisfied his hunger long before the camel. Whilst the camel still eating, the jackal began to howl. The noise brought the farmers running with big sticks. The little jackal managed to escape, but the camel could not avoid a beating.

'Why no earth did you do that?' asked the camel when he was carrying the jackal back cross the river.

'Oh, it's just that I nearly always sing for a while after dinner,' replied the jackal.

'Well, I nearly always have a roll in the water when I've finished eating,' said the camel, and he splashed down in the river.

So with a ducking in the river, the camel repaid the jackal for the beating it had received.