The Learned Scholars and the Lion Mahendra Chaudhari
O nce, in a small village, lived four friends who had grown up together. Three of them were great scholars who had spent their lives with their noses buried in books, mastering ancient texts and complex sciences. The fourth friend was not a scholar. He had no degrees and had read few books, but he had something else: a wealth of common sense.
One day, the four friends gathered to talk.
"What is the use of all our knowledge if we stay in this tiny village?" said the first scholar. "We must travel to distant lands and use our learning to earn fame and fortune."
"I agree," said the second. "Our wisdom is too great to be wasted here." And so, they packed their bags with food and clothes and set off on a great journey. As they walked along a dusty road, the first scholar, who had been thinking for some time, suddenly stopped.
"Friends," he announced. "Three of us have laboured for years, reading by lamplight until our eyes grew heavy. We are going into the world to be rewarded for our efforts. But our fourth friend here has done no such thing. He has no learning to offer. Why should he share in the riches we are bound to earn?"
The second scholar nodded. "You speak the truth. It is not fair." He turned to their friend and said, "Good friend, you are no scholar. It is best that you leave us now and return home."
But the third scholar, who had a kinder heart, shook his head. "No, that is not right," he said. "We all know he is not learned like us, but he has been our dear friend since we were boys. Let him come with us. Let him have a share of whatever fortune our knowledge brings." After some debate, they agreed, and the four friends continued their journey.
They travelled for many days, finally entering a dense forest. In a sun-dappled clearing, they came across a startling sight: the clean, white bones of a lion scattered on the ground.
The first scholar's eyes lit up. "Brothers, look! A perfect chance to test the power of our learning! With my knowledge, I can reassemble this skeleton, bone by perfect bone."
"Excellent!" exclaimed the second scholar. "And with my skills, I can cover the skeleton with flesh, muscle, and skin, and fill its veins with blood."
"And I possess the ultimate knowledge. I can breathe the spark of life into the body and make it live once more!"
As the three scholars prepared for their magnificent test, the fourth friend, the one with only common sense, watched with a worried frown. As the first scholar expertly assembled the skeleton and the second skillfully covered it in flesh, the fourth man finally spoke up.
"My dear friends, please stop!" he cried. "Think about what you are doing! The creature you are bringing back to life is a lion-a fierce and powerful predator. If you succeed, it will surely turn on us and kill us all!"
The third scholar, busy preparing his final incantations, scoffed at him. "Silence, you simple man! What good is knowledge if it is never used?"
"I beg you, think again! But if your minds are made up, at least wait until I have climbed to safety in that tree!"
The scholars paid him no more attention. The fourth man quickly scrambled up the trunk of a tall tree and settled himself among the high branches. Down below, the third scholar stepped back from the lifeless body of the lion, his face glowing with triumph.
"It is done!" he shouted.
The great lion's eyes flickered open. It stretched its powerful limbs and shook its magnificent mane. Then, with a deafening roar, it sprang upon the three learned men and killed them in an instant. High up in his perch, the fourth man, who had never studied books, waited until the great beast had vanished back into the forest. Then, he carefully climbed down and, alone, began the long, quiet walk back to his village.
