A myna and a sparrow were friends for a long time. A little distance from their homes was a garden where they would go to play every day.
The garden was beautiful.
It had fruit trees where the two birds would eat, and a stream of fresh water from which they would drink. Colourful flowers lined the patches of grass.
All was going well for the two friends and there was nothing to be scared of, until a jackal showed up in the garden from the nearby jungle.
One morning when the birds came to the garden, they spotted the jackal near the stream. At first, they decided to ignore him, thinking he was just a one-time visitor and would go away soon. But the jackal had other plans.
As the birds touched down near the stream, the jackal turned towards them and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“This is my garden. You are not supposed to be here,” he told them.
The birds were scared but at the same time shocked to hear the jackal lie through his teeth. They knew the jackal was making a false claim.
Mustering some courage, the myna said: “This has always been our playground. We have never seen you here before.”
The jackal said he had been away for some time.
“Now, I have returned, and I don’t want to see you in the garden anymore,” he commanded.
The birds were heartbroken.
Sad, the two little birds flew home, but they hoped that the jackal would be gone before the sunrise.
Next morning, when the birds flew to the garden, they found out that the jackal had not gone.
This time, they did not dare to land in the garden.
“It is all over,” the sparrow said, shattered.
“Maybe, we have lost our garden forever.”
The myna seemed to be in a deep thought.
“Maybe, we haven’t lost the garden,” she said to the sparrow’s surprise.
The sparrow thought they were too small to fight the jackal and regain their garden.
The myna had in the meantime thought of a plan and explained it to the sparrow in detail.
At sundown, they flew quietly into the garden.
The myna hid behind a tree and the sparrow adjusted herself on the tip of a bough.
As it grew darker, the myna used the gift of her voice to speak in a husky tone and the sparrow started to vigorously shake the branch.
Together, they created an effect and made it sound like it was the tree speaking.
“You, the jackal,” the myna called out in a dreadful voice.
On hearing the rumbling voice, the jackal was taken aback.
He had never before seen a tree speak.
“I am the master of this garden. I am the one who decides who comes here or leaves. Those little birds were my friends and I had allowed them to play here. You are a wicked creature, you turned them away. You will pay for this,” the voice said.
“I will crush you. I will ask all other trees here to teach you a lesson. You are not welcome here.”
The myna made a reverberating sound. The jackal thought the voice was coming from all the trees around him.
The sparrow shook more branches for to make it look scarier.
“I am sorry,” the jackal pleaded.
“Please do not harm me. I will go back to the jungle and leave the garden to the birds. I will be gone by morning.”
The myna ordered the jackal to leave right away. The jackal was terrified and could not dare to say no.
He was gone in no time.
The myna and the sparrow were happy that their plan had worked out.
They celebrated their victory.
It was all over, they had their garden back. The jackal had been defeated by the two little birds with little abilities.
