The Camel with the Bell
A young camel enjoys straggling behind the herd with his bell ringing as he comes. The other camels explain what a bell can call.
In a certain place lived a cartwright named Ujjvalaka, ground down by poverty. He thought: "A curse on this poverty. Everyone else is busy at his trade, but our work does not prosper here. This is not my place." And he left the country.
Going some way, he saw in a forest a she-camel that had strayed from her herd and was in the pains of labour. He brought her and her newborn calf home. He cut palasha leaves for fodder, and in a few days the camel calf grew sleek and strong.
Then he said to his wife: "My dear, this is good business. With your agreement I shall borrow a little money from some household, go to the Gurjara country, and bring back another she-camel." He went to Gurjara and returned with one.
So, as time passed, he came to own a large herd of camels. He hired a keeper and settled on giving him one camel and the daily milk as wages.
Round the neck of the strongest young camel he tied a large bell.
Every day the camels went into the forest to graze, drank at a lake in the evening, and came home slowly. Among them that dull-witted young camel with the bell always lagged behind the herd, coming along ringing as he went.
The other camels warned him: "Brother! That bell of yours will be the cause of your death. Some wicked lion will hear it and come and kill you. Ask the master to take it off." But out of conceit he paid no attention.
One day, as they grazed in the forest, a lion heard that ringing and came towards it. He saw that the herd had gone on ahead and one camel was straggling behind, playing as he came. The lion followed the sound, hid in a solitary spot, and when the camel came near he sprang, took him by the neck, and killed him.
सतां वचनमादिष्टं मदेन न करोति यः । स विनाशमवाप्नोति घण्टोष्ट्र इव सत्वरम् ॥
Moral: He who, out of conceit, will not act on the advice good people give him is destroyed quickly — like the camel with the bell.
From the Panchatantra, Book IV — Loss of Gains.
Continue learning
Related teachings
The Lion, the Jackal and the Donkey
A jackal lures a washerman's worn-out donkey to a wounded lion with talk of emerald meadows. It takes two attempts, and two different lies.
The Jackal Cub Raised Among Lions
A lioness nurses an orphaned jackal cub as her own third son. He grows up between two lion brothers, never told what he is — until an elephant appears.
The Brahmins Who Revived the Lion
Three scholars find a dead lion's bones and decide it is the perfect chance to test their learning. The fourth friend, who has no learning, climbs a tree.
The Four Learned Fools
After twelve years of study, four scholars set out for home — and on the road apply exactly the right quotation to every wrong thing they meet.
The Potter with the Battle Scar
A king takes the savage scar on a newcomer's forehead for a war wound and honours him above all his warriors. Then, on the eve of battle, he asks how he got it.