Night overtook them and they turned into a village and asked to be allowed to sleep in the verandah of one of the houses:  and permission being given they tied the cow to a post and went to sleep.  In the middle of the night the owner of the house came and took away their cow and tied an old and worthless one of his own in its place.  On waking in the morning Bhagrai and the blacksmith saw at once what had happened and charged the owner of the house with the theft.  He vehemently denied all knowledge of the matter and after they had quarrelled for a long time went to call the villagers to arbitrate between them.  But he took care to promise the headman and leading villagers a bribe of five rupees if they decided the case in his favour:  so the result was a foregone conclusion and the arbitrators told Bhagrai to take away the old worthless cow.

He however refused to accept the decision and said that he would go and find two people to represent him on the panchayat.  The villagers raised no objection for they knew that he was a stranger, and thought that they could easily convince any persons he might pick up.  Bhagrai set off towards a village he saw in the distance but lost his way in the jungle, and as he was wandering about he came on two jackals.  On seeing him they started to run but he called to them to stop and telling them all that had happened asked them to come to the panchayat.  The jackals answered that it was clear that the villagers had been bribed, but they would come and do what was possible.  They told him to bring the villagers with both the cows to a big banyan tree outside the village.  All the villagers went out to meet the jackals and Bhagrai stood up in the midst and began to explain his grievance.

Meanwhile the jackals sat quite still, seeming to take no interest in what was going on.  “A fine pair these are to have on a panchayat” said the villagers to each other, “they are nearly asleep:  they have been up all night catching crabs and grasshoppers and now are too tired to keep awake.”  “No,” said one jackal, “we are not as sleepy as you think:  we are quite willing to take a part in deciding this dispute:  but the fact is that I and my wife have a quarrel and we want you first to decide that for us and then we will take up the question of the cow; if you villagers can settle our difference satisfactorily we shall be able to conclude that you have given a fair judgement on the complaint of this orphan boy.”

The villagers told him to continue and he explained “I and my wife always go about together:  we eat at the same time and drink at the same time and yet she drops dung twice a day while I do so only once:  what is the reason of this?” The villagers could think of no answer and the jackal bade them ask his wife:  so they laughed and asked whether it was true that she dropped dung twice to the he-jackal’s once.  But the jackal reproved them for their levity, wise men of old had said that