" The Alligator, who was so buried among the bulrushes
that he could hardly see, thought, on hearing this: "Dear me, how
tiresome! I fancied I had caught hold of the Jackal's paw; but there
he is, calling out in a cheerful voice. I suppose I must have seized a
bulrush root instead, as he says," and he let the Jackal go.
The Jackal ran away as fast as he could, crying, "O wise Alligator,
wise Alligator! So you let me go again!"
Then the Alligator was very much vexed, but the Jackal had run away
too far to be caught. Next day the Jackal returned to the riverside to
get his dinner as before; but because he was very much afraid of the
Alligator he called out: "Whenever I go to look for my dinner, I see
the nice little crabs peeping up through the mud; then I catch them
and eat them. I wish I could see one now."
The Alligator, who was buried in the mud at the bottom of the river,
heard every word. So he popped the little point of his snout above it,
thinking: "If I do but just show the tip of my nose, the Jackal will
take me for a crab and put in his paw to catch me, and as soon as ever
he does I'll gobble him up."
But no sooner did the Jackal see the little tip of the Alligator's
nose than he called out, "Aha, my friend! there you are.
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