Santhal Folklore – The Chicken & the Sly Fox
The chicks understood the intentions of the sly fox. “He came to see our whereabouts and now he will plan to devour us. Last night he killed our mom, tonight we’ll teach him a lesson. It’s been a day our mom laid an egg, now who will incubate it? We will teach the fox a lesson of his lifetime, with the help of this egg” thought the chicks.
They all gathered around the egg and requested it, “Oh my dear egg, we’ll keep you inside the oven. Whenever the fox approaches us, you just crack open and splash on its eyes! He will get blinded by your yolk. We will kill him then by any means!”
“Hey there, you the Pestle, could you please silently lean behind the door, and the moment the fox tries to run away, just fall on his head to injure. And oh brother Grindstone! you be there, just near the window, and the moment the fox tries to escape, please do have a heavy fall on him and crush his head.”
All they asked, “When? When will he come?”
“Today, I mean, tonight!”
All of them assured, “Don’t you worry at all, we will do our best to call it a day for that greedy, cunning fox!”
After the chicks fixed the plan, they waited outside with a small axe in their arms.
After the sun went down, when the fox approached their home, they all remained silent. The fox started removing the ashes from the oven, and then the egg burst out and the yolk splashed in his eyes & blinded him. “Oh my God! Where do I go now?” the fox screamed and rushed towards the door, but hit the pestle instead and hit his head hard.
The blind fox then tried to escape through the window, and the grindstone fell on his head. The fox crumbled down to the ground and the chicks killed him by the little axe.
“As you have killed our mom, you too are finished now, look at you the sly fox!” the chicks gathered around in one final celebration.
I have this story read out in a YouTube video. While you are there, please Subscribe to my Channel & let me know how you liked it in comments. This is part of my ongoing series of folklores & short stories, highlighting the hidden gems of West Bengal & its tribal cultures.
