The Loyal Mongoose

A Brahmin and his wife lived in a small village with their infant son and a pet mongoose they had raised from a pup. The mongoose loved the baby like a brother, sleeping beside his cradle every night. One morning, the wife needed to fetch water from the well and asked her husband to watch the baby. But the Brahmin had errands at the temple and left the mongoose to guard the child.

While everyone was away, a large black cobra slithered into the house, heading straight for the sleeping baby. The mongoose saw the danger and fought the snake with fierce courage, biting and thrashing until the cobra lay dead at the threshold. Proud of his victory, the mongoose sat at the front door, blood on his mouth, waiting to greet his family.

When the wife returned and saw the blood on the mongoose's face, she screamed. "You killed my baby!" she cried, and in a blind rage, she struck the mongoose with her heavy water pot, killing him instantly. She rushed inside — and found her baby sleeping peacefully, the dead cobra on the floor. The truth crushed her. Her faithful guardian had saved her son's life, and she had destroyed him without pausing to look. The tale reminds us: act in haste, repent at leisure.