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Kunmun
squirrel lived in the hollow of one of these trees. She had
a little baby called Rumjhum. Kunmun spent most of her time
looking after the baby.
One afternoon, Kunmun was feeding grains to Rumjhum when,
suddenly she heard a lot of noise. She came out of her hollow
at once.
She was taken aback at the sight which met her eyes. A gulmohar
tree across the lane was on fire!
Kunmun's friend Sweety Mynah lived with her two fledglings
on that tree. Kunmun became tense and worried. She knew that
Sweety's fledglings were so small that they could not even
fly.
She thought as to how she could save Sweety's babies. She
called out her friend's name repeatedly but it could not be
heard in the din.
Soon, there was a big crowd of birds and animals gathered
there. All of them wondered as to how a fire could erupt there.
But strangely enough, none of them came forward to extinguish
the fire or to even rescue the birds who were stranded on
the burning tree.
Kunmun went towards the onlookers and said, "friends,
we must put out this fire or else the birds living on this
tree will burn to death."
Hearing her, a few animals began to ridicule her. "Madam,
it is easier to preach. Why don't you yourself extinguish
the fire? retorted a hyena.
Not only that, a few wicked animals, in fact, were glad to
see the outbreak of fire. They wanted this fire to spread
to other trees as well.
Gypsy Jackal, smacking his lips greedily said "Today,
I will get to eat roasted birds after a long time!"
Kunmun happened yo overhear him.
Then she noticed many other animals roaming around with the
intention of eating the roasted birds.
Kunmun Squirrel realised that it was useless to expect any
kind of help from them. She went to Bholu Giraffe and told
him everything.
Bholu was the leader of the giraffe in the forest. So far,
he had not heard of fire on the tree.
Immediately, he called his friends. Together, they started
towards the burning tree, carrying some baskets with them.
As soon as they reached the site of the mishap, they brought
the birds down along with their nests into the baskets they
were holding.
The other birds helped them in this task.
Seeing the giraffes busy in rescue operations, the elephants
too filled up their trunks with water and put out the fire.
Everybody present there thanked the elephants, but they said,
"we are not the ones you should be thankful to. The real
credit goes to the giraffes. We got inspired after seeing
them rescue the baby birds."
Then Bholu, the leader of the giraffes, said "Actually,
Kunmun squirrel deserves all this praise.
"It was on her request that all of us came here to extinguish
the fire."
Sweety Mynah came forward and hugged Kunmun affectionately.
The other birds also expressed their gratitude to her.
After some days, King Lion honoured all the elephants and
giraffes for their supreme efforts in saving the lives of
fellow beings.
Then praising Kunmun, he said, "Kunmun is great. She
helps everybody and does not get nervous easily.
"She was wise enough to go to the giraffes who were able
to save the birds owing to their long necks."
Thereafter, king Lion honoured Kunmun with the title of the
"Forest Goddess." |
