It happened, once upon a time, that a young, very hungry–and therefore more clever than wise–jackal. while wandering through the jungle in search of food, came upon a strange sight. In a clearing by a hut, a man was beating what the jackal took to be an animal.

Intrigued, the jackal watched closely. “This animal makes a lot of noise,” the jackal thought, “but it does not fight the man. It appears to be defenceless. And by its skin it is perhaps a kind of goat.” At the thought of warm, tasty goat flesh, the jackal’s mouth watered.

After a time the man stopped beating the animal and left it lying motionless against the side of the hut. The jackal supposed that it was exhausted from having been beaten so much.

Shortly the man went away into the jungle, and the jackal thought, “Now is my chance!” Slipping forward like a noiseless shadow, the jackal seized the animal, dragged it into the bushes, and began to tear it to pieces.

But the young jackal got nothing for his trouble. Although it made so much noise, the animal was empty–only skin stretched over wood to make a drum.