English for Students

The Faithful Mongoose

The Faithful Mongoose :



Indu and Lav were a young Indian couple and they had a beautiful baby boy. One day, Indu said to her husband: 'You must look after the baby, while I go down to the river.' Lav sat down beside the pram and the baby fell asleep at once. A short time later, a messenger arrived from the royal palace and ordered Lav to follow him there to speak on behalf of a friend. Lav had to entrust the baby to the pet mongoose which the young couple kept in the house. In India, people keep mongoose rather to keep cats. But where cats hunt mice, a mongoose does not hesitate to confront a snake. What is more, mongooses are more loyal than cats. The mongoose at once sat down to guard the baby. When a huge python entered by the window and approached the pram, the mongoose was ready for it and killed the python.



When Lav came back and found the mongoose, mouth and paws dripping with blood, he immediately thought the worst and beat the faithful animal. How surprised he was when he went into the house and found the baby sleeping peacefully and a huge python dead on the floor by the pram.



From that day on, the young couple loved the courageous mongoose even more and Indu learnt that he should never doubt a faithful friend.

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