Clever Crocodile

A crocodile lived in a river. He was very clever. After eating many fishes, he thought why not eat humans.

One day a man was bathing in the river. The crocodile caught him and dragged him inside the river.

The crocodile had got food for many days. But the news that the crocodile had eaten the man spread in many nearby villages. Now no one would go near the river. The crocodile became very upset. He was not getting a chance to hunt.

One day he was trying to eat fish by swimming inside the water. Then he saw a bundle in the water. The crocodile saw that it was full of gold coins.

Now the crocodile thought of a solution, he put that bundle on his back and started moving on the surface of the water.

In the afternoon, some farmers of the village were working in their fields. When the rays of the sun fell on the gold coins, they started shining.

Seeing its shine, a farmer came near the river and saw a bundle full of gold coins.

From a distance, he could not see the crocodile which was inside the water under the bundle.

As soon as the farmer went into the water in greed for gold, the crocodile caught his leg and pulled him.

Now this became the crocodile’s daily routine. He would reach some bank of the river in the afternoon with a bundle of gold coins on his back. Simple villagers became the crocodile’s prey in greed for gold.

This news spread in many villages that the crocodile was hunting people. But no one could understand why people went near the river even after being forbidden.

One day all the villagers held a panchayat and it was decided that some young men of the village would stand at a distance to guard the river bank and keep an eye on the river so that no one goes into the river.

Young men of the village were made to stand on the river bank. When the crocodile saw all this, he went away from there for a few days. He hid the bundle under a stone.

Ever since people were made to stand on the river bank, there was no news of even one person dying. After a few days, people became carefree. They thought that the crocodile had gone somewhere else along the river.

Slowly, people moved away from the river and started doing their work.

Everything went well for a few days, but after two months, the villagers started disappearing again. This made everyone very upset.

The villagers gathered together and went to the collector and complained. The collector called two hunters from the city and made them hide on the river bank.

Both the hunters started watching in hiding as to when the crocodile would come. But for a few days, the crocodile did not come. Then they talked to a couple of farmers and asked them to walk on the river bank and the hunters kept an eye on them in hiding.

One day, the crocodile was seen floating on the water with a bundle of gold coins. The farmer and the hunters understood everything from the shine of the coins.

Both the hunters took aim near the bundle and fired bullets. This killed the crocodile. All the villagers feel relieved. Collector sahab gives that bundle of gold coins to those two hunters as a reward.