THE DEAD ELEPHANT'S GUARD!

Once upon a time, there lived an old fox. Being old, he had lost some of his teeth.

One day, he was roaming in search of food when, suddenly, saw a dead elephant. The old fox was excited. He ran to the spot where the dead elephant lay. He went around the elephant and observed him closely to see whether there were any wounds on his body.

The old fox then tried to tear the hide of the elephant. But it was too thick for him to even bite into. Suddenly, he had an idea.

The old fox sat beside the dead elephant and pretended to guard him. He waited for an animal to come there.

After some time, a lion came there. "Salutations, O king!" said the old fox, greeting the lion.

He then said softly, "O king, I have been guarding this elephant for a long time. If you wish, you may eat him up. But I request you to give me a small share of it."

"I do not eat the animal killed by someone else," said the lion proudly.

But master, I have not killed this elephant," said the old fox. "He died on his own".

The lion said, "I eat only that animal that I myself have killed. I am happy to let you have the whole elephant for yourself. you will not have to wander in search of food for many months."Saying this, the lion walked away proudly.

After sometime, a tiger came there.

The old fox thought, "The tiger is a cunning animal. I must get rid of him, otherwise he might eat my food." Thinking thus, he said, "O tiger, the lion has just killed this elephant. He has asked me to guard his prey while he has his bath."
"Ugh! I do not like the flesh of elephants anyway," said the tiger, as he walked away.

After some time, a monkey came there.

"Ah! A monkey's teeth are very strong," said the old fox to himself, somewhat excited. "I must ask him to bite into the thick hide of this dead elephant."
The old fox said to the monkey, "Welcome, friend. You appear to be very hungry. Come, let's relish the flesh of this elephant. The lion who killed this elephant, has gone to have a bath. He has asked me to guard this elephant. The lion won't be here before long. Meanwhile, you can enjoy eating this elephant."

"Oh, no," said the monkey. "I dare not take even a little flesh from the lion's prey. I do not want to be killed by the lion. I am going away."
"But you can at least have a bite," said the old fox trying to convince the monkey. "I will keep watch. I will warn you as soon as I see the lion coming here. Don't worry, enjoy yourself eating the tasty flesh of the elephant."
The monkey bit into the elephant's hide and tore it open. As he was about to take a bite, the old fox said, "Run friend, run... The lion is coming back."

The monkey jumped on to a tree to save his life. He then jumped from one tree to another and, at last, disappeared into the thick bushes.

The old fox was feeling very proud of his cleverness. 

As he was about to take a bite of the elephant's flesh, he heard a voice saying, "Run... run away, friend,"

The old fox turned around. He saw another young, healthy and strong fox standing before him.

The old fox did not feel like leaving the elephant and going away. He looked at the young fox and howled angrily. The two foxes began to fight with each other. It was a fight to the finish.

The Old fox, however, could not bear the bites of the young fox. At last, he had to escape to save his life.

"I don't like the flesh of a dead elephant," cried the old fox, as he was running away.