A Friend In Need Is A Friend In Deed

Once upon a time near by a village, there was a pond known as Red pond, near a village. Fish living in the pond were well known for their intelligence. One day, a Crane named Bakamu, came to the pond, to drink some water. It saw lots of fish in the pond and felt very happy. It was surprised to see no other Crane around the pond. As soon as it drank water, it tried to catch fish in the pond. The fish escaped from it, just in the nick of time. The crane continued its attempts for 3 days, got exhausted and fell on the banks of the pond.

On seeing the Crane's pathetic state, Meenam, the King of the fishes, felt pity and said, "You seem to die with hunger. I will provide some food. Eat the food and leave this place". Meenam collected few insects and gave it to the crane. The Crane, felt very happy for the help. From then onwards, the crane visited the pond daily and met Meenam. Gradually, they became good friends.

Every thing was going fine until one day, a few fisher men came to the pond with nets. The crane noticed it and warned Meenam about it. The fish were alerted and none of them touched the net. The fishermen left the place saying, "we shall try again tomorrow". Bakamu heard the discussion and informed Meenam about it. Bakamu asked, if it can take Meenam and its family to a safe place. However, Meenam rejected the help.

The next day, while Bakam was in serious thoughts to save Meenam, it saw a lion sleeping under a tree. It got an idea, and pricked the lion on its nose. The lion got very angry and tried to catch Bakam. Bakam flew and escaped from it. Bakam continued to prick the lion at every possible instant, and managed to escape.  It made lion so furious, the lion chased the crane madly. The crane flew and finally rested on a tree, close to the pond. The lion became mad as it could not catch the crane. It sat under the tree and continued to roar with anger.  The fishermen, who were approaching the pond, heard the roar and turned back with fear. The fish were happy and conveyed their gratitude to the crane.