Once upon a time, there was a forest full of animals. One fine day, at sunrise,
all the animals and birds were woken by a mighty roar that shook the forest.
A mosquito, which had taken refuge in the fur of a rat, woke up in alarm. It
asked its friend, what was that which has woken me up?? The rat said: It is the
roar of a tiger. Perhaps, he was having a bad dream. The mosquito thought for a
moment and said: I will teach him a lesson, which he will not forget in his
life, for almost scaring the life out of me with his mighty voice.
The rat smiled at his little friend: You do not look so frightening that the
tiger will get scared of you very easily. No problem. Replied the mosquito. I
will show him that though I am small, my sting can be as sharp as a sword. The
rat merely shook it’s head: It is all very well for you to say so, and if you
are brave, then fly to the tiger and tell him to quit roaring and leave the
forest instead of scaring all the other animals in the forest with his mighty
roar. The mosquito accepted the challenge, and it flew up to the tiger. The
buzzing sound of his wings immediately woke up the tiger, and he opened his
eyes; why are you annoying me? Don’t you understand that I have not yet finished
sleeping?
The mosquito was extremely upset with the arrogant behavior of the tiger and
said: I am the mosquito. How dare you roar in your sleep and frighten all the
animals and birds of this forest? The tiger yawned and chomped his jaws and
almost bit the mosquito. He said to him: You little insect! Buzz off! Now, you
are making me extremely angry!?
The mosquito was angry to hear the words of the tiger, and he decided that he
would teach him a lesson which he would never forget for the rest of his life.
He flew straight into one of the tiger’s ears and started to sting it. This
infuriated the tiger. He clapped his ear loudly with his paw hoping to scare the
mosquito out of its ear, but he could not drive the mosquito away. The tiger
tried everything... shaking his head violently from side to side hoping to get
rid of the mosquito, but this made the mosquito bite only more harder. Finally,
in desperation, the tiger cried out: I give up and you win and, I will stop
roaring and leave this forest, but please get out of my ear.
The mosquito flew out of the tiger’s ear, and the tiger ran for its life to get
rid of this horrible insect, out of the forest into the neighboring forest. All
the animals of the forest saw him leaving the forest and congratulated the tiny
mosquito for accomplishing this remarkable victory.
All the praise from the animals went straight to the head of the mosquito. He
started boasting to other animals in the forest that had not seen the act about
how he won and the extraordinary victory over the mighty tiger. The mosquito
soon found a spider on its web fast asleep after eating a big fly. Eagerly, the
mosquito went up to the spider to give him the good news of how he had got the
forest rid of the tiger.
The spider looked at his distinguished guest with respect. It invited the
mosquito to sit on its carpet and tell him his amazing tale from the very
beginning.
Flattered, the mosquito sat down on the web of the spider, and soon found that
it was sticky and he was hopelessly caught in it. Help me! My legs are stuck in
your carpet, and I cannot free myself. The spider chuckled at the mosquito’s
difficulty. That’s right. He said. It is a special carpet made for catching the
easy to fool, talkative and boastful, like you! Perhaps, the end of the story
seems a little sad. But after all, the mosquito himself was to blame for his end
at the hands of the spider.
(Moral of the story: After doing a good deed, do not
boast and sing your praises)