The Song of the Jungle
Chapter 1: The Peaceful JungleDeep in the heart of the Great Green Jungle, a vast and beautiful land filled with towering trees, winding rivers, and shimmering waterfalls, lived a group of tigers. The jungle was their home, and for many generations, they had lived together in harmony. Each tiger hunted when they needed to, played under the warm sun, and rested beneath the shade of the great trees.
No tiger thought of any part of the jungle as their own. The rivers flowed freely, the trees grew tall for all to enjoy, and the hunting grounds were shared. If one tiger needed a place to rest, they could curl up wherever they pleased. If another wanted to hunt, they could roam the jungle without fear of being told to leave. Life was peaceful.
But that peace was about to change.
Chapter 2: The First Claim
One day, a tiger named Raka sat beneath a tall banyan tree, enjoying the cool shade. He had been particularly lucky with his hunting and had caught a large deer. As he ate, he looked around and thought, "This is a good spot. I like this place. What if I made it mine?"
No one had ever claimed land before, but Raka decided he would be the first. The next time another tiger walked near, he growled and bared his teeth.
“This is my land,” he declared. “You must not enter without my permission.”
The other tiger, startled, stepped back. “But the jungle belongs to all of us,” he said.
“Not anymore,” Raka said. “I found this place, and I have hunted here. It is mine now.”
Word spread quickly through the jungle. Some tigers were confused. Others were frightened. And some, like Raka, thought it was a good idea. Soon, more and more tigers started claiming their own pieces of land. They marked trees with their claws and growled at any tiger who tried to pass.
At first, the tigers tried to respect each other’s territories, but as more and more land was claimed, arguments began to break out.
Chapter 3: The Jungle in Chaos
“Why should you have this land?” one tiger asked another. “I have hunted here before too!”
“Too bad,” came the reply. “I claimed it first!”
Fights broke out between tigers who believed they had more right to certain places. Friends became enemies, and the once peaceful jungle became filled with growls and roars of anger. Some tigers even refused to share water, making life harder for those who had no land near the river.
The jungle was no longer a happy place. The animals who lived alongside the tigers—deer, monkeys, and birds—grew fearful. The jungle was changing, and it wasn’t for the better.
Chapter 4: The Wise Orangutan Arrives
High up in the trees, a wise old orangutan named Balam watched everything. He had lived in the jungle for many, many years and had seen how the tigers had once lived in peace. He knew he had to do something before their beautiful home was destroyed.
So Balam called for a great meeting. He climbed onto a high branch and beat his chest, sending a deep, booming sound across the jungle. The tigers, curious, gathered beneath the tree to hear what he had to say.
“Tigers of the Great Green Jungle,” Balam called, his voice strong and wise, “you have forgotten the ways of your ancestors. You were once a proud family, living together in harmony. Now, you fight over land as if the trees and rivers belong to you.”
“But we need our own land!” Raka argued. “How else can we stay strong and safe?”
Balam shook his head. “You are not owners of this land. You are its custodians.”
The tigers looked at each other in confusion. “What does that mean?” asked a young tiger named Mala.
“It means you do not own the land,” Balam explained. “You care for it. You protect it. And in return, the land provides for you. The trees grow, the rivers flow, and the prey is plentiful because the jungle is shared. If you continue fighting, there will be nothing left for anyone.”
Chapter 5: A New Understanding
The tigers murmured amongst themselves. Some still clung to their new territories, but others started to see the wisdom in Balam’s words.
“But how do we know who should stay where?” another tiger asked.
“If your family has lived in a place for many generations,” Balam said, “then you may care for it as your ancestral home. But even then, you must not build borders that keep others out. Instead, you must negotiate and share.”
“Negotiate?” Raka scoffed. “That sounds complicated.”
“It is simpler than war,” Balam said. “And much kinder.”
The tigers thought about this. Could they return to the way things were? Could they live together once more?
Slowly, the tigers agreed. They would no longer fight over land. Instead, they would care for the jungle together, sharing and protecting it as their ancestors had.
Chapter 6: The Song of the Jungle
To help them remember this lesson, Balam taught the tigers a song. Together, they sang:
“We are the keepers, not the kings,
The jungle lives and breathes and sings.
Ancestral homes we may protect,
But borders only breed neglect.
To share, to care, to give, to grow,
This is the way that we all know.
No tiger owns the rivers wide,
Together in the trees, we bide.”
As they sang, the jungle seemed to brighten. The birds chirped happily once more. The monkeys swung from the trees, no longer afraid of tiger disputes. And the deer returned to their usual grazing spots.
Raka, who had been the first to claim land, stepped forward. “I see now that I was wrong,” he admitted. “I will no longer claim this land as mine alone.”
The tigers cheered. Peace had returned to the jungle.
And so, the tigers of the Great Green Jungle learned that they were not owners of their land, but its protectors. They lived by Balam’s wisdom, sharing their home, respecting the past, and ensuring a future where all could thrive.
And from that day on, whenever a disagreement arose, the tigers would sing the Song of the Jungle, reminding themselves of the lesson that had saved them all.