The Jackal and the Dove's Nest

A Jackal discovered a Dove's nest high up on a sheer cliff face, completely out of his reach. He saw the mother Dove and her fat squabs and was determined to eat them. He went to the bottom of the cliff and called up to her, "Mother Dove, you must give me one of your chicks!" The Dove refused. "If you do not," the Jackal threatened, "I will use my magic to make the cliff fall down, and you will all perish!" The terrified Dove, believing his threat, threw one of her babies down to the Jackal. He did this day after day, until only one chick was left. A passing traveler saw the Dove weeping and asked her why. She explained the Jackal's threat. The traveler laughed. "That Jackal has no magic," he said. "He is a liar. He has feet of flesh and bone; how can he make a cliff of stone fall down?" The next day, when the Jackal came and made his threat, the Dove refused. "You are a liar!" she cooed. "You have no power over this rock!" The Jackal, his trick exposed, slunk away in shame. But the Dove's heart was still broken, for her children had been lost not to the Jackal's power, but to her own fear and ignorance.