If you see a tailless jackal you will know that he is the one you want . ' So the panther thanked him and went his way . Now the jackal had guessed what advice the old man would give his enemy , and so , while his friends were greedily eating the ripest melons in the sunniest corner of the garden , he stole behind them and tied their tails together . He had only just finished when his ears caught the sound of breaking branches ; and he cried : ` Quick ! quick ! here comes the master of the garden ! ' And the jackals sprang up and ran away in all directions , leaving their tails behind them . And how was the panther to know which was his enemy ? ` They none of them had any tails , ' he said sadly to the old man , ` and I am tired of hunting them . I shall leave them alone and go and catch something for supper . ' Of course the hedgehog had not been able to take part in any of these adventures ; but as soon as all danger was over , the jackal went to look for his friend , whom he was lucky enough to find at home . ` Ah , there you are , ' he said gaily . ' I have lost my tail since I saw you last . And other people have lost theirs too ; but that is no matter ! I am hungry , so come with me to the shepherd who is sitting over there , and we will ask him to sell us one of his sheep . ' ` Yes , that is a good plan , ' answered the hedgehog . And he walked as fast as his little legs would go to keep up with the jackal . When they reached the shepherd the jackal pulled out his purse from under his foreleg , and made his bargain . ` Only wait till to-morrow , ' said the shepherd , ` and I will give you the biggest sheep you ever saw . But he always feeds at some distance from the rest of the flock , and it would take me a long time to catch him . '
` Well , it is very tiresome , but I suppose I must wait , ' replied the XXXXX .
bargain course flock hedgehog jackal jackals melons purse rest to-morrow