In the hollow of a great banyan tree lived a crow and his wife, who had built their nest in its highest branches. But at the foot of the same tree, in a deep hole, there lived a black serpent. Every year, when the crow-wife laid her eggs, the serpent waited until the parents flew off in search of food, then slithered up the trunk and swallowed the eggs one by one. The poor crows returned each time to an empty nest.
When the crow-wife was ready to lay eggs once more, she wept before her husband. “Let us leave this tree. That black thief will devour my little ones again, and I cannot bear it.” But the crow loved his old home, and first wanted counsel. So the pair flew to their dear friend, a wise old jackal. “Do not grieve,” said the jackal. “The strong and wicked are not defeated by strength but by wit. Listen — I have a plan.” And he whispered it to them carefully.
The next morning the crows flew to the river where the women of the king's palace had come to bathe, leaving their garments, pearls and golden ornaments on the bank with guards standing by. Swooping down boldly, the crow-wife snatched up a gleaming golden chain in her beak and flapped away slowly — just slowly enough to be seen. The guards shouted and chased her with sticks, running and stumbling behind as she flew straight to the old banyan tree and dropped the golden chain neatly into the serpent's hole.
The guards reached the tree and began to dig for the king's gold. Out shot the furious black serpent, hood raised and hissing — and the startled guards struck it down at once with their sticks, took the chain, and went their way. From that season on, the crow and his wife raised their little ones in peace at the top of the great banyan, blessing the friend whose wisdom had done what all their wings and beaks could not.