On a lazy summer afternoon, a little rabbit was snoring under a mango tree. Suddenly a ripe mango fell from a branch above him and made a loud ‘Thud’ sound. This made the rabbit wake up with a start. He looked around and became very frightened. He ran as fast as he could and did not stop to look back.

As he was running through the forest he met a fox. “Why are you running so fast, dear rabbit?” asked the fox. “Oh, didn’t you hear? The sky is falling down and I’m running away to save my life.” The fox too got frightened to hear this and he started running along with the rabbit. They ran and ran till they met a leopard. “Where are you off to, my friends?” he asked. “The sky is falling down and we are running to save our lives,” they cried together, panting.

Hearing this, the leopard too joined them and started running. Soon they met a wolf, a bear, a giraffe and a monkey. All of them joined the rabbit and his friends and ran with all their might. After running for some time, they met the king of the jungle, the mighty lion.

“Why are all of you running?” he roared. “Your majesty, the sky is falling down and we should all run to save our lives,” they chorused. Hearing this, the lion started laughing with all his might. “Who told you that?” he asked.

The monkey showed the giraffe. The giraffe pointed at the bear, who said he heard it from the wolf. The wolf showed the leopard, and the leopard said he heard it from the rabbit. The little rabbit said, “Yes your majesty, I have heard the sound with my own ears!” “Take me to that place,” demanded the lion, and all the other animals followed the rabbit to the mango tree, where they found the ripe mango that had fallen from the tree with a loud sound. “So it is just a mango!” cried the lion. All the other animals realised their mistake and went away hanging their head in shame.

Moral: We should not believe everything we hear.