A blazing dry afternoon. The fields had cracked like old clay, and there wasn't a crumb anywhere. Hungry Jackal walked and walked, his empty belly growling. Then the wind turned and brought something wonderful — the smell of food! "What's that, far off?"
He followed his nose to somewhere very strange. Rows of tents, bright banners snapping in the wind — an army camp the soldiers had marched away and left behind! "Hello-o? Anybody home?" Only the wind answered, whistling between the tents.
Just then — BOOM! The sound was so huge the ground shivered under his paws. In one leap Jackal was behind an old cart — ears flat, tail tucked tight, heart drumming pit-a-pat. "That must be a monster." What would YOU have done?
Night came. One lonely moon in the sky, one lonely jackal under the cart. Run? But his belly was empty as a drum. At last he took one long, deep breath. "No. First I'll see this thing with my own eyes."
One paw. Then another. His tail trembled, but he kept going, straight toward the sound. And there, under the great old tree, he saw it — a branch swinging in the wind, striking a huge old drum. WHUM! The wind blew again — WHUM!
"Well, well, WELL! No monster at all — a drum!" Jackal reached out one brave paw and tapped it. Tap, tap. Hollow! Nothing inside but air! He laughed until he rolled in the dust. "Such a big voice — and nothing in its belly at all!"
Morning spilled gold over the quiet camp. Inside the very first tent, Jackal found what the soldiers had left — puffed rice and sweet treats! He ate until his belly was round, then climbed up on the big drum and played it himself — BOOM-da-boom!