A brahmin's wife raised a mongoose alongside her baby son, and loved it like a child. One day she went to fetch water and left the baby asleep, with the mongoose nearby.

While she was away, a cobra slid towards the cradle. The mongoose fought it fiercely and killed it. Proud, it ran to the door to greet her, its mouth smeared with blood.

Seeing the blood, the woman thought the mongoose had harmed her baby. Without thinking, she threw her heavy water pot on it. Then she ran inside — and found her son sleeping safely beside the dead snake. She wept, but it was too late.