The lion one day thought of having ministers to help him. He called the wise and clever fox and made him his Home minister. The very alert and swiftfooted leopards was made his Defence Minister and the high flying crow was made his Minister for External Affairs. The three ministers swore to remain loyal to the king.

‘When the lion went hunting, they helped him to find the prey. After having his fill, he would leave the remains for them. Thus they always had enough to eat.’

One day the crow told the lion about the carnet m<-at. The lion and the three ministers walked towards the desert in search of a camel. The hot sand burnt the lion’s paws, so he wanted to return to the forest. The clever fox went to the camel and bought him to the lion presence. All the four jumped on the camel’s back and reached the forest. All of them were very tired and hungry and wanted to meal the camel.

But the lion thanked the camel and promised him protection. The ministers were shocked. The hungry lion ordered the ministers to bring him food. The ministers were keen on eating the camel. So they returned empty-handed and offered themselves to be eaten.

Seeing the loyalty of the ministers, the camel too offered himself. The ministers were very happy and were ready to bounce on the camel. But the lion stopped them.

The lion immediately thanked all the 3 ministers for their loyalty and decided to eat them one by one. Soon after this saying, all the ministers absconded from the scene. The lion laughed and sa d to the camel “You have proved my most loving and loyal friend; you shall live with me all your life. No harm shah ‘ver comes to you.” And then two lived on family together.