The rabbit, the fox and the snow leopard

Once, there was a rabbit, a fox and a snow leopard. They lived together in the wild pastures of Pin Valley. The snow leopard was very fond of getting drunk, and loved to drink the blood of animals he had killed, just like humans get drunk when they drink alcohol. 

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Because the snow leopard was the strongest of all the animals, he would make the fox and the rabbit do all the work. The other animals grew tired of this and decided to get rid of the snow leopard. 

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One day, there was a wedding in the human village and the animals went into the village to partake in the humans’ food and alcohol and to enjoy the party. When the party was in full swing, the rabbit and the fox put on some jewelry and started to dance. Soon, all the animals had started dancing. 

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The snow leopard was the most drunk of all the animals and started singing loudly. He sang so loudly that his song caught the attention of the human villagers. 

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The rabbit and the fox smiled at each other mischievously. This was their chance. They got a very long gun and trained it on the snow leopard. 

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The snow leopard paused mid-song. Even in his very drunk state, the snow leopard had noticed the gun. He froze on the spot. 

 

Meanwhile, the villagers had come running along to see what had caused all the commotion. The fox and the rabbit ran away, but the gun was still trained on the snow leopard, so he could not move. 

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The villagers saw the mess that the animals had made: the food, the alcohol, the scattered jewelry and the disheveled, drunk snow leopard. The villagers killed the snow leopard, while the fox and the rabbit gained their freedom. 

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Of course, snow leopards are very precious to us now in Spiti and none of us would ever harm them. But you might still hear local people telling stories of snow leopards who like to drink blood and get very drunk…

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Story shared by Dr. Jane Orton