The Meeting at the Clearing near the Old Fort

Karadi sat as usual on the flat stone set upright against the tyrunk of an old teak tree. Juno sat next to him: his cloth bag heavy with books dangling from the brach of a tree. Henry the Hyena sat surrounded by a ring of uniformed guards holding a smart blackberry cell phone in his hands and was speaking in a loud and offensive manner. The other animals began looking at him, hoping that the raquet that he was making would come to an end.

Karadi began by saying that a large number of two legged creatures with heavy equipment have moved into a part of the jungle kingdom and were busy cutting down trees and setting up a camp. The spies had reported that a number of guns were also seen and that the two legfged creatures were building fortified bunkers. Kakadi asked the meeting: What can we do. Do we fight for our Jungle or do we make peace with those who have invaded our territory. Henry the Hyena was the first to spring to his feet and said in a loud voice "We will fight in the jungle, we will fight on the river and we will fight in the air and retain our freedom". Henry the Hyena had once heard these famous words of a large two legged white ape with a cigar in his mouth uttering some words which seemed to echo the sentiments Henry tried to communicate.

The animals listened to Henry the Hyena and fell silent. Karadi then asked for the opinion of the assembled group of animals. You are here to take a decision" said Karadi, " and I expect you to stand by your decision". Juno the Jackal rose from his seat. Silence desended and the animals leaned forward to hear him.

"friends" said Juno, "we cannot resist the invasion of the two legged creatures as they are armed with powerful weapons. Our weapons are old and our army is not trained to face such a situation. We cannot win a conventional war and we have to resort to strategy". Hearing this Henry the Hyena screamed loudly, "see even Juno has turned defeatist. He wants to surrender to the invaders". Juno replied' "do not distort what I have said. I only want to draw our attention to the practical detail with regard to our strenght. Caution is not cowardice".

Hearing these words Karadi spoke out in favor of a diplomatic solution to the problem. He said that he and Juno would try to negotiate a settlement with the two legged creatures.