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"Wow," Walter said. "I had no idea that jackals could be so tricky or that life out here could be so dangerous."
"Yeah," Scooter replied. "That's not the only story my family tells about the jackal, though."
"Oh, could I hear another one?" asked Walter. "It's really great to get an inside perspective on life for hedgehogs here."
"Sure! I'll tell you about my grandfather's run-in with a jackal. In fact, it was a run-in with Stu's oldest son, Bernie. My grandfather Vinnie had heard all of the stories from Mortie about how worthless that jackal family turned out to be, but he was a softie . When Bernie the jackal came around wanting to pal around with him, Vinnie couldn't say no. The two had an odd sort of friendship that Vinnie tried to keep from the rest of the family, because he knew they would just warn him that the jackal was a no-good good-for-nothing.
One day, Vinnie was out foraging for berries in the high field, since berries are a favorite food of hedgehogs. Bernie came running up, panting and looking like he had just escaped some sort of trouble (which knowing him probably wasn't too far from the truth).
"Hey Bernie, how's it going?" said Vinnie.
"Geez Vinnie, I'm worn out. I'm going to take a little nap but when I wake up let's go do something fun," said Bernie.
Vinnie didn't have any big plans for the afternoon so he amused himself looking for berries for a few hours. When the sun was directly overhead the two of them, Bernie woke up.
"What a great nap. I've got all my energy back. Let's do something. Do you have any good ideas?"
"Well," said Vinnie, "yesterday I went to the village and found out where the mayor's wife keeps her butter. She went to milk the cows at two o'clock yesterday, so I bet if we went at two o'clock today we could sneak a taste!"
You may be surprised at this mischief Vinnie proposed, knowing that the hedgehog is a mature and composed species. Just remember that this was in his teen years, and he was the sort of hedgehog who would be friends with a jackal after hearing Mortie's stories.
"Yeah, that sounds good. Let's roll."
Once the two approached the mayor's house, Bernie turned to Vinnie and said, "I have a better idea. Instead of having a taste, let's take the jars."
"Are you serious? That's really stealing! That's like taking the bag of grapes underneath your coat from the grocery store instead of eating a grape in the checkout line!" Vinnie replied, horrified. "No way, I'm not up for that."
Bernie was determined more than ever to have the butter jars after that. Cleverly knowing how he could manipulate the hedgehog, Bernie cried out suddenly, "Look out, Vinnie! The mayor's coming back, and he has his gun!"
Vinnie squealed and ran straight away. Laughing maniacally, Bernie then proceeded to take all of the jars of butter that were resting on the window ledge to cool and hid them all in a secret place in the field.
The next day, Vinnie walked over to Bernie's place. After sitting down inside, Vinnie asked, "Hey Bernie, whatever happened to that butter yesterday? Did you get to try any?"
"Um, actually, I took all of the jars."
"Bernie! That's awful! We have to give them back! Where are they?"
"I'm not telling," said Bernie. "That butter is so good and I knew you would try to make me take it back."
"You have to tell me where those jars are. This is all my fault. I should never have told you about this or have tried to taste that butter in the first place," said Vinnie remorsefully. For all of his mischief, he really did have a good heart and wanted to make things right.
Bernie and Vinnie had the same argument all day. Vinnie would ask where the jars were, and Bernie would refuse to tell him. It started to really get to Vinnie. He thought to himself that if Bernie really valued their friendship he would understand and let Vinnie return the butter. It started to eat away at his thoughts. Once, he dreamed that he had a butter stain on his paws that he couldn't wash away with water.
One day Vinnie decided to end the business of the butter once and for all. He had heard a rumor that Bernie's secret hiding spot was in the north corner of the field. He invited Bernie out for a walk and when they were in the north corner of the field, Vinnie lit a match that he had been holding in his paw the whole way. He flicked it in Bernie's direction and Bernie's paws started to burn.
"Oh no!" Vinnie cried. "Fire!"
Bernie, thinking that the fire would destroy his precious butter, ran to his secret hiding spot and pulled all of the jars he could carry out, prepared to run. When he looked around and actually saw that there was no fire, just smoke and burning coming from his paws, it was too late for him. Vinnie threw a little stone that hit Bernie right in the magic spot in the middle of his forehead and knocked him out cold. Bernie fell to the ground. Vinnie carefully put the fire on his paws out and then started hauling the butter jars away.
Once the butter jars were safely back on the mayor's doorstep, Vinnie went back home. Let Bernie find his own way home, he thought.
After that day Bernie and Vinnie were no longer friends.
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"What did you think of that story?" Scooter asked Walter. The pair had finished their ice cream sundaes and were now concentrating on their lemonades.
"Poor Vinnie, Bernie tricked him. I'm beginning to see that hedgehogs have to be careful who they befriend around here. I'm glad that I met someone to help me navigate this place."
"Say, Walter, what are you doing this weekend? My family is having a barbecue and it would be cool if you could come," said Scooter.
Walter beamed. "I don't have any plans. That would be really fun. Will Vinnie be there?"
"Yeah, the old man himself. Maybe he'll have some more stories to tell us."
A black-backed jackal. Websource.
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Author's Note: I left out the first part of this story. It tells of the jackal's eldest son and the hyena arguing over a cloak. After they argue, they have an encounter with the lion and only the clever jackal emerges unscathed. I wanted to focus on the part of the story that dealt with the hedgehog, and leaving this part out gave me greater freedom with the relevant portion of the story. Also, the original story ended with the hedgehog killing the jackal by crushing him with a stone. I didn't feel that the punishment matched the crime, so I changed the ending. Singed paws and the loss of the butter, as well as Vinnie's friendship, is a sufficient punishment for Bernie. Hedgehogs are not an aggressive species and these cute and friendly hedgehogs would definitely not commit premeditated murder.
Also, in the original, the hedgehog is not concerned with returning the butter, and the reader can infer that he only wants to know where it is to eat it for himself. My hedgehogs are caring and moral creatures, so Vinnie wanted to know where they were so that he could return them and right the wrong done.
This story shows another aspect of failed friendship to Walter. Luckily, hearing these stories has developed a friendship with Scooter in the process.
Bibliography: Lang, Andrew. "The Adventures of a Jackal." Orange Fairy Book, 1906. Websource.