Lambu and Chotu, two chameleons lived in the same tree in the forest.
Lambu as per its name had a long tongue, longer than the average length while Chotu had the shortest tongue.
Lambu was proud of its tongue and made fun of Chotu for having such a small tongue.
For Chameleons, the tongues were a crucial part of their body. The stickiness on the tongue helped them catch the insects and eat them. The insects could not fly away because the stickiness would prevent their movement.
Lambu with its long tongue hardly had to move from its place to catch food. The long tongue would reach across the steams, branches and quickly gobble the insects. Lambu was so proud of its tongue that it insulted everyone. It did not care for the feelings of others.
Chotu suffered the most of Lambu’s insults. Having the shortest tongue made it an easy prey for Lambu to poke fun and taunt it. But Chotu had to make a lot of effort to catch food. It had to move from one tree to another, hop for long distances, crawl over rough rocks and get very close to the insects to catch them and eat.
As a result, Chotu got to learn a lot of new things about the forest. It became friends with lizards, geckos, iguanas. It also learned to fight and survive against bigger animals like monkeys, snakes, birds, and many more. Chotu learned about the competitors in the food chain like the mantis, beetles, hornets, etc. At the same time, Chotu got to eat a wide variety of insects because it had to travel long distances for food.
Lambu who stayed at home ate whatever it found around. It had no reason to walk or crawl anywhere else.
The seasons changed. The monsoon had arrived in full force. The rain continued for days together. Moisture filled the atmosphere. The chameleons began to lose the stickiness of their tongues.
Lambu found it difficult to catch its prey. Chotu, on the other hand, was used to walking in all kinds of weather to search for food. The trees became slippery, but Chotu could manage most of the time. While Lambu lost its energy from the lack of food, Chotu continued to be healthy and strong.
Once, Chotu saw a grasshopper and got excited. It jumped on the slippery branches and slipped. Seeing this the lizard immediately extended its tail for Chotu to grab. Chotu held the tail firmly and climbed onto the nearest branch. It thanked the lizard for saving its life.
As the day passed, Lambu got weaker and slipped from the branch it was resting on. But, this time there was no one. Being an arrogant fellow, Lambu had no friends. Not even a single lizard was willing to save Lambu from falling.
Lambu’s haughty attitude resulted in it being isolated from the rest. The chameleon fell to its death because of its arrogance about the long tongue which did not save it.
Moral: Overconfidence leads to premature death