We all have been warned by our elders several times that we must never take hasty decisions. This tale from the Panchatantra "The Friendly Mongoose" is an example where one hasty decision took the life of an innocent animal. "A friendly Mongoose" is about a farmer and his wife, who loved their newborn son very much. Once, he expressed his wish to have a pet as a companion to their son. In a few months, the mongoose grew into a lovely animal. One day, the farmer's wife decided to go to a market after feeding and rocking her baby to sleep. When the farmer's wife reached home with her basket, she saw the mongoose at the door with his face and paws covered with blood. She thought that the mongoose had killed her baby. In the anger, she hit the mongoose with her heavy basket. She repented her hasty action when she realized that the mongoose had saved her son from a snake. She ran out looking for the mongoose, but it was already dead. She sobbed and felt extremely sorry for her hasty action.