{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_57380/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_57380","id":"gutenberg_57380","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57380","summary":null,"tags":["Buddha (The concept) -- Juvenile literature","Buddhism -- Juvenile literature","Buddhist legends","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore"],"text":"E-text prepared by David King and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team\n(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by\nInternet Archive (https://archive.org)\n\n\n\nNote: Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive. See\n      https://archive.org/details/easternstories00shelrich\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n      Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).\n\n\n\n\n\nEASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS\n\nby\n\nMARIE L. SHEDLOCK\n\nForeword by\nProf. T. W. Rhys Davids\n\nIntroduction by\nAnnie Carroll Moore\nOf the New York Public Library\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew York\nE. P. Dutton & Company\n681 Fifth Avenue\n1920\n\n\n\n\n                                FOREWORD\n\n\nI recollect riding late one night along the high-road from Galle to\nColombo. The road skirts the shore. On the left hand the long breakers\nof the Indian Ocean broke in ripples on the rocks in the many little\nbays. On the right an endless vista of tall cocoanut palms waved their\ntop-knots over a park-like expanse of grass, and the huts of the\npeasantry were visible here and there beneath the trees. In the distance\na crowd had gathered on the sward, either seated on the grass or leaning\nagainst the palms. I turned aside\u2014no road was wanted\u2014to see what brought\nthem there that moonlight night.\n\nThe villagers had put an oval platform under the trees. On it were\nseated yellow robed monks with palm-leaf books on their laps. One was\nstanding and addressing the folk, who were listening to _Bana_, that is\n\u201cThe Word\u201d\u2014discourses, dialogues, legends, or stories from the Pali\nCanon. The stories were the well-known Birth-stories, that is the\nancient fables and fairy-tales common to the Aryan race which had been\nconsecrated, as it were, by the hero in each, whether man or animal,\nbeing identified with the Buddha in a former birth. To these wonderful\nstories the simple peasantry, men, women and children, clad in their\nbest and brightest, listen the livelong night with unaffected delight,\nchatting pleasantly now and again with their neighbors; rising quietly\nand leaving for a time, and returning at their will, and indulging all\nthe while in the mild narcotic of the betel-leaf, their stores of which\nafford a constant occasion for acts of polite good-fellowship. Neither\npreachers nor hearers may have that deep sense of evil in the world and\nin themselves, nor that high resolve to battle with and overcome it,\nwhich animated some of the first disciples. They all think they are\nearning \u201cmerit\u201d by their easy service. But there is at least, at these\nfull-moon festivals, a genuine feeling of human kindness, in harmony\nalike with the teachings of Gotama and with the gentle beauty of those\nmoonlit scenes.[1]\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  _See_ Rhys Davids\u2019 _Buddhism_ (S.P.C.K.), pp. 57, 58.\n\nIt is not only under the palm groves of the South that these stories are\na perennial delight. Wherever Buddhism has gone they have gone with it.\nThey are known and loved on the plains of Central Asia, in the valleys\nof Kashmir and Afghanistan, on the cold tablelands of Nepal, Tartary and\nTibet, through the vast regions of India and China, in the islands of\nJapan and the Malay archipelago, and throughout the jungles of Siam and\nAnnam.\n\nAnd not only so. Soldiers of Alexander who had settled in the East,\nwandering merchants of many nations and climes, crusading knights and\nhermits who had mixed with Eastern folk, brought the stories from East\nto West. They were very popular in Europe in the Middle Ages; and were\nused, more especially by the clergy, as the subjects of numerous\nhomilies, romances, anecdotes, poems and edifying plays and mysteries.\nThe character of the hero of them in his last or former births appealed\nso strongly to the sympathies, and especially to the religious\nsympathies, of medi\u00e6val Christians that the Buddha (under another name)\nwas included, and has ever since remained, in the list of canonized\nsaints both in the Roman and Greek Churches; and a collection of these\nand similar stories\u2014wrongly but very naturally ascribed to a famous\nstory-teller of the ancient Greeks\u2014has become the common property, the\nhousehold literature, of all the nations of Europe; and, under the name\nof \u00c6sop\u2019s Fables, has handed down, as a first moral lesson-book for our\nchildren in the West, tales first invented to please and to instruct our\nfar-off cousins in the distant East.\n\nSo the story of the migration of the stories is the most marvelous story\nof them all.[2] And, strange to say, in spite of the enormous outpouring\nof more modern tales, these old ones have not, even yet, lost their\ncharm. I used to tell them by the hour together, to mixed audiences, and\nnever found them fail. Out of the many hundred Birth-stories there are\nonly a small proportion that are suitable for children. Miss Shedlock,\nso well known on both sides of the Atlantic for her skill and judgment\nin this regard, has selected those she deems most suitable; and, so far\nas I can judge, has succeeded very admirably in adapting them for the\nuse of children and of teachers alike. Much depends, no doubt, upon the\ntelling. Could Miss Shedlock herself be the teller, there would be\nlittle doubt of the success. But I know from my own experience that less\nable story-tellers have no cause at all to be discouraged.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  For the details of this story the introduction to my _Buddhist Birth\n  Stories_ may be consulted; and for the history of the J\u00e2takas in India\n  the chapter on that subject in my _Buddhist India_.\n\nThe reason is, indeed, not far to seek. The stories are not ordinary\nones. It is not on sharpness of repartee, or on striking incidents, that\ntheir charm depends. These they have sometimes. But their attraction\nlies rather in a unique mixture of subtle humor, cunning make-belief,\nand earnestness; in the piquancy of the contrast between the humorous\nincongruities and impossibilities of the details, and the real serious\nearnestness, never absent but always latent, of the ethical tone. They\nnever raise a boisterous laugh: only a quiet smile of delighted\nappreciation; and they leave a pleasant aroma behind them. To the\nchild-mind the impossibilities are no impossibilities at all, they are\nmerely delightful. And these quaint old-world stories will continue to\nappeal to children, young and old, as they have done, the world over,\nthrough the long centuries of the past.\n\nT. W. RHYS DAVIDS.\n\n\n\n\n                            EDITOR\u2019S PREFACE\n\n\nThese stories of the Buddha-Rebirths are not for one age or for one\ncountry, but for all time, and for the whole world. Their philosophy\nmight be incorporated into the tenets of faith of a League of Nations\nwithout destroying any national forms of religious teaching. On the\nother hand those who prefer the foundation of more orthodox views will\nbe astonished to find their ethics are identical with many of those\ninculcated in the stories: here we find condemnation of hypocrisy,\ncruelty, selfishness, and vice of every kind and a constant appeal to\nLove, Pity, Honesty, loftiness of purpose and breadth of vision. And\nshould we reject such teachings because they were given to the World\nmore than 2,000 years ago? Since it is wise to take into consideration\nthe claims and interests of the passing hour it is well to re-introduce\nthese stories at a moment when, perhaps more than ever before, East and\nWest are struggling to arrive at a clearer understanding of one another.\n\nIn Tagore\u2019s essay on the relation of the Individual to the Universe, he\nsays: \u201cIn the West the prevalent feeling is that Nature belongs\nexclusively to inanimate things and to beasts; that there is a sudden\nunaccountable break where human nature begins. According to it,\neverything that is low in the scale of beings is merely nature, and\nwhatever has the stamp of perfection on it, intellectual or moral, is\nhuman nature. It is like dividing the bud and the blossom into two\nseparate categories and putting their grace to the credit of two\ndifferent and antithetical principles. But the Indian mind never has any\nhesitation in acknowledging its kinship with nature, its unbroken\nrelation with all.\u201d\n\nThis is perhaps the best summing up of the value of this collection.\nSince the publication of the book in 1910, I have had many opportunities\nof testing the value of the dramatic appeal in these stories both for\nadults and boys and girls of adolescent age. When presented at this\nimpressionable period, the inner meaning will sink more deeply into\ntheir minds than the same truths presented in a more direct and didactic\nfashion.\n\nI am greatly indebted to Professor Rhys Davids, not only because he has\nplaced the material of his translations from the Pali at my disposal,\nbut also because of his unfailing kindness and help in directing my\nwork. I am fortunate to have had the restraining influence of so great a\nscholar so that I might not lose the Indian atmosphere and line of\nthought which is of such value in these stories.\n\nI most gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to the Cambridge Press, by\nwhose courtesy I have been able to include several of the stories\npublished in their volumes.\n\nI present here a selection from over 500 stories.\n\nMARIE L. SHEDLOCK.\n\nCambridge, Massachusetts.\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n\n\n             1. THE HARE THAT RAN AWAY                    1\n\n             2. THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE              8\n\n             3. THE SPIRIT THAT LIVED IN A TREE          13\n\n             4. THE HARE THAT WAS NOT AFRAID TO DIE      19\n\n             5. THE PARROT THAT FED HIS PARENTS          27\n\n             6. THE MAN WHO WORKED TO GIVE ALMS          35\n\n             7. THE KING WHO SAW THE TRUTH               41\n\n             8. THE BULL THAT DEMANDED FAIR TREATMENT    49\n\n             9. THE BULL THAT PROVED HIS GRATITUDE       57\n\n             10. THE HORSE THAT HELD OUT TO THE END      63\n\n             11. THE MONKEY THAT SAVED THE HERD          71\n\n             12. THE MALLARD THAT ASKED FOR TOO MUCH     77\n\n             13. THE MERCHANT WHO OVERCAME ALL           81\n             OBSTACLES\n\n             14. THE ELEPHANT THAT WAS HONORED IN OLD    87\n             AGE\n\n             15. THE FAITHFUL FRIEND                     93\n\n             16. THE HAWK AND THE OSPREY                 99\n\n             17. GRANDMOTHER\u2019S GOLDEN DISH              107\n\n             18. THE ELEPHANT THAT SPARED LIFE          115\n\n             19. HOW THE ANTELOPE WAS CAUGHT            123\n\n             20. THE BANYAN DEER                        129\n\n             21. THE PUPIL WHO TAUGHT HIS TEACHER       139\n\n             22. THE MAN WHO TOLD A LIE                 145\n\n             23. THE CROW THAT THOUGHT IT KNEW          153\n\n             24. THE JUDAS TREE                         159\n\n             25. THE RIVER-FISH AND THE MONEY           163\n\n             26. THE DREAMER IN THE WOOD                171\n\n             27. THE RICE MEASURE                       175\n\n             28. THE POISONOUS TREES                    183\n\n             29. THE WELL-TRAINED ELEPHANT              189\n\n             30. THE WISE PHYSICIAN                     197\n\n\n\n\n                              INTRODUCTION\n\n\nTo this new and enlarged edition of Eastern Stories and Legends, Miss\nShedlock has brought years of dramatic experience in the telling of\nstories to children and grown people in England and America, and united\nwith it a discriminating selection from the work of a great Oriental\nscholar.\n\nThe result is a book of intrinsic merit for the general reading of\nchildren and of great practical value to all who are concerned with\nmoral or ethical training.\n\n\u201cI feel a great joy in what these stories can unconsciously bring to the\nreader,\u201d says Miss Shedlock in a personal letter, \u201cthe mere living among\nthe stories for the past few weeks has given me a sense of calm and\npermanence which it is difficult to maintain under present outward\nconditions.\u201d\n\nI have observed with growing interest, extending over a period of years,\nthe effect of such stories as \u201cThe Folly of Panic\u201d and \u201cThe Tree Spirit\u201d\nupon audiences of adolescent boys and girls in the public schools,\npublic libraries, social settlements, Sunday schools and private\nschools, I have visited with Miss Shedlock. There is in Miss Shedlock\u2019s\nrendering something more than a suggestion of kinship with Nature and\nthe attributes of animal life. The story is told in an atmosphere of\nspiritual actuality remote from our everyday experience yet confirming\nits eternal truths.\n\nMy familiarity with the earlier edition of Eastern Stories and Legends\nand my personal introduction of \u201cThe True Spirit of a Festival Day\u201d and\nother stories to audiences of parents and teachers, enables me to speak\nwith confidence of the value of the book in an enlarged and more popular\nform.\n\nIn rearranging and expanding her selection of stories Miss Shedlock has\nwisely freed the book from limitations which gave it too much the\nappearance of a text book. In so doing she has preserved the classical\nrendering of her earlier work. Her long experience as a teacher and\nstory-teller in England and America informs her notes and arouses in the\nmature reader a fresh sense of the \u201cpower to educate\u201d which rises out of\nall great literature at the touch of a true interpreter.\n\n_Annie Carroll Moore_\n\nJuly 14, 1920.\n\n\n\n\n                         THE HARE THAT RAN AWAY\n\n\nAnd it came to pass that the Buddha (to be) was born again as a Lion.\nJust as he had helped his fellow-men, he now began to help his\nfellow-animals, and there was a great deal to be done. For instance,\nthere was a little nervous Hare who was always afraid that something\ndreadful was going to happen to her. She was always saying: \u201cSuppose the\nEarth were to fall in, what would happen to me?\u201d And she said this so\noften that at last she thought it really was about to happen. One day,\nwhen she had been saying over and over again, \u201cSuppose the Earth were to\nfall in, what would happen to me?\u201d she heard a slight noise: it really\nwas only a heavy fruit which had fallen upon a rustling leaf, but the\nlittle Hare was so nervous she was ready to believe anything, and she\nsaid in a frightened tone: \u201cThe Earth _is_ falling in.\u201d She ran away as\nfast as she could go, and presently she met an old brother Hare, who\nsaid: \u201cWhere are you running to, Mistress Hare?\u201d\n\nAnd the little Hare said: \u201cI have no time to stop and tell you anything.\nThe Earth is falling in, and I am running away.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Earth is falling in, is it?\u201d said the old brother Hare, in a tone\nof much astonishment; and he repeated this to _his_ brother hare, and\n_he_ to _his_ brother hare, and _he_ to _his_ brother hare, until at\nlast there were a hundred thousand brother hares, all shouting: \u201cThe\nEarth is falling in.\u201d Now presently the bigger animals began to take the\ncry up. First the deer, and then the sheep, and then the wild boar, and\nthen the buffalo, and then the camel, and then the tiger, and then the\nelephant.\n\nNow the wise Lion heard all this noise and wondered at it. \u201cThere are no\nsigns,\u201d he said, \u201cof the Earth falling in. They must have heard\nsomething.\u201d And then he stopped them all short and said: \u201cWhat is this\nyou are saying?\u201d\n\nAnd the Elephant said: \u201cI remarked that the Earth was falling in.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you know this?\u201d asked the Lion.\n\n\u201cWhy, now I come to think of it, it was the Tiger that remarked it to\nme.\u201d\n\nAnd the Tiger said: \u201c_I_ had it from the Camel,\u201d and the Camel said:\n\u201c_I_ had it from the Buffalo.\u201d And the buffalo from the wild boar, and\nthe wild boar from the sheep, and the sheep from the deer, and the deer\nfrom the hares, and the Hares said: \u201cOh! _we_ heard it from _that_\nlittle Hare.\u201d\n\nAnd the Lion said: \u201cLittle Hare, _what_ made you say that the Earth was\nfalling in?\u201d\n\nAnd the little Hare said: \u201cI _saw_ it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou saw it?\u201d said the Lion. \u201cWhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cYonder, by the tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Lion, \u201ccome with me and I will show you how\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d said the Hare, \u201cI would not go near that tree for anything,\nI\u2019m _so_ nervous.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said the Lion, \u201cI am going to take you on my back.\u201d And he took\nher on his back, and begged the animals to stay where they were until\nthey returned. Then he showed the little Hare how the fruit had fallen\nupon the leaf, making the noise that had frightened her, and she said:\n\u201cYes, I see\u2014the Earth is _not_ falling in.\u201d And the Lion said: \u201cShall we\ngo back and tell the other animals?\u201d And they went back. The little Hare\nstood before the animals and said: \u201cThe Earth is _not_ falling in.\u201d And\nall the animals began to repeat this to one another, and they dispersed\ngradually, and you heard the words more and more softly:\n\n\u201cThe Earth is _not_ falling in,\u201d etc., etc., etc., until the sound died\naway altogether.\n\n    NOTE.\u2014This story I have told in my own words, using the language I\n    have found most effective for very young children.\n\n\n                      THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE\n\n\nOnce upon a time, while Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta\ncame to life at the foot of Himalaya as a Monkey. He grew strong and\nsturdy, big of frame, well-to-do, and lived by a curve of the river\nGanges in a forest haunt.\n\nNow at that time there was a Crocodile dwelling in the Ganges. The\nCrocodile\u2019s mate saw the great frame of the monkey, and she conceived a\nlonging for his heart to eat. So she said to her lord: \u201cSir, I desire to\neat the heart of that great king of the monkeys!\u201d\n\n\u201cGood wife,\u201d said the Crocodile, \u201cI live in the water and he lives on\ndry land: how can we catch him?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy hook or by crook,\u201d she replied, \u201ccaught he must be. If I don\u2019t get\nhim, I shall die.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d answered the Crocodile, consoling her, \u201cdon\u2019t trouble\nyourself. I have a plan; I will give you his heart to eat.\u201d\n\nSo when the Bodhisatta was sitting on the bank of the Ganges, after\ntaking a drink of water, the Crocodile drew near, and said:\n\n\u201cSir Monkey, why do you live on bad fruits in this old familiar place?\nOn the other side of the Ganges there is no end to the mango trees, and\nlabuja trees, with fruit sweet as honey! Is it not better to cross over\nand have all kinds of wild fruit to eat?\u201d\n\n\u201cLord Crocodile,\u201d the Monkey made answer, \u201cdeep and wide is the Ganges:\nhow shall I get across?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will go, I will mount you on my back, and carry you over.\u201d\n\nThe Monkey trusted him, and agreed. \u201cCome here, then,\u201d said the other,\n\u201cup on my back with you!\u201d and up the Monkey climbed. But when the\nCrocodile had swum a little way, he plunged the Monkey under the water.\n\n\u201cGood friend, you are letting me sink!\u201d cried the Monkey. \u201cWhat is that\nfor?\u201d\n\nSaid the Crocodile, \u201cYou think I am carrying you out of pure good\nnature? Not a bit of it! My wife has a longing for your heart, and I\nwant to give it to her to eat!\u201d\n\n\u201cFriend,\u201d said the Monkey, \u201cit is nice of you to tell me. Why, if our\nheart were inside us when we go jumping among the tree-tops, it would be\nall knocked to pieces!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, where do you keep it?\u201d asked the other.\n\nThe Bodhisatta pointed out a fig-tree, with clusters of ripe fruit,\nstanding not far off. \u201cSee,\u201d said he, \u201cthere are our hearts hanging on\nyon fig-tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will show me your heart,\u201d said the Crocodile, \u201cthen I won\u2019t kill\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cTake me to the tree, then, and I will point it out to you hanging upon\nit.\u201d\n\nThe Crocodile brought him to the place. The Monkey leapt off his back,\nand climbing up the fig-tree sat upon it. \u201cO silly Crocodile!\u201d said he,\n\u201cyou thought that there were creatures that kept their hearts in a\ntree-top! You are a fool, and I have outwitted you! You may keep your\nfruit to yourself. Your body is great, but you have no sense.\u201d And then\nto explain this idea he uttered the following stanzas:\n\n    \u201cRose-apple, jack-fruit, mangoes too across the water there I see;\n    Enough of them, I want them not; my fig is good enough for me!\n\n    \u201cGreat is your body, verily, but how much smaller is your wit!\n    Now go your ways, Sir Crocodile, for I have had the best of it.\u201d\n\nThe Crocodile, feeling as sad and miserable as if he had lost a thousand\npieces of money, went back sorrowing to the place where he lived.\n\n\n\n\n                    THE SPIRIT THAT LIVED IN A TREE\n\n\nAnd it came to pass that the Buddha was re-born as a Tree-Spirit. Now\nthere reigned (at Benares) at that time a King who said to himself: \u201cAll\nover India, the kings live in palaces supported by many a column. _I_\nwill build me a palace resting on one column only\u2014then shall I in truth\nbe the chiefest of all kings.\u201d\n\nNow in the King\u2019s Park was a lordly Sal tree, straight and well-grown,\nworshiped by village and town, and to this tree even the Royal Family\nalso paid tribute, worship, and honor. And then suddenly there came an\norder from the King that the tree should be cut down.\n\nAnd the people were sore dismayed, but the woodmen, who dared not\ndisobey the orders of the King, came to the Park with hands full of\nperfumed garlands, and encircling the tree with a string, fastened to it\na nosegay of flowers, and kindling a lamp, they did worship, exclaiming:\n\u201cO Tree! on the seventh day must we cut thee down, for so hath the King\ncommanded. Now let the Deities who dwell within thee go elsewhither, and\nsince we are only obeying the King\u2019s command, let no blame fall upon us,\nand no harm come to our children because of this.\u201d\n\nAnd the Spirit who lived in the tree, hearing these words, reflected\nwithin himself and said: \u201cThese builders are determined to cut down this\ntree, and to destroy my place of dwelling. Now my life lasts only as\nlong as this tree. And lo! all the young Sal trees that stand around,\nwhere dwell the Deities my kinsfolk\u2014and they are many\u2014will be destroyed!\nMy own destruction does not touch me so near as the destruction of my\nchildren: therefore must I protect their lives.\u201d\n\nAccordingly, at the hour of midnight adorned in divine splendor, he\nentered into the magnificent chamber of the King, and filling the whole\nchamber with a bright radiance, stood weeping beside the King\u2019s pillow.\nAt the sight of him, the King, overcome with terror, said: \u201cWho art\nthou, standing high in the air, and why do thy tears flow?\u201d\n\nAnd the Tree-God made answer: \u201cWithin thy realm I am known as the\nLucky-Tree. For sixty thousand years have I stood, and all have\nworshiped me, and though they have built many a house, and many a town,\nno violence has been done to me. Spare thou me, also, O King.\u201d\n\nThen the King made answer and said: \u201cNever have I seen so mighty a\ntrunk, so thick and strong a tree; but I will build me a palace, and\nthou shalt be the only column on which it shall rest, and thou shalt\ndwell there for ever.\u201d\n\nAnd the Tree said: \u201cSince thou art resolved to tear my body from me, I\npray thee cut me down gently, one branch after another\u2014the root last of\nall.\u201d\n\nAnd the King said: \u201cO Woodland Tree! what is this thou askest of me? It\nwere a painful death to die. One stroke at the root would fell thee to\nthe ground. Why wouldst thou die piecemeal?\u201d\n\nAnd the Tree made answer: \u201cO King! My children, the young Sal trees, all\ngrow at my feet: they are prosperous and well sheltered. If I should\nfall with one mighty crash, behold these young children of the forest\nwould perish also!\u201d\n\nAnd the King was greatly moved by this spirit of sacrifice, and said: \u201cO\ngreat and glorious Tree! I set thee free from thy fear, and because thou\nwouldst willingly die to save thy kindred, thou shalt not be cut down.\nReturn to thy home in the Ancient Forest.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                  THE HARE THAT WAS NOT AFRAID TO DIE\n\n\nAnd it came to pass that the Buddha was born a Hare and lived in a wood;\non one side was the foot of a mountain, on another a river, on the third\nside a border village.\n\nAnd with him lived three friends: a Monkey, a Jackal, and an Otter; each\nof these creatures got food on his own hunting ground. In the evening\nthey met together, and the Hare taught his companions many wise things:\nthat the moral law should be observed\u2014that alms should be given to the\npoor, and that holy days should be kept.\n\nOne day the Buddha said: \u201cTo-morrow is a fast day. Feed any beggars that\ncome to you by giving from your own store of food.\u201d They all consented.\n\nThe next day the Otter went down to the bank of the Ganges to seek his\nprey. Now a fisherman had landed seven red fish and had buried them in\nthe sand on the river\u2019s bank while he went down the stream catching\nmore. The Otter scented the buried fish, dug up the sand till he came\nupon them, and he called aloud: \u201cDoes any one own these fish?\u201d And, not\nseeing the owner, he laid the fish in the jungle where he dwelt,\nintending to eat them at a fitting time. Then he lay down, thinking how\nvirtuous he was.\n\nThe Jackal also went off in search of food, and found in the hut of a\nfield watcher a lizard, and a pot of milk-curd.\n\nAnd, after thrice crying aloud, \u201cTo whom do these belong?\u201d and not\nfinding an owner, he put on his neck the rope for lifting the pot, and\ngrasping the spits and lizard with his teeth, he laid them in his own\nlair, thinking, \u201cIn due season I will devour them,\u201d and then he lay\ndown, thinking how virtuous he had been.\n\nThe Monkey entered the clump of trees, and gathering a bunch of mangoes,\nlaid them up in his part of the jungle, meaning to eat them in due\nseason. He then lay down and thought how virtuous he had been.\n\nBut the Hare (who was the Buddha-to-be) in due time came out thinking to\nlie (in contemplation) on the Kuca grass. \u201cIt is impossible for me to\noffer _grass_ to any beggars who may chance to come by, and I have no\noil or rice or fish. If any beggar come to me, I will give him (of) my\nown flesh to eat.\u201d\n\nNow when Sakka, the King of the Gods, heard this thing, he determined to\nput the Royal Hare to the test. So he came in disguise of a Brahmin to\nthe Otter and said: \u201cWise Sir, if I could get something to eat, I would\nperform _all_ my priestly duties.\u201d\n\nThe Otter said: \u201cI will give you food. Seven red fish have I safely\nbrought to land from the sacred river of the Ganges. Eat thy fill, O\nBrahmin, and stay in this wood.\u201d\n\nAnd the Brahmin said: \u201cLet it be until to-morrow, and I will see to it\nthen.\u201d\n\nThen he went to the Jackal, who confessed that he had stolen the food,\nbut he begged the Brahmin to accept it and remain in the wood; but the\nBrahmin said: \u201cLet it be until to-morrow, and then I will see to it.\u201d\n\nAnd he came to the Monkey, who offered him the mangoes, and the Brahmin\nanswered in the same way.\n\nThen the Brahmin went to the wise Hare, and the Hare said: \u201cBehold, I\nwill give thee of my flesh to eat. But thou must not take life on this\nholy day. When thou hast piled up the logs I will sacrifice myself by\nfalling into the midst of the flames, and when my body is roasted thou\nshalt eat it and perform all thy priestly duties.\u201d\n\nNow when Sakka heard these words he caused a heap of burning coals to\nappear, and the Wisdom Being, rising from the grass, came to the place,\nbut before casting himself into the flames he shook himself, lest\nperchance there should be any insects in his coat who might suffer\ndeath. Then, offering his body as a free gift, he sprang up, and like a\nroyal swan, lighting on a bed of lotus in an ecstasy of joy, he fell on\nthe heap of live coals. But the flame failed even to heat the pores of\nthe hair on the body of the Wisdom Being, and it was as if he had\nentered a region of frost. Then he addressed the Brahmin in these words:\n\u201cBrahmin, the fire that thou hast kindled is icy cold; it fails to heat\nthe pores of the hair on my body. What is the meaning of this?\u201d\n\n\u201cO most wise Hare! I am Sakka, and have come to put your virtue to the\ntest.\u201d\n\nAnd the Buddha in a sweet voice said: \u201cNo god or man could find in me an\nunwillingness to die.\u201d\n\nThen Sakka said: \u201cO wise Hare, be thy virtue known to all the ages to\ncome.\u201d\n\nAnd seizing the mountain he squeezed out the juice and daubed on the\nmoon the signs of the young hare.\n\nThen he placed him back on the grass that he might continue his Sabbath\nmeditation and returned to Heaven.\n\nAnd the four creatures lived together and kept the moral law.\n\n\n\n\n                    THE PARROT THAT FED HIS PARENTS\n\n\nNow it came to pass that the Buddha was re-born in the shape of a\nParrot, and he greatly excelled all other parrots in his strength and\nbeauty. And when he was full grown his father, who had long been the\nleader of the flock in their flights to other climes, said to him: \u201cMy\nson, behold my strength is spent! Do thou lead the flock, for I am no\nlonger able.\u201d And the Buddha said: \u201cBehold, thou shalt rest. I will lead\nthe birds.\u201d And the Parrots rejoiced in the strength of their new\nleader, and willingly did they follow him. Now from that day on, the\nBuddha undertook to feed his parents, and would not consent that they\nshould do any more work. Each day he led his flock to the Himalaya\nHills, and when he had eaten his fill of the clumps of rice that grew\nthere, he filled his beak with food for the dear parents who were\nwaiting his return.\n\nNow there was a man appointed to watch the rice-fields, and he did his\nbest to drive the Parrots away, but there seemed to be some secret power\nin the leader of this flock which the Keeper could not overcome.\n\nHe noticed that the Parrots ate their fill and then flew away, but that\nthe Parrot-King not only satisfied his hunger, but carried away rice in\nhis beak.\n\nNow he feared there would be no rice left, and he went to his master the\nBrahmin to tell him what had happened; and even as the master listened\nthere came to him the thought that the Parrot-King was something higher\nthan he seemed, and he loved him even before he saw him. But he said\nnothing of this, and only warned the Keeper that he should set a snare\nand catch the dangerous bird. So the man did as he was bidden: he made a\nsmall cage and set the snare, and sat down in his hut waiting for the\nbirds to come. And soon he saw the Parrot-King amidst his flock, who,\nbecause he had no greed, sought no richer spot, but flew down to the\nsame place in which he had fed the day before.\n\nNow, no sooner had he touched the ground than he felt his feet caught in\nthe noose. Then fear crept into his bird-heart, but a stronger feeling\nwas there to crush it down, for he thought: \u201cIf I cry out the Cry of the\nCaptured, my Kinsfolk will be terrified, and they will fly away\nfoodless. But if I lie still, then their hunger will be satisfied, and\nthey may safely come to my aid.\u201d Thus was the Parrot both brave and\nprudent.\n\nBut alas! he did not know that his Kinsfolk had nought of his brave\nspirit. When _they_ had eaten their fill, though they heard the\nthrice-uttered cry of the captured, they flew away, nor heeded the sad\nplight of their leader.\n\nThen was the heart of the Parrot-King sore within him, and he said: \u201cAll\nthese my kith and kin, and not one to look back on me. Alas! what sin\nhave I done?\u201d\n\nThe Watchman now heard the cry of the Parrot-King, and the sound of the\nother Parrots flying through the air. \u201cWhat is that?\u201d he cried, and\nleaving his hut he came to the place where he had laid the snare. There\nhe found the captive Parrot; he tied his feet together and brought him\nto the Brahmin, his master. Now, when the Brahmin saw the Parrot-King,\nhe felt his strong power, and his heart was full of love to him, but he\nhid his feelings and said in a voice of anger: \u201cIs thy greed greater\nthan that of all other birds? They eat their fill, but thou takest away\neach day more food than thou canst eat. Doest thou this out of hatred\nfor me, or dost thou store up the food in some granary for selfish\ngreed?\u201d\n\nAnd the Great Being made answer in a sweet human voice: \u201cI hate thee\nnot, O Brahmin. Nor do I store the rice in a granary for selfish greed.\nBut this thing I do. Each day I pay a debt which is due\u2014each day I grant\na loan, and each day I store up a treasure.\u201d\n\nNow the Brahmin could not understand the words of the Buddha (because\ntrue wisdom had not entered his heart), and he said: \u201cI pray thee, O\nWondrous Bird, to make these words clear unto me.\u201d\n\nAnd then the Parrot-King made answer: \u201cI carry food to my ancient\nparents who can no longer seek that food for themselves: thus I pay my\ndaily debt. I carry food to my callow chicks whose wings are yet\nungrown. When I am old they will care for me\u2014this my loan to them. And\nfor other birds, weak and helpless of wing, who need the aid of the\nstrong, for them I lay up a store; to these I give in charity.\u201d\n\nThen was the Brahmin much moved, and showed the love that was in his\nheart. \u201cEat thy fill, O Righteous Bird, and let thy Kinsfolk eat too,\nfor thy sake.\u201d And he wished to bestow a thousand acres of land upon\nhim, but the Great Being would only take a tiny portion round which were\nset boundary stones.\n\nAnd the Parrot returned with a head of rice, and said: \u201cArise, dear\nParents, that I may take you to a place of plenty.\u201d And he told them the\nstory of his deliverance.\n\n\n\n\n                    THE MAN WHO WORKED TO GIVE ALMS\n\n\nOnce upon a time the Buddha was born as a merchant named Vissaya (and\nbeing endowed with the Five Virtues) he was liberal and fond of\nalms-giving. He had alms halls built at the four city gates, in the\nheart of the city, and at the door of his own house. At these points he\nset on foot alms-giving and every day 600,000 men went forth to beg and\nthe food of the beggar and the merchant was exactly the same. And as he\nthus stirred up the people of India by his gifts, Sakka, the King of the\ngods, grew suspicious and thought, \u201cThis Vissaya gives alms and by\nscattering his gifts everywhere is stirring up all India. By means of\nhis alms-giving, methinks he will dethrone me and himself become Sakka.\nI will destroy his wealth, and make him a poor man, and so bring it\nabout that he shall no longer give alms.\u201d So Sakka caused his oil,\nhoney, molasses and the like, and all his treasure of grain to\ndisappear, as well as his slaves and work people. Those who were\ndeprived of his gifts came and said, \u201cMy Lord, the alms hall has\ndisappeared. We do not find anything in the various places set up by\nyou.\u201d \u201cTake money hence,\u201d he said. \u201cDo not cut off the giving of alms.\u201d\nAnd calling his wife, he bade her keep up her charity. She searched the\nwhole house, and not finding a single bit of money, she said, \u201cMy Lord,\nexcept the clothes we wear, I see nothing. The whole house is empty.\u201d\nOpening the seven jewel treasuries they found nothing, and save the\nmerchant and his wife no one else was seen, neither slaves nor\nhirelings. The merchant, again addressing his wife, said, \u201cMy dear, we\ncannot possibly cut off our charities. Search the whole house till you\nfind something.\u201d\n\nAt that moment a certain grass-mower threw down his sickle and pole and\nthe rope for binding the grass in the doorway, and ran away. The\nmerchant\u2019s wife found them and said: \u201cMy Lord, this is all I see,\u201d and\nbrought and gave them to him. Said he: \u201cAll these years I have never\nmown grass before, but to-day I will mow grass, and take and sell it,\nand by this means dispense the fitting alms.\u201d\n\nSo, through fear of having to cut off his charities, he took the sickle,\nand the pole and the rope, and going forth from the city came to a place\nof much grass, and mowing it, tied it up in two bundles, saying, \u201cOne\nshall belong to us, and with the other I will give alms.\u201d\n\nThis he did for six days, and because there was not enough to feed all\nwho came for alms, on the seventh day, he and his wife went fasting.\nThen his strength gave out. No sooner did the heat of the sun strike\nupon his head than his eyes began to swim in his head, and he became\nunconscious, and falling down he scattered the grass. Sakka was moving\nabout, observing what the merchant did. And that god, standing in\nmid-air, cried: \u201cRefrain from giving, and thou shalt have joy for ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho art thou?\u201d cried the merchant.\n\n\u201cI am Sakka.\u201d\n\nAnd the merchant said:\n\n\u201cSakka reached his high office by taking upon himself moral duties, and\ngiving alms.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy dost thou give alms?\u201d asked Sakka, still wishing to test him.\n\n\u201cIt is not because I desire Sakkahood nor Brahmaship, but through giving\nthere cometh knowledge of all things.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreat merchant,\u201d cried Sakka, \u201chenceforth do thou every day give alms.\u201d\nAnd all his wealth was restored to him.\n\n\n\n\n                       THE KING WHO SAW THE TRUTH\n\n\nLong, long ago the Wisdom Child that should in time become the Buddha\nwas born a King. He was kind and generous, distributing all sorts of\nalms to the poor; nor did he leave the work to those under him: he took\na personal part in the giving of the gifts\u2014and nearly every day came\nhimself to the Alms Hall to see that none went away empty-handed.\n\nBut one morning, as he lay meditating on what he still might do for his\npeople, he began to feel that, after all, he had done no very great\nthing, and he said: \u201cI have given to my people only _outside_ things\u2014the\nmere gold and silver and raiment and food that I can well spare, and lo!\nthis giving brings me no joy. If I could only give my people part of\nmyself\u2014some precious thing which would show my love for them\u2014whatever it\nmight cost me! And if to-day, when I go down to the Alms Hall, one\nshould say, 'Give me thy heart,\u2019 then, in truth, I will cut open my\nbreast with a spear, and, as though I were drawing up a water-lily from\na calm lake, I will pull forth my heart. If he asks my flesh and blood,\nbehold I will give it to him. If he complain that there is no other to\ndo his work, then I will leave my royal throne, and, proclaiming myself\na slave, I will do the work of a slave\u2014and, indeed, should any man ask\nfor my eyes, the most precious gift of the gods, then will I tear them\nout as one might tear the pith from the palm-tree.\u201d\n\nThen he bathed himself, and, mounted upon a richly caparisoned elephant,\nhe rode down to the Alms Hall, his heart filled with love for his\npeople.\n\nNow Sakka, the King of the Gods, heard the resolve of the King, and he\nthought to test him, whether his words were vain; whether it were a\nsudden mood which would pass away when the moment came to carry out his\nstern resolution.\n\nSo, when the King came down to the Alms Hall, Sakka stood before him, in\nthe guise of an old blind Brahmin, who, stretching out his hands, cried\nout: \u201cLong live the King!\u201d\n\nAnd the King made sign for him to say what was in his heart.\n\n\u201cO great King,\u201d said the blind Brahmin\u2014\u201cin all the inhabited world there\nis no spot where the fame of thy great heart has not spread. I am blind,\nbut thou, O King, hast _two_ eyes\u2014I therefore beseech thee, give me\n_one_, that I too may behold the glories of the Earth!\u201d\n\nThen did the King rejoice greatly that this opportunity should have come\nto him so quickly, but not wishing to show at once the joy he felt in\nhis heart, he said: \u201cO Brahmin, I pray thee tell me, who bade thee wend\nthy way to this alms-house? Thou askest of me the most precious thing\nthat a man possesses, and lo! it is very hard to give!\u201d\n\nAnd the Brahmin made answer: \u201cBehold, a god has sent me hither, and has\ntold me to ask this boon.\u201d\n\nAnd the King said: \u201cThy prayer is granted: thou didst ask for one eye,\nbehold I will give thee both eyes.\u201d\n\nAnd then the news spread quickly through the town that the King was\nabout to give his eyes to a blind Brahmin, and the Commander-in-Chief\nand all the officials gathered together that they might turn the King\nfrom his purpose.\n\nAnd they said: \u201cO great King, are there not other gifts which thou canst\nbestow upon this sightless Brahmin\u2014money, jewels, elephants with cloth\nof gold? Why shouldst thou give to him that most precious of gifts, thy\nroyal eyes?\u201d\n\nAnd the King said: \u201cBehold, I have taken this vow, and I should be\nsinful if I were to break it.\u201d\n\nAnd the courtiers said: \u201cO King, why doest thou this thing? Is it for\nLife, or Beauty or Strength?\u201d\n\nThe King answered: \u201cIt is for none of these things: it is for the joy of\ngiving.\u201d\n\nThen the King bid the Surgeon do his work. And when one of his eyes was\ntaken out, he gave it to the Brahmin, and it remained fixed in his\nsocket like a blue lotus flower in bloom. And the King said: \u201cThe eye\nthat sees all things is greater than this eye,\u201d and, being filled with\necstasy of joy, he gave the second eye.\n\nAnd after many days and much suffering, the King\u2019s sight was restored to\nhim\u2014not the natural eyes which see the things around\u2014but the eyes which\nsee perfect and absolute Truth.\n\nAnd he reigned in righteousness and justice, and the people learnt of\nhim pure wisdom.\n\n\n\n\n                 THE BULL THAT DEMANDED FAIR TREATMENT\n\n\nLong ago the Bodisat came to life as a Bull.\n\nNow, when he was yet a young calf, a certain Brahmin, after attending\nupon some devotees who were wont to give oxen to priests, received the\nbull. And he called it Nandi Vis\u0101la, and grew very fond of it, treating\nit like a son, and feeding it on gruel and rice.\n\nWhen the Bodisat grew up, he said to himself: \u201cThis Brahmin has brought\nme up with great care; and there\u2019s no other ox in all the continent of\nIndia can drag the weight I can. What if I were to let the Brahmin know\nabout my strength, and so in my turn provide sustenance for him!\u201d\n\nAnd he said one day to the Brahmin: \u201cDo you go now, Brahmin, to some\nSquire rich in cattle, and offer to bet him a thousand that your ox will\nmove a hundred laden carts.\u201d\n\nThe Brahmin went to a rich farmer, and started a conversation thus:\n\n\u201cWhose bullocks hereabout do you think the strongest?\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch and such a man\u2019s,\u201d said the farmer, and then added: \u201cBut, of\ncourse, there are none in the whole country-side to touch my own!\u201d\n\n\u201cI have one ox,\u201d said the Brahmin, \u201cwho is good to move a hundred carts,\nloads and all!\u201d\n\n\u201cTush!\u201d said the Squire. \u201cWhere in the world is such an ox?\u201d\n\n\u201cJust in my house!\u201d said the Brahmin.\n\n\u201cThen make a bet about it!\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right! I bet you a thousand he can.\u201d\n\nSo the bet was made. And he filled a hundred carts (small wagons made\nfor two bullocks) with sand and gravel and stones, ranged them all in a\nrow, and tied them all firmly together, cross-bar to axle-tree.\n\nThen he bathed Nandi Vis\u0101la, gave him a measure of scented rice, hung a\ngarland round his neck, and yoked him by himself to the front cart. Then\nhe took his seat on the pole, raised his goad aloft, and called out:\n\u201cGee up! you brute!! Drag \u2019em along, you wretch!!\u201d\n\nThe Bodisat said to himself: \u201cHe addresses me as a wretch. I am no\nwretch!\u201d And, keeping his four legs as firm as so many posts, he stood\nperfectly still.\n\nThen the Squire that moment claimed his bet, and made the Brahmin hand\nover the thousand pieces. And the Brahmin, minus his thousand, took out\nhis ox, went home to his house, and lay down overwhelmed with grief.\n\nPresently Nandi Vis\u0101la, who was roaming about the place, came up and saw\nthe Brahmin grieving there, and said to him: \u201cWhat, Brahmin! Are you\nasleep?\u201d\n\n\u201cSleep! How can I sleep after losing the thousand pieces?\u201d\n\n\u201cBrahmin! I\u2019ve lived so long in your house, and have I ever broken any\npots, or rubbed up against the walls?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever, my dear!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen why did you call me a wretch? It\u2019s your fault. It\u2019s not my fault.\nGo now and bet him two thousand; and never call me a wretch again\u2014I, who\nam no wretch at all!\u201d\n\nWhen the Brahmin heard what he said, he made the bet two thousand, tied\nthe carts together as before, decked out Nandi Vis\u0101la, and yoked him to\nthe foremost cart.\n\nHe managed this in the following way: he tied the pole and the\ncross-piece fast together, yoked Nandi Vis\u0101la on one side; on the other\nhe fixed a smooth piece of timber from the point of the yoke to the\naxle-end, and wrapping it round with the fastenings of the cross-piece,\ntied it fast, so that when this was done the yoke could not move this\nway and that way, and it was possible for one ox to drag forwards the\ndouble bullock-cart.\n\nThen the Brahmin seated himself on the pole, stroked Nandi Vis\u0101la on the\nback, and called out: \u201cGee up! my beauty!! Drag it along, my beauty!!\u201d\n\nAnd the Bodisat, with one mighty effort, dragged forwards the hundred\nheavily-laden carts, and brought the hindmost one up to the place where\nthe foremost one had stood.\n\nThen the cattle-owner acknowledged himself beaten, and handed over to\nthe Brahmin the two thousand; the bystanders, too, presented the Bodisat\nwith a large sum, and the whole became the property of the Brahmin.\nThus, by means of the Bodisat, great was the wealth he acquired.\n\n\n\n\n                   THE BULL THAT PROVED HIS GRATITUDE\n\n\nLong ago ... the Bodisat returned to life as a Bull.\n\nNow, when it was still a young calf, its owners stopped a while in an\nold woman\u2019s house, and gave him to her when they settled their account\nfor their lodging. And she brought him up, treating him like a son, and\nfeeding him on gruel and rice.\n\nHe soon became known as \u201cThe old woman\u2019s Blackie.\u201d When he grew up, he\nroamed about, as black as collyrium, with the village cattle, and was\nvery good-tempered and quiet. The village children used to catch hold of\nhis horns, or ears, or dewlaps, and hang on to him; or amuse themselves\nby pulling his tail, or riding about on his back.\n\nOne day he said to himself: \u201cMy mother is wretchedly poor. She\u2019s taken\nso much pains, too, in bringing me up, and has treated me like a son.\nWhat if I were to work for hire, and so relieve her distress!\u201d And from\nthat day he was always on the look-out for a job.\n\nNow, one day a young caravan owner arrived at a neighboring ford with\nfive hundred bullock-wagons. And his bullocks were not only unable to\ndrag the carts across, but even when he yoked the five hundred pair in a\nrow they could not move one cart by itself.\n\nThe Bodisat was grazing with the village cattle close to the ford. The\nyoung caravan owner was a famous judge of cattle, and began looking\nabout to see whether there were among them any thoroughbred bull able to\ndrag over the carts. Seeing the Bodisat, he thought he would do, and\nasked the herdsmen: \u201cWho may be the owners, my men, of this fellow? I\nshould like to yoke him to the cart, and am willing to give a reward for\nhaving the carts dragged over.\u201d\n\n\u201cCatch him and yoke him then,\u201d said they. \u201cHe has no owner hereabouts.\u201d\n\nBut when he began to put a string through his nose and drag him along,\nhe could not get him to come. For the Bodisat, it is said, wouldn\u2019t go\ntill he was promised a reward.\n\nThe young caravan owner, seeing what his object was, said to him: \u201cSir!\nif you\u2019ll drag over these five hundred carts for me, I\u2019ll pay you wages\nat the rate of two pence for each cart\u2014a thousand pieces in all.\u201d\n\nThen the Bodisat went along of his own accord, and the men yoked him to\nthe cart. And with a mighty effort he dragged it up and landed it safe\non the high ground. And in the same manner he dragged up all the carts.\n\nSo the caravan owner then put five hundred pennies in a bundle, one for\neach cart, and tied it round his neck. The Bull said to himself: \u201cThis\nfellow is not giving me wages according to the rate agreed upon. I\nshan\u2019t let him go on now!\u201d And so he went and stood in the way of the\nfront cart, and they tried in vain to get him away.\n\nThe caravan owner thought: \u201cHe knows, I suppose, that the pay is too\nlittle;\u201d and wrapping a thousand pieces in a cloth, tied them up in a\nbundle, and hung that round his neck. And as soon as he got the bundle\nwith a thousand inside, he went off to his \u201cmother.\u201d\n\nThen the village children called out: \u201cSee! what\u2019s that round the neck\nof the old woman\u2019s Blackie?\u201d and began to run up to him. But he chased\nafter them, so that they took to their heels before they got near him;\nand he went straight to his \u201cmother.\u201d And he appeared with eyes all\nbloodshot, utterly exhausted from dragging over so many carts.\n\n\u201cHow did you get this, dear?\u201d said the good old woman, when she saw the\nbag round his neck. And when she heard, on inquiry from the herdsmen,\nwhat had happened, she exclaimed: \u201cAm I so anxious, then, to live on the\nfruit of your toil, my darling! Why do you put yourself to all this\npain?\u201d\n\nAnd she bathed him in warm water, and rubbed him all over with oil, and\ngave him to drink, and fed him up with good food. And at the end of her\nlife she passed away according to her deeds, and the Bodisat with her.\n\n\n\n\n                   THE HORSE THAT HELD OUT TO THE END\n\n\nAnd it came to pass that the Buddha (to be) came to life in the shape of\na Horse\u2014a thoroughbred small horse, and he was made the King\u2019s Destrier,\nsurrounded by pomp and state. He was fed on exquisite three-year-old\nrice which was always served up to him in a golden dish worth a hundred\nthousand pieces of money, and the ground of his stall was perfumed with\nthe four odors. Round his stall were hung crimson curtains, while\noverhead was a canopy studded with stars of gold. On the wall were\nfestooned wreaths and garlands of fragrant flowers, and a lamp fed with\nscented oil was always burning there.\n\nNow all the kings round coveted the kingdom of Benares. Once seven kings\npassed Benares and sent a missive to the King, saying: \u201cEither yield up\nyour kingdom to us or give battle.\u201d\n\nAssembling his ministers, the King of Benares laid the matter before\nthem and asked what he was to do. Said they: \u201cYou ought not to go out to\nbattle in person, Sire, in the first instance. Despatch such and such a\nKnight out first to fight him, and, later on, if he fall, we will decide\nwhat to do.\u201d\n\nThen the King sent for that Knight and said to him: \u201cCan you fight the\nseven kings, my dear Knight?\u201d Said he: \u201cGive me but your noble Destrier,\nand then I could fight not only seven kings but all the kings in India.\u201d\n\u201cMy dear Knight, take my Destrier or any horse you please, and do\nbattle.\u201d \u201cVery good, my Sovereign Lord,\u201d said the Knight, and with a bow\nhe passed down from the upper chambers of the palace.\n\nThen he had the noble Destrier led out and sheathed in mail, arming\nhimself too and girding on his sword.\n\nMounted on his noble steed he passed out of the City Gate, and with a\nlightning charge broke down the first camp, taking one king alone, and\nbringing him back a prisoner to the soldiers\u2019 custody.\n\n... And this went on until six kings had been made prisoner. Then the\nnoble Horse received a wound which streamed with blood and caused him\nmuch pain. Perceiving that the Horse was wounded, the Knight made it lie\ndown at the King\u2019s gate, loosened its mail, and set about arming another\nhorse.\n\nBut the Horse perceiving this, said: \u201cThe other horse will _not_ be able\nto break down the seventh camp and capture the seventh king: he will\nlose all that I have accomplished. The peerless Knight will be slain,\nand the King will fall into the hands of the foe. I alone and no other\nhorse can break down the seventh camp and capture the seventh king.\u201d\n\nSo he called to the Knight and repeated these words, and added: \u201cI will\nnot throw away what I have already done. Only have me set upon my feet,\nand clad again in my armor, and I will accomplish my work.\u201d\n\nThe Knight had the Horse set upon his feet, bound up his wound, and\narmed him again in proof. Mounted on the Destrier, he broke down the\nseventh camp, and brought back alive the seventh king.\n\nThey led the Horse to the King\u2019s gate, and the King came up to look at\nhim.\n\nThen said the Great Being: \u201cGreat King, slay not these seven kings: bind\nthem by an oath, and let them go. Let the Knight enjoy the honor due to\nus both. As for you, exercise charity, keep the Ornaments, and rule your\nkingdom in righteousness and justice.\u201d When the Horse had thus exhorted\nthe King, they took off his mail, but as they were taking it off\npiecemeal, he passed away.\n\nThe King had the body buried with due respect, bestowed great honors on\nthe Knight, and sent the kings to their homes, after exacting from each\nan oath never to war upon him any more. And he ruled his kingdom in\nrighteousness and justice, passing away when his life closed, to fare\nthereafter according to his deserts.\n\nThe story was told by the Master about a brother who gave up\npersevering.\n\n\u201cBrethren, in bygone days the wise and good persevered even in hostile\nsurroundings, and even when they were wounded they did not give in.\nWhereas you who have devoted yourself to so saving a doctrine, how comes\nit that you give up persevering?\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                     THE MONKEY THAT SAVED THE HERD\n\n\nIt came to pass that the Buddha was re-born as the King of the monkeys.\nHe lived with his herd of 80,000 monkeys in a thick forest, near a lake.\nIn this lake there lived an ogre who used to devour all those who went\ndown to the water.\n\nThe Buddha spoke to his subjects and said: \u201cMy friends, in this forest\nthere are trees that are poisoned, and lakes that are haunted by ogres.\nEat no fruit and drink no water of which you have not already tasted\nwithout consulting me.\u201d\n\nThis they agreed to. And one day, having arrived at a spot which they\nhad never visited before, they found a great lake. They did not drink,\nbut awaited the return of their King.\n\nNow when he arrived he went round the lake, and found that all the\nfootsteps led down to the lake, but none came up again. And he said:\n\u201cWithout doubt this is the haunt of an ogre.\u201d\n\nWhen this water-ogre saw that they were not invading his domain he\nappeared in the form of a terrible monster with a blue belly, a white\nface, and bright red hands and feet. In this shape he came out of the\nwater and said to the King: \u201cWhy are you seated here? Go down to the\nlake to drink.\u201d But the King said: \u201cAre you not the ogre of this water?\u201d\n\u201cYes, I am,\u201d was the answer. \u201cDo you take as your prey all those who go\ndown into this water?\u201d \u201cYes, I do, from small birds upwards. I never let\nanything go which comes down into this water. I will eat the lot of you,\ntoo.\u201d \u201cBut we shall not let you eat us.\u201d \u201cJust drink the water.\u201d \u201cYes,\nwe will drink the water, and yet not fall into your power.\u201d \u201cHow do you\npropose to drink the water, then?\u201d \u201cAh, you think we shall have to go\ndown to the water to drink; whereas we shall not enter the water at all,\nbut the whole eighty thousand of us will take a cane each and drink\ntherewith from your lake as easily as through the hollow stalk of a\nlotus. And so you will not be able to eat us.\u201d\n\nSo saying the King had a cane brought to him, and in true belief that\nthe miracle would take place he blew down the cane, which straightway\nbecame hollow throughout, without a single knot being left in its\nlength. In this fashion he had another, and another brought, and blew\ndown them. Then he made the tour of the lake, and commanded, saying,\n\u201cLet all canes growing here become hollow throughout.\u201d Now, thanks to\nthe saving goodness of their re-born chiefs, their commands are always\nfulfilled. And henceforth every single cane that grew round that lake\nbecame hollow throughout. After giving his commands the King seated\nhimself with a cane in his hand. All the other 80,000 monkeys, too,\nseated themselves round the lake each with a cane in his hands. At the\nsame moment when the King sucked up the water through his cane, they all\ndrank in the same manner as they sat on the bank. This was the way they\ndrank, and the ogre could get no power over any one of them, so he went\noff in a rage to his habitation. The King, with his following of 80,000\nmonkeys, went back into the forest.\n\n\n\n\n                  THE MALLARD THAT ASKED FOR TOO MUCH\n\n\nAnd it came to pass that the Buddha (to be) was born a Brahmin, and\ngrowing up was married to a bride of his own rank, who bore him three\ndaughters.\n\nAfter his death he was born again as a Golden Mallard, and he determined\nto give his golden feathers one at a time to enable his wife and\ndaughters to live in comfort. So away he flew to where they dwelt, and\nalighted on the central beam of the roof.\n\nSeeing the Bodisat, the wife and girls asked where he had come from, and\nhe told them that he was their father who had died and been born a\nGolden Mallard, and that he had come to bring them help. \u201cYou shall have\nmy golden feathers, one by one,\u201d he said. He gave them one and departed.\nFrom time to time he returned to give them another feather, and they\nbecame quite wealthy.\n\nBut one day the mother said: \u201cThere\u2019s no trusting animals, my children.\nWho\u2019s to say your father might not go away one of these days and never\nreturn? Let us use our time, and pluck him clean the next time he comes,\nso as to make sure of all his feathers.\u201d Thinking this would pain him,\nthe daughters refused. The mother in her greed plucked the Mallard\nherself, and as she plucked them against his wish, they ceased to be\ngolden and became like a crane\u2019s feathers. His wings grew again, but\nthey were plain white; he flew away to his own abode and never came\nback.\n\n\n\n\n                THE MERCHANT WHO OVERCAME ALL OBSTACLES\n\n\nOnce upon a time the Buddha (to be) was born in a merchant\u2019s family; and\nwhen he grew up he went about trafficking with five hundred carts.\n\nOne day he arrived at a sandy desert twenty leagues across. The sand in\nthat desert was so fine that when taken in the closed fist it could not\nbe kept in the hand. After the sun had risen it became as hot as a mass\nof charcoal, so that no man could walk on it. Those, therefore, who had\nto travel over it took wood and water and oil and rice in their carts,\nand traveled during the night. And at daybreak they formed an\nencampment, and spread an awning over it, and, taking their meals early,\nthey passed the day sitting in the shade. At sunset they supped; and\nwhen the ground had become cool, they yoked their oxen and went on. The\ntraveling was like a voyage over the sea: a so-called land-pilot had to\nbe chosen, and he brought the caravan safe to the other side by his\nknowledge of the stars.\n\nOn this occasion the merchant of our story traversed the desert in that\nway. And when he had passed over fifty-nine leagues, he thought: \u201cNow in\none more night we shall get out of the sand.\u201d And after supper he\ndirected the wood and water to be thrown away, and the wagons to be\nyoked, and so set out. The pilot had cushions arranged on the foremost\ncart, and lay down looking at the stars, and directing them where to\ndrive. But, worn out by want of rest during the long march, he fell\nasleep, and did not perceive that the oxen had turned around and taken\nthe same road by which they had come.\n\nThe oxen went on the whole night through. Towards dawn the pilot woke\nup, and, observing the stars, called out: \u201cStop the wagons! Stop the\nwagons!\u201d The day broke just as they had stopped, and were drawing up the\ncarts in a line. Then the men cried out: \u201cWhy, this is the very\nencampment we left yesterday! Our wood and water is all gone! We are\nlost!\u201d And unyoking the oxen, and spreading the canopy over their heads,\nthey lay down in despondency, each one under his wagon.\n\nBut the Bodisat, saying to himself, \u201cIf I lose heart, all these will\nperish,\u201d walked about while the morning was yet cool. And on seeing a\ntuft of Kusa grass, he thought: \u201cThis must have grown by attracting some\nwater which there must be beneath it.\u201d\n\nAnd he made them bring a hoe and dig in that spot. And they dug sixty\ncubits deep. And when they had got thus far, the spade of the diggers\nstruck on a rock, and as soon as it struck, they all gave up in despair.\n\nBut the Bodisat thought, \u201cThere must be water under that rock,\u201d and,\nstooping down, applied his ear to it and tested the sound of it. And he\nheard the sound of water gurgling beneath. And he got out and called his\npage. \u201cMy lad, if you give up now, we shall all be lost. Don\u2019t you lose\nheart. Take this iron hammer, and go down into the pit and give the rock\na good blow.\u201d\n\nThe lad obeyed, and though they all stood by in despair, he went down\nfull of determination, and struck at the stone. And the rock split in\ntwo and fell below, and no longer blocked up the stream. And water rose\ntill its brim was the height of a palm-tree in the well. And they all\ndrank of the water, and bathed in it. Then they split up their extra\nyokes and axles, and cooked rice and ate it, and fed their oxen with it.\nAnd when the sun set, they put up a flag by the well and went to the\nplace appointed. There they sold their merchandise at double and treble\nprofit, and returned to their own home, and lived to a good old age, and\nthen passed away according to their deeds. And the Bodisat gave gifts,\nand did other virtuous acts, and passed away according to his deeds.\n\n\n\n\n                THE ELEPHANT THAT WAS HONORED IN OLD AGE\n\n\nAnd the Buddha as Prime Minister served the King. Now there was a\ncertain She-Elephant endowed with great might which enabled her to go a\nhundred leagues a day. She did the duties of messenger to the King, and\nin battle she fought and crushed the enemy. The King said: \u201cShe is very\nserviceable to me.\u201d\n\nHe gave her ornaments, and caused all honor to be shown her. Then, when\nshe was weak from age, the King took away all the honor he had bestowed.\n\nFrom that time she was unprotected, and lived by eating grass and leaves\nin the forest.\n\nAnd one day the chief Potter had not enough oxen to yoke to the carts\nwhich carried the material for making clay. And the King said: \u201cWhere is\nour She-Elephant?\u201d\n\n\u201cO King! she is wandering at her will in the forest.\u201d\n\nAnd the King said: \u201cDo thou yoke her to the cart.\u201d\n\nAnd the Potter said: \u201cGood, O King!\u201d And he did even as the King\ncommanded.\n\nBut when this insult was offered to the Elephant, she came to the Prime\nMinister and said: \u201cO Wise Being! I pray you listen to my tale. When I\nwas young, great strength was mine; and I did walk a hundred leagues to\nbear the King\u2019s messages, and, with weapons bound upon my body, I did\ntake part in battle, crushing the enemy beneath my feet. And now I am\nold, and the King hath withdrawn all the honors he bestowed upon me, and\nnot content with allowing me to wander and feed on grass, unprotected in\nmy old age, he has _even caused me to be yoked to_ the Potter\u2019s cart as\nare the oxen.\u201d\n\nThen the Buddha promised that he would plead her cause, and appearing\nbefore the King, he asked: \u201cGreat King, did not a She-Elephant covered\nwith weapons do battle for thee; and on such and such a day, with a\nwriting upon her neck, did she not go a hundred leagues on a message?\nThou didst bestow upon her great honor. I pray thee tell me, where is\nshe now?\u201d\n\nAnd the King, in some confusion, made answer: \u201cBehold, she is yoked to a\ncart.\u201d\n\nThen did the Buddha speak in sorrowful anger to the King, and rebuked\nhim, saying: \u201cThou hast yoked this Elephant to a cart after all the\nservices she has rendered. Then was the honor only bestowed because of\nmore services expected?\u201d\n\nAnd all who heard him received his instruction, and the King restored\nthe She-Elephant to her former place of honor.\n\n\n\n\n                          THE FAITHFUL FRIEND\n\n\nLong ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the Bodisat became\nhis Minister.\n\nAt that time a dog used to go to the state elephant\u2019s stable, and feed\non the lumps of rice which fell where the elephant fed. Being attracted\nthere by the food, he soon became great friends with the elephant, and\nused to eat close by him. At last neither of them was happy without the\nother; and the dog used to amuse himself by catching hold of the\nelephant\u2019s trunk, and swinging to and fro.\n\nBut one day there came a peasant who gave the elephant-keeper money for\nthe dog, and took it back with him to his village. From that time the\nelephant, missing the dog, would neither eat nor drink nor bathe. And\nthey let the King know about it.\n\nHe sent the Bodisat, saying: \u201cDo you go, Pandit, and find out what\u2019s the\ncause of the elephant\u2019s behavior.\u201d\n\nSo he went to the stable, and seeing how sad the elephant looked, said\nto himself: \u201cThere seems to be nothing bodily the matter with him. He\nmust be so overwhelmed with grief by missing some one, I should think,\nwho had become near and dear to him.\u201d And he asked the elephant-keepers:\n\u201cIs there any one with whom he is particularly intimate?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly, Sir! There was a dog of whom he was very fond indeed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is it now?\u201d\n\n\u201cSome man or other took it away.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you know where the man lives?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Sir!\u201d\n\nThen the Bodisat went and told the King. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing the matter\nwith the elephant, your majesty; but he was great friends with a dog,\nand I fancy it\u2019s through missing it that he refuses his food.\u201d\n\nWhen the King heard what he said, he asked what was now to be done.\n\n\u201cHave a proclamation made, O King, to this effect: 'A man is said to\nhave taken away a dog of whom our state elephant was fond. In whose\nhouse soever that dog shall be found, he shall be fined so much!\u2019\u201d\n\nThe King did so; and, as soon as he heard of it, the man turned the dog\nloose. The dog hastened back, and went close up to the elephant. The\nelephant took him up in his trunk and placed him on his forehead, and\nwept and cried, and took him down again, and watched him as he fed. And\nthen he took his own food.\n\nThen the King paid great honor to the Bodisat for knowing the motives\neven of animals.\n\n\n\n\n                        THE HAWK AND THE OSPREY\n\n\nThere lived once, on the shores of a natural lake, a Hawk on the south\nshore, a She-Hawk on the west shore, on the north a Lion, the king of\nbeasts, on the east the Osprey, the king of birds, in the middle a\nTortoise on a small island.\n\nNow the Hawk asked the She-Hawk to become his wife. She asked him: \u201cHave\nyou any friends?\u201d \u201cNo, madam,\u201d he replied. \u201cBut,\u201d she said, \u201cwe must\nhave some friends who can defend us against any danger or trouble that\nmay arise. Therefore I beg of you to find some friends.\u201d \u201cBut,\u201d said the\nHawk, \u201cwith whom shall I make friends?\u201d \u201cWhy, with King Osprey, who\nlives on the eastern shore, with King Lion on the north, and with the\nTortoise who lives in the middle of the lake.\u201d\n\nAnd he took her advice. And all these creatures formed a bond of\nfriendship, and promised to protect each other in time of danger.\n\nNow in time the Mother-Hawk had two sons. One day when the wings of the\nyoung birds were not yet callow, some of the country-folk went foraging\nthrough the woods all day and found nothing.\n\nThey went down to the lake to catch fish or a tortoise, and, in order to\ndrive away the gnats, they made a fire by rubbing sticks together. The\nsmoke annoyed the young birds, and they uttered a cry. The men said:\n\u201c\u2019Tis the cry of birds\u2014we will make a fire and eat their flesh.\u201d They\nmade the fire blaze and built it up.\n\nBut the Mother-Bird heard the sound, and thought: \u201cThese men will eat\nour young ones. I will send my mate to the Great Osprey.\u201d This she did,\nand the bird promised to help. He sat upon a tree-top near that in which\nthe Hawks had built their nests, and no sooner did the men begin to\nclimb up the tree than the Osprey dived into the lake, and from wings\nand back sprinkled water upon the brands and put the fire out. Down came\nthe men and made another fire, but again the Osprey put it out, and this\nwent on until midnight.\n\nAnd the bird was tired out and his eyes were bloodshot. And the\nMother-Bird whispered to her mate: \u201cMy Lord, the Osprey is worn out! Go\nand tell the Tortoise, that this weary bird may have a rest.\u201d\n\nBut the Osprey in a loud voice said he would gladly give his life to\nguard the tree. And the grateful Hawk said: \u201cI pray thee, friend Osprey,\nrest awhile.\u201d Then he went for help to the Tortoise, who said he would\ngladly help, but his son said: \u201cI would not have my old father troubled,\nbut I will gladly go in his stead.\u201d\n\nAnd the Tortoise collected mud and quenched the flame. Then said the\nmen: \u201cLet us kill the Tortoise: he will be enough for all.\u201d But when\nthey plucked creepers to bind him and tried to turn him over, he dragged\nthem into the water. And they said: \u201cWhat strange things have happened\nto us! Half the night the Osprey has put out our fire, and now the\nTortoise has dragged us in after him and made us swallow water. Let us\nlight another fire, and at sunrise we will eat these young Hawks.\u201d\n\nThe Hen-Bird heard the noise and said: \u201cMy husband\u2014sooner or later these\nmen will devour our young and depart. You go and tell our friend the\nLion.\u201d At once the Hawk went to the Lion, who asked him why he came at\nsuch an unreasonable hour. But when the whole matter was put before him,\nhe said: \u201cGo and comfort your young ones, for I will save them.\u201d And\nthen he came forth with a mighty tread, and the men were terrified.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d they cried. \u201cThe Osprey hath put out our fire. The Tortoise\ndragged us into the water. But now we are done for: the Lion will\ndestroy us at once.\u201d They ran this way and that, and when the noble\nbeast stood at the foot of the tree, no trace could be found of the\nfrightened men.\n\nThen the Osprey, the Hawk, the She-Hawk, and the Tortoise came up to\ngreet him, and they discoursed for a long time on the value of\nfriendship. And this company of friends lived all their lives without\nbreaking their bond. And they passed away according to their deeds.\n\n\n\n\n                       GRANDMOTHER\u2019S GOLDEN DISH\n\n\nLong ago the Bodisat was a dealer in tin and brass ware, named Seriva,\nin the country of that name. This Seriva, together with another dealer\nin tin and brass ware, who was an avaricious man, crossed the river\nT\u0113lav\u0101ha, and entered the town called Andhapura. And, dividing the\nstreets of the city between them, the Bodisat went round selling his\ngoods in the street allotted to him, while the other took the street\nthat fell to him.\n\nNow in that city there was a wealthy family reduced to abject poverty.\nAll the sons and brothers in the family had died, and all its property\nhad been lost. Only one girl and her grandmother were left; and those\ntwo gained their living by serving others for hire. There was indeed in\nthe house the vessel of gold out of which the head of the house used to\neat in the days of its prosperity; but it was covered with dirt, and had\nlong lain neglected and unused among the pots and pans. And they did not\neven know that it was of gold.\n\nAt that time the avaricious hawker, as he was going along, calling out,\n\u201cBuy my water-pots! Buy my water-pots!\u201d came to the door of their house.\nWhen the girl saw him, she said to her grandmother: \u201cMother! do buy me\nan ornament.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we are poor, dear. What shall we give in exchange for it?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis dish of ours is no use to us; you can give that away and get one.\u201d\n\nThe old woman called the hawker, and, after asking him to take a seat,\ngave him the dish, and said: \u201cWill you take this, Sir, and give\nsomething to your little sister for it?\u201d\n\nThe hawker took the dish, and thought: \u201cThis must be gold!\u201d And turning\nit round, he scratched a line on its back with a needle, and found that\nit was so. Then, hoping to get the dish without giving them anything, he\nsaid: \u201cWhat is this worth? It is not even worth a halfpenny!\u201d And\nthrowing it on the ground, he got up from his seat and went away.\n\nNow, it was allowed to either hawker to enter the street which the other\nhad left. And the Bodisat came into that street, and calling out, \u201cBuy\nmy water-pots,\u201d came up to the door of that very house. And the girl\nspoke to her grandmother as before. But the grandmother said: \u201cMy child,\nthe dealer who came just now threw the dish on the floor, and went away;\nwhat have I now got to give him in exchange?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat merchant, mother dear, was a surly man; but this one looks\npleasant, and has a kind voice: perchance he may take it.\u201d\n\n\u201cCall him, then,\u201d said she.\n\nSo she called him. And when he had come in and sat down, they gave him\nthe dish. He saw that it was gold, and said: \u201cMother! this dish is worth\na hundred thousand. All the goods in my possession are not equal to it\nin value!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, Sir, a hawker who came just now threw it on the ground, and went\naway, saying it was not worth a halfpenny. It must have been changed\ninto gold by the power of your virtue, so we make you a present of it.\u201d\n\nThe Bodisat gave them all the cash he had in hand (five hundred pieces),\nand all his stock-in-trade, worth five hundred more. He asked of them\nonly to let him keep eight pennies, and the bag and the yoke that he\nused to carry his things with. And these he took and departed.\n\nAnd going quickly to the river-side, he gave those eight pennies to a\nboatman, and got into the boat.\n\nBut the covetous hawker came back to the house, and said: \u201cBring out\nthat dish, I\u2019ll give you something for it.\u201d\n\nThen she scolded him, and said: \u201cYou said our gold dish, worth a hundred\nthousand, was not worth a halfpenny. But a just dealer, who seems to be\nyour master, gave us a thousand for it, and has taken it away.\u201d\n\nWhen he heard this he called out: \u201cThrough this fellow I have lost a\ngolden pot worth\u2014Oh, worth a hundred thousand! He has ruined me\naltogether!\u201d And bitter sorrow overcame him, and he was unable to retain\nhis presence of mind, and he lost all self command. And scattering the\nmoney he had, and all the goods, at the door of the house, he seized as\na club the yoke by which he had carried them, and tore off his clothes,\nand pursued after the Bodisat.\n\nWhen he reached the river-side, he saw the Bodisat going away, and he\ncried out: \u201cHallo, Boatman! stop the boat!\u201d\n\nBut the Bodisat said: \u201cDon\u2019t stop!\u201d and so prevented that. And as the\nother gazed and gazed at the departing Bodisat, he was torn with violent\ngrief; his heart grew hot, and blood flowed from his mouth until his\nheart broke\u2014like tank-mud in the heat of the sun.\n\nThus harboring hatred against the Bodisat, he brought about on that very\nspot his own destruction. This was the first time that Devadatta\nharbored hatred against the Bodisat.\n\nBut the Bodisat gave gifts, and did other good acts, and passed away\naccording to his deeds.\n\n\n\n\n                     THE ELEPHANT THAT SPARED LIFE\n\n\nAt that time the Bodisat was born as a nobleman\u2019s son. On the naming-day\nthey gave him the name of Prince Magha, and when he grew up he was known\nas \u201cMagha the young Brahmin.\u201d\n\nHis parents procured him a wife from a family of equal rank; and,\nincreasing in sons and daughters, he became a great giver of gifts, and\nkept the Five Commandments.\n\nIn that village there were as many as thirty families; and one day the\nmen of those families stopped in the middle of the village to transact\nsome village business. The Bodisat removed with his feet the lumps of\nsoil on the place where he stood, and made the spot convenient to stand\non; but another came up and stood there. Then he smoothed out another\nspot, and took his stand there; but another man came and stood upon it.\nStill the Bodisat tried again and again, with the same result, until he\nhad made convenient standing-room for all the thirty.\n\nThe next time he had an open-roofed shed put up there; and then pulled\nthat down, and built a hall, and had benches spread in it, and a\nwater-pot placed there. On another occasion those thirty men were\nreconciled by the Bodisat, who confirmed them in the Five Commandments;\nand thenceforward he continued with them in works of piety.\n\nWhilst they were so living they used to rise up early, go out with\nbill-hooks and crowbars in their hands, tear up with the crowbars the\nstones in the four high roads and village paths, and roll them away,\ntake away the trees which would be in the way of vehicles, make the\nrough places plain, form causeways, dig ponds, build public halls, give\ngifts, and keep the Commandments\u2014thus, in many ways, all the dwellers in\nthe village listened to the exhortations of the Bodisat, and kept the\nCommandments.\n\nNow the village headman said to himself: \u201cI used to have great gain from\nfines, and taxes, and pot-money, when these fellows drank strong drink,\nor took life, or broke the other Commandments. But now Magha the young\nBrahmin has determined to have the Commandments kept, and permits none\nto take life, or to do anything else that is wrong. I\u2019ll make them keep\nthe Commandments with a vengeance!\u201d\n\nAnd he went in a rage to the King, and said: \u201cO King! there are a number\nof robbers going about sacking the villages!\u201d\n\n\u201cGo and bring them up!\u201d said the King in reply.\n\nAnd he went, and brought back all those men as prisoners, and had it\nannounced to the King that the robbers were brought up. And the King,\nwithout inquiring what they had done, gave orders to have them all\ntrampled to death by elephants!\n\nThen they made them all lie down in the courtyard, and fetched the\nelephant. And the Bodisat exhorted them, saying: \u201cKeep the Commandments\nin mind. Regard them all\u2014the slanderer, and the King, and the\nelephant\u2014with feelings as kind as you harbor towards yourselves!\u201d\n\nAnd they did so.\n\nThen men led up the elephant; but though they brought him to the spot,\nhe would not begin his work, but trumpeted forth a mighty cry, and took\nto flight. And they brought up another and another, but they all ran\naway.\n\n\u201cThere must be some drug in their possession,\u201d said the King; and gave\norders to have them searched. So they searched, but found nothing, and\ntold the King so.\n\n\u201cThen they must be repeating some spell. Ask them if they have any spell\nto utter.\u201d\n\nThe officials asked them, and the Bodisat said there was. And they told\nthe King, and he had them all called before him, and said: \u201cTell me that\nspell you know!\u201d\n\nThen the Bodisat spoke, and said: \u201cO King! we have no other spell but\nthis\u2014that we destroy no life, not even of grass; that we take nothing\nwhich is not given to us; that we are never guilty of unfaithfulness,\nnor speak falsehood, nor drink intoxicants; that we exercise ourselves\nin love, and give gifts; that we make rough places plain, dig ponds, and\nput up rest-houses\u2014this is our spell, this is our defense, this is our\nstrength!\u201d\n\nThen the King had confidence in them, and gave them all the property in\nthe house of the slanderer, and made him their slave; and bestowed, too,\nthe elephant upon them, and made them a grant of the village.\n\n\n\n\n                      HOW THE ANTELOPE WAS CAUGHT\n\n\nOnce upon a time the King of Benares had a gardener named Sanjaya. Now,\na swift antelope who had come to the garden took to flight as soon as it\nsaw Sanjaya. But Sanjaya did not frighten it away; and when it had come\nagain and again it began to walk about in the garden. And day by day the\ngardener used to pluck the various fruits and flowers in the garden and\ntake them away to the King.\n\nNow, one day the King asked him: \u201cI say, friend gardener, is there\nanything strange in the garden so far as you\u2019ve noticed?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve noticed nothing, O King, save that an antelope is in the habit of\ncoming and wandering about there. That I often see.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut could you catch it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I had a little honey I could bring it right inside the palace here!\u201d\n\nThe King gave him the honey; and he took it, went to the garden, smeared\nit on the grass at the spot the antelope frequented, and hid himself.\nWhen the deer came and had eaten the honey-smeared grass, it was bound\nwith the lust of taste; and from that time went nowhere else, but came\nexclusively to the garden. And as the gardener saw that it was allured\nby the honey-smeared grass, he in due course showed himself. For a few\ndays the antelope took to flight on seeing him. But after seeing him\nagain and again it acquired confidence, and gradually came to eat grass\nfrom the gardener\u2019s hand. And when the gardener saw that its confidence\nwas gained, he strewed the path right up to the palace as thick with\nbranches as if he were covering it with mats, hung a gourdful of honey\nover his shoulder, carried a bundle of grass at his waist, and then kept\nsprinkling honey-smeared grass in front of the antelope till he led him\nwithin the palace.\n\nAs soon as the deer had got inside, they shut the door. The antelope,\nseeing men, began to tremble and quake with the fear of death, and ran\nhither and thither about the hall. The King came down from his upper\nchamber, and, seeing the trembling creature, said: \u201cSuch is the nature\nof an antelope, that it will not go for a week afterwards to a place\nwhere it has seen men, nor its life long to a place where it has been\nfrightened. Yet this one, with just such a disposition, and accustomed\nonly to the jungle, has now, bound by the lust of taste, come to just\nsuch a place. Verily, there is nothing worse in the world than this lust\nof taste!\u201d\n\nAnd when in other words he had shown the danger of greed, he let the\nantelope go back to the forest.\n\n\n\n\n                            THE BANYAN DEER\n\n\nLong ago the Bodisat came to life as a deer. When he was born he was of\na golden color; his eyes were like round jewels; his horns were white as\nsilver; his mouth was red as a cluster of kamala flowers; his hoofs were\nas bright and hard as lacquer-work; his tail as fine as the tail of a\nThibetan ox; and his body as large in size as a foal\u2019s.\n\nHe lived in the forest with an attendant herd of five hundred deer,\nunder the name of the King of the Banyan Deer; and not far from him\nthere dwelt another deer, golden as he, under the name of the Monkey\nDeer, with a like attendant herd.\n\nThe King of that country was devoted to hunting, never ate without meat,\nand used to summon all the townspeople to go hunting every day to the\ndestruction of their ordinary work. The people thought, \u201cThis King puts\nan end to all our work. Suppose we make a park, provide food and drink\nfor the deer. Then we will drive them into the park, close the entrance\nand deliver them to the King.\u201d\n\nThis they did, surrounding the very place where the Banyan Deer and the\nMonkey Deer were living. When the King heard this, he went to the park,\nand seeing there the two golden-colored deer, he granted them their\nlives. But henceforth he would go himself to shoot the deer and bring it\nhome. Sometimes his cook would go and shoot one. The deer, as soon as\nthey saw the bow, would quake with fear of Death, and run away; but when\nthey had been hit once or twice, they became weary or wounded and were\nkilled. And the herd told their King, who sent for the Monkey Deer and\nsaid: \u201cFriend, almost all the Deer are being destroyed. Now, though they\ncertainly must die, yet henceforth let them not be wounded with arrows.\nLet the deer take it by turns to go to the place of execution. One day\nlet the lot fall on my herd, and the next day on yours.\u201d\n\nHe agreed, and thenceforth the deer whose turn it was used to go down\nand lie down after placing his neck on the block of execution. And the\ncook used to come and carry off the one he found lying there.\n\nBut one day the lot fell upon a roe in the Monkey Deer who was with\nyoung. She went to the Monkey Deer and said: \u201cLord! I am with young.\nWhen I have brought forth my son, we will both take our turn. Order the\nbows to pass me by.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot make your lot,\u201d said he, \u201cfall upon the others. You know well\nenough it has fallen upon you. Go away!\u201d Receiving no help from him, she\nwent to the Bodisat and told him the matter. He listened to her quietly\nand said: \u201cBe it so! Do you go back. I will relieve you of your turn.\u201d\nAnd he went himself and laid his head on the block of execution.\n\nThe cook, seeing him, exclaimed: \u201cThe King of the Deer whose life was\npromised to him is lying in the place of execution. What does it mean?\u201d\nAnd he went hastily, and told the King.\n\nThe King no sooner heard it than he mounted his chariot and proceeded\nwith a great retinue to the place, and beholding the Bodisat, said: \u201cMy\nfriend, the King of the Deer! Did I not grant you your life? Why are you\nlying here?\u201d\n\n\u201cO great King! A roe with young came and told me that the lot had fallen\nupon her. Now I could not ask another to take her place, so I, giving my\nlife for her, have lain down. Harbor no further suspicion, O great\nKing!\u201d\n\n\u201cMy Lord, the golden-colored King of the Deer! I never yet saw, even\namong men, one so full of forbearance, kindness and compassion. I am\npleased with thee in this matter! Rise up. I grant your lives, both to\nyou and to her!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut though we be safe, what shall the rest do, O King of men?\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I grant their lives to the rest, my Lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cThus, then, great King, the deer in the park will have gained security,\nbut what will the others do?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey also shall not be molested.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreat King! even though the deer dwell secure, what shall the rest of\nthe four-footed creatures do?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey shall also be free from fear.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreat King, even though the quadrupeds are in safety, what shall the\nflock of birds do?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I grant the same boon to them.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreat King! the birds then will obtain peace; but what of the fish who\ndwell in the water?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey shall have peace as well.\u201d\n\nThen the Great Being having interceded with the King for all creatures,\nsaid:\n\n\u201cWalk in righteousness, O great King! Doing justice to fathers and\nmothers, to townsmen and landsmen, you shall enter, when your body is\ndissolved, the happy world of Heaven.\u201d\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe roe gave birth to a son as beautiful as buds of flowers; and he went\nto playing about with the Monkey Deer\u2019s herd. But when its mother saw\nthat, she said, \u201cMy son, henceforth go not in his company. You may keep\nto the Banyan Deer\u2019s herd.\u201d\n\nNow after that, the deer, secure of their lives, began to eat men\u2019s\ncrops. And the men dared not strike them or drive them away,\nrecollecting how it had been granted to them that they should dwell\nsecure. So they met together in front of the King\u2019s palace, and told the\nmatter to the King.\n\n\u201cWhen I was well pleased, I granted to the leader of the Banyan herd a\nboon,\u201d said he. \u201cI may give up my kingdom but not my oaths! Begone with\nyou! Not a man in my kingdom shall be allowed to hurt the deer.\u201d\n\nWhen the Banyan King heard that, he assembled his herd, and said:\n\n\u201cHenceforth you are not allowed to eat other people\u2019s crops.\u201d And so\nforbidding them, he sent a message to the men: \u201cHenceforth let the\nhusbandmen put up no fence to guard their crops: but let them tie leaves\nround the edge of the field as a sign.\u201d\n\nFrom that time, they say, the sign of the tying of the leaves was seen\nin the fields, and from that time not a single deer trespassed beyond\nit: for such was the instruction they received from (their King) the\nBodisat.\n\nAnd the Bodisat continued thus his life long to instruct the deer, and\npassed away with his herd, according to his deeds.\n\n\n\n\n                    THE PUPIL WHO TAUGHT HIS TEACHER\n\n\nAnd the Buddha was re-born in a Brahmin family and was known as\nDhamapala or Law Keeper.\n\nWhen he came of age he was sent by his father to study with a world\nfamed teacher at Takasila and became the chief pupil in a company of\nfive hundred youths.\n\nAt that time the eldest son of the teacher died and the father,\nsurrounded by his pupils, in the midst of his kith and kin, buried his\nson\u2014and all the pupils wept and wailed, but Dhamapala was silent and\nshed no tear, but when the company returned from the cemetery Dhamapala\nasked, \u201cWhy did your son die? It is not right that children should die;\nonly when people grow old can this happen.\u201d And they asked him, \u201cIs it\nthe custom of your family that the young do not die?\u201d And he said: \u201cYes,\nthat is the custom in my family.\u201d The lads told this conversation to\ntheir teacher.\n\nNow when the teacher heard this, he said to them, \u201cThat is a most\nmarvelous thing that he says. I will make a journey to his father and\nask him about it, and if it be true I will live according to his rule of\nright.\u201d\n\nAnd he said to the young man: \u201cI am going on a journey. Do thou, in my\nabsence, instruct these youths.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he procured the bones of a wild goat, washed and scented\nthem, and put them into a bag. Then taking with him a little page boy he\nstarted for the village in which lived the father of his pupil.\n\nWhen the house was reached, and the teacher had rested and taken food,\nand the host had washed the feet of his guest, the teacher said:\n\u201cBrahmin, your son when full of wisdom has by an unhappy chance lost his\nlife. Grieve not for him.\u201d The Brahmin laughed loudly. \u201cWhy do you\nlaugh, Brahmin?\u201d asked the other. \u201cBecause,\u201d he said, \u201cit is _not_ my\nson who is dead; it must be some other.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Brahmin, your son is dead, and no other. Look on his bones, and\nbelieve.\u201d So saying, he unwrapped the bones. \u201cThere are your son\u2019s\nbones,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cA wild goat\u2019s bones, perhaps,\u201d quoth the Brahmin, \u201cor a dog\u2019s, but my\nson is not dead. In our family for seven generations, no such thing has\nbeen known as a death in tender years, and you are speaking falsehood.\u201d\nThen they all clapped their hands and laughed aloud.\n\nThe teacher, when he beheld this wonderful thing, was much pleased and\nsaid: \u201cBrahmin, this custom in your family line cannot be without cause,\nthat the young do not die. Why _is_ it that you do not die young? Of\nwhat good and holy deed is this the fruit?\u201d\n\nThen the Brahmin made answer:\n\n\u201cWe walk in righteousness. We speak no ill. We flee from things that are\nevil. We take no heed of the foolish. We follow the counsel of the wise.\nWe delight in giving gifts. We feed the hungry. We are faithful in our\nmarriage vows. We are versed in sacred knowledge. Therefore, the young\namongst us never die.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this, the teacher replied: \u201cA happy journey is this of mine\nand fruitful. I came hither, O wise Brahmin, to test you. Your son is\nsafe and well. I pray you impart to me your rule of preserving life.\u201d\n\nThen the other wrote it on a leaf and returned to his pupils.\n\n\n\n\n                         THE MAN WHO TOLD A LIE\n\n\nOn one occasion four divine beings made their appearance on the Earth to\nattend a festival of the Gods.\n\nAnd they bore in their hands wreaths of the strangest flowers that had\never been seen, and those around asked: \u201cWhat are these flowers?\u201d And\nthe Gods made answer and said: \u201cThese divine flowers are fit for those\npossessed of great powers: for the base, the foolish, the faithless, the\nsinful beings within the world of men, they are _not_ fitted. But,\nwhosoever amongst men is endowed with certain virtues\u2014to them is due the\nhonor of wearing these flowers.\n\n    \u201cHe who steals no thing from another,\n    Who uttereth no lie,\n    Who doth not lose his head at the height of Fame\u2014\n    He may wear the flowers.\u201d\n\nNow there was a certain false Teacher or Priest who thought to himself:\n\u201cI do not possess one of these qualities, but, by appearing to possess\nthem, I shall obtain permission to wear the wreaths, and the people will\nbelieve that I really am what I appear to be, and they will place their\nconfidence in me.\u201d\n\nThen, with exceeding boldness, he came to the first of the Gods and\nexclaimed with great solemnity: \u201cBehold, _I_ am endowed with these\nqualities of which you speak\u2014\n\n\u201cI have stolen from no man, never have I uttered a lie, nor has fame\never caused me to be proud or haughty.\u201d\n\nAnd when he had uttered these words, the wreath was placed upon his\nbrow. And, emboldened by his success, he came with the same pride and\nconfidence into the presence of the second God, and asked that the\nsecond wreath should be bestowed upon him.\n\nAnd the God said:\n\n    \u201cHe who earns wealth honestly, and shuns dishonest means,\n    Who takes but sparingly of the Cup of Pleasure,\n    To him shall be awarded this second wreath.\u201d\n\nAnd the false Priest bowed his head and said: \u201cBehold all that I have\nearned is honestly gotten, and all pleasure have I shunned. Give me the\nwreath!\u201d\n\nAnd the wreath was placed upon his brow.\n\nThen, with boldness increased by his success, he approached the third\nGod, and asked that the third wreath should encircle his brow.\n\nAnd the God said:\n\n    \u201cHe who scorns choice food,\n    Who never turneth from his purpose,\n    Who keepeth his faith unchanged,\n    To him shall be given the wreath.\u201d\n\nAnd the false Priest said: \u201cI have ever lived on the simplest fare. I\nhave been ever steadfast of purpose, and loyal in my faith. Therefore\ngive _me_ the wreath.\u201d\n\nAnd the third wreath was bestowed upon him.\n\nThen did the pride of the false Priest know no bounds, and he went\nhastily to the fourth God and demanded the fourth wreath.\n\nAnd the God said:\n\n    \u201cHe who will attack no good man to his face or behind his back,\n    And who keeps his word in all things,\n    To him belongs this wreath.\u201d\n\nThen the false Priest cried out in a loud voice: \u201cI have attacked no\nman, good or evil, and never have I broken my word to any.\u201d\n\nThe God looked at him sadly, but he placed the wreath upon his brow, and\nthe four divine beings disappeared from the sight of man. But no sooner\nhad they left the earth than the Priest felt a violent pain. His head\nseemed to be crushed by spikes, and, writhing in agony, he made full\nconfession and begged that the flowers should be removed from his head;\nbut though all pitied his condition, none could remove the flowers, for\nthey seemed to be fastened on with an iron band.\n\nAnd he called aloud to the Gods, saying\n\n\u201cO ye great powers, forgive my pride and spare my life!\u201d And they\nanswered: \u201cThese flowers are not meet for the wicked. You have received\nthe reward of your false words.\u201d Then, having rebuked him in the\npresence of the people, they removed the flowers from the head of the\nrepentant man and returned to the abode of the Blest.\n\n\n\n\n                     THE CROW THAT THOUGHT IT KNEW\n\n\nOnce upon a time, while Brahma-datta reigned as king in Benares, the\nBodhisatta became a marsh crow, and dwelt by a certain pool. His name\nwas Viraka, the Strong.\n\nThere arose a famine in Kasi. Men could not spare food for the crows,\nnor make offering to goblins and snakes. One by one the crows left the\nfamine-stricken land, and betook them to the woods.\n\nA certain crow named Savitthaka, who lived at Benares, took with him his\nlady crow and went to the place where Viraka lived, making his abode\nbeside the same pool.\n\nOne day, this crow was seeking food about the pool. He saw how Viraka\nwent down into it, and made a meal off some fish; and afterwards came up\nout of the water again, and stood drying his feathers. \u201cUnder the wing\nof that crow,\u201d thought he, \u201cplenty of fish are to be got. I will become\nhis servant.\u201d So he drew near.\n\n\u201cWhat is it, Sir?\u201d asked Viraka.\n\n\u201cI want to be your servant, my Lord!\u201d was the reply.\n\nViraka agreed, and from that time the other served him. And from that\ntime, Viraka used to eat enough fish to keep him alive, and the rest he\ngave to Savitthaka as soon as he had caught them; and when Savitthaka\nhad eaten enough to keep him alive, he gave what was over to his wife.\n\nAfter a while pride came into his heart. \u201cThis crow,\u201d said he, \u201cis\nblack, and so am I: in eyes and beak and feet, too, there is no\ndifference between us. I don\u2019t want his fish; I will catch my own!\u201d So\nhe told Viraka that for the future he intended to go down to the water\nand catch fish himself. Then Viraka said, \u201cGood friend, you do not\nbelong to a tribe of such crows as are born to go into water and catch\nfish. Don\u2019t destroy yourself!\u201d\n\nBut in spite of this attempt to dissuade him, Savitthaka did not take\nthe warning to heart. Down he went to the pool, into the water; but he\ncould not make his way through the weeds and come out again\u2014there he\nwas, entangled in the weeds, with only the tip of his beak appearing\nabove the water. So not being able to breathe he perished there beneath\nthe water.\n\nHis mate noticed that he did not return, and went to Viraka to ask news\nof him. \u201cMy Lord,\u201d she asked, \u201cSavitthaka is not to be seen: where is\nhe?\u201d And as she asked him this, she repeated the first stanza:\u2014\n\n    \u201cO have you seen Savitthaka, O Viraka, have you seen\n      My sweet-voiced mate whose neck is like the peacock in its sheen?\u201d\n\nWhen Viraka heard it, he replied, \u201cYes, I know where he is gone,\u201d and\nrecited the second stanza:\u2014\n\n    \u201cHe was not born to dive beneath the wave,\n      But what he could not do he needs must try;\n\n    So the poor bird has found a watery grave,\n      Entangled in the weeds, and left to die.\u201d\n\nWhen the lady-crow heard it, weeping, she returned to Benares.\n\n\n\n\n                             THE JUDAS TREE\n\n\nOnce upon a time Brahmadatta, the king of Benares, had four sons. One\nday they sent for the charioteer, and said to him:\n\n\u201cWe want to see a Judas tree; show us one!\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, I will,\u201d the charioteer replied. But he did not show it to\nthem all together. He took the eldest at once to the forest in the\nchariot, and showed him the tree at the time when the buds were just\nsprouting from the stem. To the second he showed it when the leaves were\ngreen, to the third at the time of blossoming, and to the fourth when it\nwas bearing fruit.\n\nAfter this it happened that the four brothers were sitting together, and\nsome one asked, \u201cWhat sort of a tree is the Judas tree?\u201d Then the first\nbrother answered:\n\n\u201cLike a burnt stump!\u201d\n\nAnd the second cried, \u201cLike a banyan tree!\u201d\n\nAnd the third\u2014\u201cLike a piece of meat!\u201d\n\nAnd the fourth said, \u201cLike the acacia!\u201d\n\nThey were vexed at each other\u2019s answers, and ran to find their father.\n\u201cMy Lord,\u201d they asked, \u201cwhat sort of a tree is the Judas tree?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat did you say to that?\u201d he asked. They told him the manner of their\nanswers. Said the king:\n\n\u201cAll four of you have seen the tree. Only when the charioteer showed you\nthe tree, you did not ask him, 'What is the tree like at such a time?\u2019\nor 'at such another time?\u2019 You made no distinctions, and that is the\nreason for your mistake.\u201d And he repeated the first stanza:\u2014\n\n    \u201cAll have seen the Judas tree\u2014\n    What is your perplexity?\n    No one asked the charioteer\n    What its form the livelong year!\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                      THE RIVER FISH AND THE MONEY\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta\nwas born in the family of a landed proprietor.\n\nWhen he grew up, he became a wealthy man. He had a young brother.\nAfterwards their father died. They determined to arrange some business\nof their father\u2019s. This took them to a village, where they were paid a\nthousand pieces of money. On their way back, as they waited on a\nriver-bank for the boat, they ate a meal out of a leaf-pottle. The\nBodhisatta threw what he left into the Ganges for the fishes, giving the\nmerit to the river-spirit. The spirit accepted this with gratification,\nwhich increased her divine power, and on thinking over this increase of\nher power, became aware what had happened. The Bodhisatta laid his upper\ngarment upon the sand, and there he lay down and went to sleep.\n\nNow the young brother was of a rather thievish nature. He wanted to\nfilch the money from the Bodhisatta and keep it himself; so he packed a\nparcel of gravel to look like the parcel of money, and put them both\naway.\n\nWhen they had got aboard, and were come to mid-river, the younger\nstumbled against the side of the boat, and dropped overboard the parcel\nof gravel, as he thought, but really the money.\n\n\u201cBrother, the money\u2019s overboard!\u201d he cried. \u201cWhat\u2019s to be done?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat can we do? What\u2019s gone is gone. Never mind about it,\u201d replied the\nother.\n\nBut the river-spirit thought how pleased she had been with the merit she\nhad received, and how her divine power had been increased, and resolved\nto take care of his property. So by her power she made a big-mouthed\nfish swallow the parcel, and took care of it herself.\n\nWhen the thief got home, he chuckled over the trick he had served his\nbrother, and undid the remaining parcel. There was nothing but gravel to\nbe seen! His heart dried up; he fell on his bed, and clutched the\nbedstead.\n\nNow some fishermen just then cast their nets for a draught. By power of\nthe river-spirit, this fish fell into the net. The fishers took it to\ntown to sell. People asked what the price was.\n\n\u201cA thousand pieces and seven annas,\u201d said the fishermen.\n\nEverybody made fun of them. \u201cWe have seen a fish offered for a thousand\npieces!\u201d they laughed.\n\nThe fishers brought their fish to the Bodhisatta\u2019s door, and asked him\nto buy it.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the price?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cYou may have it for seven annas,\u201d they said.\n\n\u201cWhat did you ask other people for it?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom other people we asked a thousand rupees and seven annas; but you\nmay have it for seven annas,\u201d they said.\n\nHe paid seven annas for it, and sent it to his wife. She cut it open,\nand there was the parcel of money! She called the Bodhisatta. He gave a\nlook, and recognizing his mark, knew it for his own. Thought he, \u201cThese\nfishers asked other people the price of a thousand rupees and seven\nannas, but because the thousand rupees were mine, they let me have it\nfor seven annas only! If a man does not understand the meaning of this,\nnothing will ever make him believe.\u201d\n\nWhen he had said this, he wondered how it was that he had recovered his\nmoney. At the moment the river-spirit hovered invisibly in the air, and\ndeclared\u2014\n\n\u201cI am the Spirit of the Ganges. You gave the remains of your meal to the\nfishes, and let me have the merit. Therefore I have taken care of your\nproperty.\u201d\n\nThen the Spirit told about the mean trick which the younger brother had\nplayed. Then she added, \u201cThere he lies, with his heart dried up within\nhim. There is no prosperity for the cheat. But I have brought you your\nown, and I warn you not to lose it. Don\u2019t give it to your young thief of\na brother, but keep it all yourself.\u201d\n\nThus spoke the Spirit, not wishing that the treacherous villain should\nreceive the money. But the Bodhisatta said, \u201cThat is impossible,\u201d and\nall the same sent the brother five hundred.\n\n\n\n\n                        THE DREAMER IN THE WOOD\n\n\nNow the Buddha once upon a time lived alone in the woods, in the ecstasy\nof meditation. For wild fruits he went no further afield. When fruit\ngrew upon the tree, he ate the fruit; in time of flowers, he ate\nflowers. When the leaves grew, he ate leaves. When leaves were none, he\nate the bark of trees. Thus, in the highest contentment he lived a long\ntime in that place.\n\nNow on a day, Sakka, the King of the gods, appeared before him and,\nwishing to test him, said: \u201cBehold yon man, all black of hue, my spirit\nlikes him not.\u201d\n\nNow by his divine insight the Buddha knew that Sakka spoke to him. And\nhe made answer and said:\n\n\u201cThough black of hue, I am a true Brahmin. A man is not black by reason\nof his outer skin; only can sin make him black.\u201d Thus he discoursed to\nSakka, and it was as he had made the moon to rise in the sky. And the\ngod asked him what boon he would crave.\n\nAnd the Divine being asked to be free of three things: malice, hatred\nand greed.\n\nThen Sakka: \u201cWhat is bad in these things?\u201d And Buddha made answer,\n\u201cBecause hatred grows from small to great and is ever full of\nbitterness. Malice brings evil. First word, then touch, next fist, then\nstaff, and last the swordstroke flashing free. When men are urged by\ngreed, then arise fraud and deceit and swift pursuit of savage loot\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said Sakka, \u201cchoose another boon.\u201d\n\nThen said the Buddha, \u201cGrant that in the woods where I live alone, no\ndisease may mar my peace, or break my ecstasy.\u201d\n\nThen said Sakka, \u201cHe chooseth no thing connected with food.\u201d And he\ngranted yet another boon.\n\nAnd the Buddha said, \u201cLet no creature ever be harmed for me in body or\nin mind.\u201d\n\nAnd Sakka made the tree bear fruit perennially, and saluting the Buddha\nby touching his head with joined hands, he said:\n\n\u201cDwell here for ever free from disease,\u201d and returned to his throne.\n\n\n\n\n                            THE RICE MEASURE\n\n\nLong ago, Brahmadatta was king in Benares, in the land of K\u0101si. At that\ntime our Bodisat was his valuer. He valued both horses, elephants, or\nthings of that kind; and jewelry, gold, or things of that kind; and\nhaving done so, he used to have the proper price for the goods given to\nthe owners thereof.\n\nNow the King was covetous. And in his avarice he thought, \u201cIf this\nvaluer estimates in this way, it will not be long before all the wealth\nin my house will come to an end. I will appoint another valuer.\u201d\n\nAnd opening his window, and looking out into the palace yard, he saw a\nstupid miserly peasant crossing the yard. Him he determined to make his\nvaluer; and sending for him, asked if he would undertake the office. The\nman said he could; and the King, with the object of keeping his treasure\nsafer, established that fool in the post of valuer.\n\nThenceforward the dullard used to value the horses and elephants, paying\nno regard to their real value, but deciding just as he chose; and since\nhe had been appointed to the office, as he decided, so the price was.\n\nNow at that time a horse-dealer brought five hundred horses from the\nnorthern prairies. The King sent for that fellow, and had the horses\nvalued. And he valued the five hundred horses at a mere measure of rice,\nand straightway ordered the horse-dealer to be given the measure of\nrice, and the horses to be lodged in the stable. Then the horse-dealer\nwent to the former valuer, and told him what had happened, and asked him\nwhat he should do.\n\n\u201cGive a bribe to that fellow,\u201d said he, \u201cand ask him thus: 'We know now\nthat so many horses of ours are worth a measure of rice, but we want to\nknow from you what a measure of rice is worth. Can you value it for us,\nstanding in your place by the King?\u2019 If he says he can, go with him into\nthe royal presence, and I will be there too.\u201d\n\nThe horse-dealer accepted the Bodisat\u2019s advice, went to the valuer, and\nbribed him, and gave him the hint suggested. And he took the bribe, and\nsaid, \u201cAll right! I can value your measure of rice for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, let us go to the audience-hall,\u201d said he; and taking him\nwith him, went into the King\u2019s presence. And the Bodisat and many other\nministers went there also.\n\nThe horse-dealer bowed down before the King, and said, \u201cI acknowledge, O\nKing, that a measure of rice is the value of the five hundred horses;\nbut will the King be pleased to ask the valuer what the value of the\nmeasure of rice may be?\u201d\n\nThe King, not knowing what had happened, asked, \u201cHow now, valuer, _what_\nare five hundred horses worth?\u201d\n\n\u201cA measure of rice, O King!\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cVery good, then! If five hundred horses are worth only a measure of\nrice, what is that measure of rice worth?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe measure of rice is worth all Benares, both within and without the\nwalls,\u201d replied that foolish fellow.\n\nFor the story goes that he first valued the horses at a measure of rice\njust to please the King; and then, when he had taken the dealer\u2019s bribe,\nvalued that measure of rice at the whole of Benares. Now at that time\nthe circumference of the rampart of Benares was twelve leagues, and the\nland in its suburbs was three hundred leagues in extent. Yet the foolish\nfellow estimated that so-great city of Benares, together with all its\nsuburbs, at a measure of rice!\n\nHearing this the ministers clapped their hands, laughing, and saying,\n\u201cWe used to think the broad earth, and the King\u2019s realm, were alike\nbeyond price; but this great and famous royal city is worth, by his\naccount, just a measure of rice! O the depth of the wisdom of the\nvaluer! How can he have stayed so long in office? Truly he is just\nsuited to our King!\u201d Thus they laughed him to scorn.\n\nThen the Bodisat uttered this stanza:\n\n    \u201cWhat is a measure of rice worth?\n    All Benares and its environs!\n    And what are five hundred horses worth?\n    That same measure of rice!\u201d\n\nThen the king was ashamed, and drove out that fool, and appointed the\nBodisat to the office of valuer. And in course of time the Bodisat\npassed away according to his deeds.\n\n\n\n\n                          THE POISONOUS TREES\n\n\nOnce upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the\nBodhisatta was born a merchant. When he grew up, and was trading with\nfive hundred wagons, he came one day to where the road led through a\ngreat forest. Halting at the outskirts, he mustered the caravan and\naddressed them thus:\u2014\u201cPoison-trees grow in this forest. Take heed that\nyou taste no unfamiliar leaf, flower, or fruit without first consulting\nme.\u201d All promised to take every care; and the journey into the forest\nbegan. Now just within the forest-border stands a village, and just\noutside that village grows a What-fruit tree. That What-fruit tree\nexactly resembles a mango alike in trunk, branch, leaf, flower, and\nfruit. And not only in outward semblance, but also in taste and smell,\nthe fruit\u2014ripe and unripe\u2014mimics the mango. If eaten, it is a deadly\npoison, and causes instant death.\n\nNow some greedy fellows, who went on ahead of the caravan, came to this\ntree and, taking it to be a mango, ate of its fruit. But others said,\n\u201cLet us ask our leader before we eat\u201d; and they accordingly halted by\nthe tree, fruit in hand, till he came up. Perceiving that it was no\nmango, he said:\u2014\u201cThis 'mango\u2019 is a What-fruit tree; don\u2019t touch its\nfruit.\u201d\n\nHaving stopped them from eating, the Bodhisatta turned his attention to\nthose who had already eaten. First he dosed them with an emetic, and\nthen he gave them the four sweet foods to eat; so that in the end they\nrecovered.\n\nNow on former occasions caravans had halted beneath this same tree, and\nhad died from eating the poisonous fruit which they mistook for mangoes.\nOn the morrow the villagers would come, and seeing them lying there\ndead, would fling them by the heels into a secret place, departing with\nall the belongings of the caravan, wagons and all.\n\nAnd on the day too of our story these villagers failed not to hurry at\ndaybreak to the tree for their expected spoils. \u201cThe oxen must be ours,\u201d\nsaid some. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll have the wagons,\u201d said others;\u2014whilst others again\nclaimed the wares as their share. But when they came breathless to the\ntree, there was the whole caravan alive and well!\n\n\u201cHow came you to know this was not a mango tree?\u201d demanded the\ndisappointed villagers. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know,\u201d said they of the caravan; \u201cit\nwas our leader who knew.\u201d\n\nSo the villagers came to the Bodhisatta and said, \u201cMan of wisdom, what\ndid you do to find out this tree was not a mango?\u201d\n\n\u201cTwo things told me,\u201d replied the Bodhisatta, and he repeated this\nstanza:\u2014\n\n    \u201cWhen near a village grows a tree\n    Not hard to climb, \u2019tis plain to me,\n    Nor need I further proof to know,\n    \u2014No wholesome fruit thereon can grow!\u201d\n\nAnd having taught the Truth to the assembled multitude, he finished his\njourney in safety.\n\n\n\n\n                       THE WELL-TRAINED ELEPHANT\n\n\nOnce upon a time when King Magadha was ruling in Rajagaha in Magadha,\nthe Bodhisatta was born an elephant. He was white all over and graced\nwith all beauty. And because of his beauty the King made him his state\nelephant.\n\nOne festal day the King adorned the city like a city of the devas and,\nmounted on the elephant in all its trappings, made a solemn procession\nround the city attended by a great retinue. And all along the route the\npeople were moved by the sight of that peerless elephant to exclaim,\n\u201cOh, what a stately gait! what proportions! what beauty! what grace!\nsuch a white elephant is worthy of an universal monarch.\u201d All this\npraise of his elephant awoke the King\u2019s jealousy and he resolved to have\nit cast over a precipice and killed. So he summoned the mahout and asked\nwhether he called that a trained elephant.\n\n\u201cIndeed he is well trained, Sire,\u201d said the mahout. \u201cNo, he is very\nbadly trained.\u201d \u201cSire, he is well trained.\u201d \u201cIf he is so well trained,\ncan you get him to climb to the summit of Mount Vepulla?\u201d \u201cYes, Sire.\u201d\n\u201cAway with you, then,\u201d said the King. And he got down from the elephant,\nmaking the mahout mount instead, and went himself to the foot of the\nmountain, whilst the mahout rode on the elephant\u2019s back up to the top of\nMount Vepulla. The King with his courtiers also climbed the mountain,\nand had the elephant halted at the brink of a precipice. \u201cNow,\u201d said he\nto the man, \u201cif he is so well trained as you say, make him stand on\nthree legs.\u201d\n\nAnd the mahout on the elephant\u2019s back just touched the animal with his\ngoad by way of sign and called to him, \u201cHi! my beauty, stand on three\nlegs.\u201d \u201cNow make him stand on his two fore-legs,\u201d said the King. And the\nGreat Being raised his hind-legs and stood on his fore-legs alone. \u201cNow\non the hind-legs,\u201d said the King, and the obedient elephant raised his\nfore-legs till he stood on his hind-legs alone. \u201cNow on one leg,\u201d said\nthe King, and the elephant stood on one leg.\n\nSeeing that the elephant did not fall over the precipice, the King\ncried, \u201cNow if you can, make him stand in the air.\u201d\n\nThen thought the mahout to himself, \u201cAll India cannot show the match of\nthis elephant for excellence of training. Surely the King must want to\nmake him tumble over the precipice and meet his death.\u201d So he whispered\nin the elephant\u2019s ear, \u201cMy son, the King wants you to fall over and get\nkilled. He is not worthy of you. If you have power to journey through\nthe air, rise up with me upon your back and fly through the air to\nBenares.\u201d\n\nAnd the Great Being, endowed as he was with the marvelous powers which\nflow from Merit, straightway rose up into the air. Then said the mahout,\n\u201cSire, this elephant, possessed as he is with the marvelous powers which\nflow from Merit, is too good for such a worthless fool as you: none but\na wise and good King is worthy to be his master. When those who are so\nworthless as you get an elephant like this, they don\u2019t know his value,\nand so they lose their elephant, and all the rest of their glory and\nsplendor.\u201d So saying the mahout, seated on the elephant\u2019s neck, recited\nthis stanza:\u2014\n\n    \u201cExalted station breeds a fool great woe;\n    He proves his own and others\u2019 mortal foe.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd now, good-by,\u201d said he to the King as he ended this rebuke; and\nrising in the air, he passed to Benares and halted in mid-air, over the\nroyal courtyard. And there was a great stir in the city and all cried\nout, \u201cLook at the state-elephant that has come through the air for our\nKing and is hovering over the royal courtyard.\u201d And with all haste the\nnews was conveyed to the King, too, who came out and said, \u201cIf your\ncoming is for my behoof, alight on the earth.\u201d And the Bodhisatta\ndescended from the air. Then the mahout got down and bowed before the\nKing, and in answer to the King\u2019s enquiries told the whole story of\ntheir leaving Rajagaha. \u201cIt was very good of you,\u201d said the King, \u201cto\ncome here\u201d; and in his joy he had the city decorated and the elephant\ninstalled in his state-stable. Then he divided his kingdom into three\nportions, and made over one to the Bodhisatta, one to the mahout, and\none he kept himself. And his power grew from the day of the Bodisatta\u2019s\ncoming till all India owned his sovereign sway. As Emperor of India, he\nwas charitable and did other good works till he passed away to fare\naccording to his deserts.\n\n\n\n\n                           THE WISE PHYSICIAN\n\n\nKis\u0101gotam\u012b is the name of a young girl, whose marriage with the only son\nof a wealthy man was brought about in true fairy-tale fashion. She had\none child, but when the beautiful boy could run alone, it died. The\nyoung girl in her love for it carried the dead child clasped to her\nbosom, and went from house to house of her pitying friends asking them\nto give her medicine for it. But a Buddhist mendicant, thinking, \u201cShe\ndoes not understand,\u201d said to her: \u201cMy good girl, I myself have no such\nmedicine as you ask for, but I think I know of one who has.\u201d \u201cOh, tell\nme who that is!\u201d said Kis\u0101gotam\u012b. \u201cThe Buddha can give you medicine: go\nto him,\u201d was the answer.\n\nShe went to Gautama, and doing homage to him, said: \u201cLord and Master, do\nyou know any medicine that will be good for my child?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know of some,\u201d said the Teacher.\n\nNow it was the custom for patients or their friends to provide the herbs\nwhich the doctors required, so she asked what herbs he would want. \u201cI\nwant some mustard-seed,\u201d he said; and when the poor girl eagerly\npromised to bring some of so common a drug, he added: \u201cYou must get it\nfrom some house where no son, or husband, or parent, or slave has died.\u201d\n\u201cVery good,\u201d she said, and went to ask for it, still carrying her dead\nchild with her. The people said: \u201cHere is mustard-seed, take it.\u201d But\nwhen she asked, \u201cIn my friend\u2019s house has any son died, or a husband, or\na parent, or slave?\u201d they answered: \u201cLady! what is this that thou\nsayest; the living are few, but the dead are many.\u201d Then she went to\nother houses, but one said: \u201cI have lost a son\u201d; another, \u201cWe have lost\nour parents\u201d; another, \u201cI have lost my slave.\u201d\n\nAt last, not being able to find a single house where no one had died,\nher mind began to clear, and, summoning up resolution, she left the dead\nbody of her child in a forest, and returning to the Buddha paid him\nhomage. He said to her: \u201cHave you the mustard-seed?\u201d \u201cMy Lord,\u201d she\nreplied, \u201cI have not; the people tell me that the living are few, but\nthe dead are many.\u201d Then he talked to her on that essential part of his\nsystem\u2014the impermanency of all things, till her doubts were cleared\naway, and, accepting her lot, she became a disciple and entered the\nfirst Path.\n\n    The following lines, ascribed to some of her Sisters in the Order\n    and given in the _Psalms_ (translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids), would\n    apply to Kis\u0101gotam\u012b:\u2014\n\n        \u201cLo! from my heart the hidden shaft is gone,\n        The shaft that nestled there hath he removed;\n        And that consuming grief for my dear child,\n        Which poisoned all the life of me, is dead.\n        To-day my heart is healed, my yearning stayed,\n        Perfected the deliverance wrought in me.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                           NOTES FOR TEACHERS\n\n\nThe following notes are intended for teachers who may wish to use this\ncollection as a class text book. In all these stories we have the idea\nof the Indian God in various re-incarnations until he has attained full\nBuddhahood. Beyond occasionally mentioning the fact of Re-birth in\nintroducing the story (so as to preserve the Oriental flavor) I do not\ninsist on this, nor do I introduce the name of the Buddha into the\nactual table of contents at the beginning of the book, as it might seem\nabstruse to the younger readers. But because I wish to appeal to\nscholars in the higher sense as well as to boys and girls, I have tried\nin many instances to preserve the language as given in the translation\nfrom the Pali. I have also tried to avoid cutting out any important\nepisodes; this sometimes happens in the popular adaptation of these\ndeeply ethical stories. I have tried to keep as far as possible the\nEastern point of view, since the book is sponsored by one of the\nforemost of Oriental Scholars, Dr. Rhys Davids, who has helped me with\nhis advice, and taught me the spirit of the whole conception.\n\n\n                         THE HARE THAT RAN AWAY\n\n\nThis is the only story I have completely re-adapted for quite small\nchildren, and I have found it among the most popular. I often tell it in\nconnection with Hans C. Andersen\u2019s story of the \u201cScandal in the Poultry\nYard,\u201d of which the subject is practically the same: the first being\nsimple and direct, the second veiled in gentle satire.\n\n\n                      THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE\n\n\nI include this story because of the lighter side and because we cannot\nhide from our boys and girls that craft does enter into the question of\nsuccess as the world understands it. It is, however, in my mind where\nthe Buddha is not at his highest level. Perhaps the less this story is\nexplained the better.\n\n\n                    THE SPIRIT THAT LIVED IN A TREE\n\n\nThis story I consider to be one of the most beautiful in the collection.\nWe cannot baldly appeal to the children to think \u201cof the next\ngeneration,\u201d but this wonderful picture must fire their imagination\nwhere the ordinary didactic appeal might fail.\n\n\n                  THE HARE THAT WAS NOT AFRAID TO DIE\n\n\nIn this story it may be necessary to make a few words of comment on the\npoint of view of the Buddha which might not be quite intelligible to the\nchild. The fact, that though he was ready to sacrifice his own body he\nhad a care for the tiny insects which might perish with him, has much\nsignificance in the story scheme. It shows not only the letter of the\nlaw but the spirit of the love which prompted him to act, and represents\none of the principal tenets of the Buddhist Faith. The whole story is\nsomewhat remote from modern life, but I have found it of great interest\nto children of different ages, most especially at the time when Fast\nDays were called for.\n\n\n                    THE PARROT THAT FED HIS PARENTS\n\n\nThe dramatic interest of this story appeals to all ages. I have found\nquite young children enthralled by the adventures of the parrot. I take\nexception to the lack of poetic justice in the kinsfolk sharing the\nparrot\u2019s reward\u2014but it was necessary to the Buddha\u2019s happiness, and if\nchildren should raise the question, I should explain it on that ground.\n\n\n                    THE MAN WHO WORKED TO GIVE ALMS\n\n\nThe method of alms-giving may not appeal to modern feeling, but the\nspirit in which the gifts were made rises to wonderful heights, and the\ndeeds are sanctified by the self-sacrifice which brings them about. In\ntelling this story to groups of boys and girls accustomed to the\nwarnings of charity organizations, the different conditions in the East\nmight be mentioned.\n\nWe have here the same idea as in the story of the King who gave his\neyes. This story seems to lead up to the other, in which the sacrifice\nis so much greater.\n\n\n                       THE KING WHO SAW THE TRUTH\n\n\nThis story may seem at first to be above the plane of the young child. I\nhave eliminated all the physical suffering, because it is not necessary\nto bring out the real meaning of the story. Older children (whether in\nyears or understanding) will be able to appreciate the beauty of the\nsacrifice and the exceeding greatness of the reward.\n\n\n                 THE BULL THAT DEMANDED FAIR TREATMENT\n\n\nThe fact that the Buddha insists on a fair wage, not from selfish greed\nbut for the sake of his employer, lifts the story from the realm of the\ncommonplace which the subject might suggest.\n\n\n                   THE BULL THAT PROVED HIS GRATITUDE\n\n\nAn excellent illustration for children of the necessity of kindness to\nanimals, not only from the merciful point of view, but from the\npractical question of ensuring good work.\n\n\n                   THE HORSE THAT HELD OUT TO THE END\n\n\nThe children will be much impressed by the courage of the horse, and the\npower of will he shows in accomplishing the task he has set himself. It\nis the spirit of the soldier at its best and might be cited as displayed\nduring the Great War by individuals from all nations.\n\n\n                     THE MONKEY THAT SAVED THE HERD\n\n\nThis is one of the most practical stories in the collection, showing\nthat for success in leadership it is necessary to have a quiet mind, a\ngreat deal of knowledge, and a firm belief in success. This is the way\nogres are outwitted. The frank laying down of his cards, his open\ndeclaration of his plans to the enemy, present the Bodisat at his best.\n\nThere is an unconscious note of humor in this tale, in presenting a\nmonkey as possessed of such complete self-control as to be able to bring\nabout so great a miracle, but if any explanation is offered in the\ntelling of these tales, it should be that, whatever the outward form,\nthe Buddha preserves the attribute of a god.\n\n\n                  THE MALLARD THAT ASKED FOR TOO MUCH\n\n\nOrigin of the \u201cGoose that laid the Golden Eggs\u201d; Pali word for golden\ngoose is Hansa, whence Gans, goose.\n\n\n                THE MERCHANT WHO OVERCAME ALL OBSTACLES\n\n\nFor encouraging a spirit of enterprise, and courage under difficulties,\nthis is an admirable story. I think both boys and girls will apply it\n(unconsciously) in their everyday undertakings, but this will depend\nlargely on the manner in which it is told: it must appeal to the\nimagination through the dramatic presentation.\n\n\n                THE ELEPHANT THAT WAS HONORED IN OLD AGE\n\n\nA splendid example of the honor we ought to show to those old people in\nthe community who have done really good work. This story might be taken\nin connection with stories from history illustrating the same point.\n\n\n                          THE FAITHFUL FRIEND\n\n\nA story which will encourage children\u2019s interest in animals and their\ncharacteristics, and will increase their interest in observing the ways\nof those animals under their care.\n\n\n                        THE HAWK AND THE OSPREY\n\n\nThis story should be told as dramatically as possible, because it is\nfull of action and will hold the children quite breathless. The little\ntouch of the lion objecting at first to be roused at an unreasonable\nhour is delightfully human, and the fact that when he realizes the\nnecessity he is ready to help, is worthy of his high position among the\nanimals.\n\n\n                       GRANDMOTHER\u2019S GOLDEN DISH\n\n\nThis story is specially useful because since _rogues_ are so often\nsuccessful in the ordinary sense, and we are bound to admit this\nordinary success, it is well that a graphic description of the triumph\nof honesty should be presented to children which will at once appeal to\ntheir sense of fairness.\n\n\n                     THE ELEPHANT THAT SPARED LIFE\n\n\nThis may seem a little too lofty for the children, but I think it well\nto include a few stories where the standard may seem too high and the\naction quixotic. In later years they will realize the philosophy of the\nstory, but the dramatic interest will appeal at once.\n\n\n                      HOW THE ANTELOPE WAS CAUGHT\n\n\nThis is an admirable treatise on the relative value of things which\nchildren are quick to see. It should be told with increasing dramatic\nforce up to the final run of the foolish antelope who has sacrificed his\nliberty to his greed.\n\n\n                            THE BANYAN DEER\n\n\nThis is one of the most beautiful of all the Jataka stories. I have\ngiven the whole as translated from the Buddhist Birth Stories, only\nleaving out parts of the description. Any curtailed edition of the\naction of this story, leaving out the tenderness of the Bodisat for the\ndeer that is \u201cwith young,\u201d robs the story of its most beautiful meaning.\n\n\n                    THE PUPIL WHO TAUGHT HIS TEACHER\n\n\nThis is a healthy idea and one which should commend itself to the young\nwho are naturally averse to the idea of Death. It is the opposite of the\nidea: Whom the gods love, die young.\n\n\n                         THE MAN WHO TOLD A LIE\n\n\nIn this story, if it is considered injudicious to tell children of the\nhypocrisy of the teacher and the priest, the title of the man could be\nleft out. For my part, and from experience as a teacher, I have always\nfound it wise to admit and condemn the same faults in teachers and\npreachers as in the laity, but to point out to the children that those\nsame faults are the more reprehensible because of the profession which\nis degraded by such people as the false priest.\n\n\n                     THE CROW THAT THOUGHT IT KNEW\n\n\nThis story shows the power of the skilled workman. The one who was not\nskilled thought he could do more than he had the power to do, and came\nto grief.\n\n\n                             THE JUDAS TREE\n\n\nThe point of this story is the impossibility of a just judgment without\nfull knowledge of your subject. Each one has only a partial knowledge\nand is therefore excluded from the knowledge of the whole.\n\n\n                      THE RIVER FISH AND THE MONEY\n\n\nThe power of honesty restores the lost treasure. The Bodisatta is not\nanxious about it, preserves his calm, and recovers it. Observe the way\nin which he keeps only the money which belongs to him, refusing to\nwithhold it from the dishonest man.\n\n\n                        THE DREAMER IN THE WOOD\n\n\nI have hesitated to include this story as beyond the range of children\nbut I leave it for the abnormal child who may value the joy of solitude.\n\n\n                            THE RICE MEASURE\n\n\nThe King falls easily into the trap that is laid for him. His craving\nfor greed leads him to appoint a fool and the fool leads to his failure.\n\n\n                          THE POISONOUS TREES\n\n\nHere we have the skill of knowledge. The Bodisatta knows how to\ndistinguish the mango tree from the What-fruit tree, and to save the\nlife of those who had eaten therefrom.\n\n\n                       THE WELL-TRAINED ELEPHANT\n\n\nHere we have the Bodisatta ready to do the miracle that he may convince\nthe King that he is unworthy to possess him. The whole picture is very\nstriking and the story lends itself to dramatic effect.\n\n\n                           THE WISE PHYSICIAN\n\n\nI am indebted to Sir Robert Morant, K.C.B., who has kindly been\ninterested in the preparation of my book as a whole, for the suggestion\nthat I should include this story (although it is not one of the series\nof Buddha Re-Birth Stories to which all the others belong), also for the\nreminder of this special version\u2014namely, the woman\u2019s own recognition,\nthrough her personal experience, of the impermanence of those things\nwhich seem to be lasting.\n\nI should not suggest this story as one which would appeal to children. I\nhave included it for \u201cchildren of larger growth\u201d as embodying one of the\nimportant tenets of the Buddhist Faith, and as showing how personal\ngrief may be assuaged in gaining sympathy with the sorrow of others.\n\n\n\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nMissing or obscured punctuation was corrected.\n\nTypographical errors were silently corrected.\n\nSpelling and hyphenation were made consistent when a predominant form\nwas found in this book; otherwise it was not changed.","title":"Eastern Stories and Legends","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":23592}