The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 36

Story of the Brahman, the thief, and the Rakshasa. [95]

A certain excellent Brahman received two cows as a donation. A thief happened to see them, and began plotting how to carry them off. At that very time a Rakshasa was longing to eat that Brahman. It happened that the thief and the Rakshasa, as they were going to his house at night to accomplish their objects, met, and telling one another their errands, went together. When the thief and the Rakshasa entered the Brahman's dwelling, they began to wrangle. The thief said; "I will carry off the oxen first, for if you lay hold of the Brahman first, and he wakes up, how can I get the yoke of oxen?" The Rakshasa said; "By no means! I will first carry off the Brahman, otherwise he will wake up with the noise of the feet of the oxen, and my labour will all be in vain." While this was going on, the Brahman woke up. Then he took his sword, and began to recite a charm for destroying Rakshasas, and the thief and the Rakshasa both fled.

"So the quarrel between those two, Chirajivin and the king of the crows, will be to our advantage, as the quarrel between the thief and the Rakshasa was to the advantage of the Brahman." When Vakranasa said this, the king of the owls asked his minister Prakarakarna for his opinion, and he answered him; "This Chirajivin should be treated with compa.s.sion, as he is in distress, and has applied to us for protection: in old time Sivi offered his flesh for the sake of one who sought his protection. [96] When the king of the owls heard this from Prakarakarna, he asked the advice of his minister Kruralochana, and he gave him the same answer.

Then the king of the owls asked a minister named Raktaksha, and he, being a discreet minister, said to him; "King, these ministers have done their best to ruin you by impolitic advice. Those, who know policy, place no confidence in the acts of a hereditary enemy. It is only a fool that, though he sees the fault, is satisfied with insincere flattery."

Story of the carpenter and his wife. [97]

For once on a time there was a carpenter, who had a wife whom he loved dearly; and the carpenter heard from his neighbours that she was in love with another man; so, wis.h.i.+ng to test the fidelity of his wife, he said to her one day: "My dear, I am by command of the king going a long journey to-day, in order to do a job, so give me barley-meal and other things as provision for the journey." She obeyed and gave him provisions, and he went out of the house; and then secretly came back into it, and with a pupil of his hid himself under the bed. As for the wife, she summoned her paramour. And while she was sitting with him on the bed, the wicked woman happened to touch her husband with her foot, and found out that he was there. And a moment after, her paramour, being puzzled, asked her which she loved the best, himself or her husband. When she heard this, the artful and treacherous woman said to that lover of hers; "I love my husband best, for his sake I would surrender my life. As for this unfaithfulness of mine, it is natural to women; they would even eat dirt, if they had no noses."

When the carpenter heard this hypocritical speech of the adulteress, he came out from under the bed, and said to his pupil; "You have seen, you are my witness to this; though my wife has betaken herself to this lover, she is still so devoted to me; so I will carry her on my head." When the silly fellow had said this, he immediately took them both up, as they sat on the bed, upon his head, with the help of his pupil, and carried them about.

"So an undiscerning blockhead, though he sees a crime committed before his eyes, is satisfied with hypocritical flattery, and makes himself ridiculous. So you must not spare Chirajivin, who is a follower of your enemy, for, if not carefully watched, he might slay your Majesty in a moment, like a disease." When the king of the owls heard Raktaksha say this, he answered; "It was in trying to benefit us that the worthy creature was reduced to this state. So how can we do otherwise than spare his life? Besides, what harm can he do us unaided?" So the king of the owls rejected the advice of Raktaksha, and comforted that crow Chirajivin. Then Chirajivin said to the king of the owls, "What is the use to me of life, now that I am in this state? So have logs of wood brought me, in order that I may enter the fire. And I will ask the fire as a boon, that I may be born again as an owl, in order that I may wreak my vengeance upon this king of the crows." When he said this, Raktaksha laughed and said to him; "By the favour of our master you will be well enough off: what need is there of fire? Moreover you will never become an owl, as long as you have the nature of a crow. Every creature is such as he is made by the Creator."

Story of the mouse that was turned into a maiden. [98]

For once on a time a hermit found a young mouse, which had escaped from the claws of a kite, and pitying it, made it by the might of his asceticism into a young maiden. And he brought her up in his hermitage; and, when he saw that she had grown up, wis.h.i.+ng to give her to a powerful husband, he summoned the sun. And he said to the sun; "Marry this maiden, whom I wish to give in marriage to some mighty one." Then the sun answered, "The cloud is more powerful than I, he obscures me in a moment." When the hermit heard that, he dismissed the sun, and summoned the cloud, and made the same proposal to him. He replied, "The wind is more powerful than I: he drives me into any quarter of the heaven he pleases." When the hermit got this answer, he summoned the wind and made the same proposal to him. And the wind replied, "The mountains are stronger than I, for I cannot move them." When the great hermit heard this, he summoned the Himalaya, and made the same proposal to him. That mountain answered him; "The mice are stronger than I am, for they dig holes in me."

Having thus got these answers in succession from those wise divinities, the great ris.h.i.+ summoned a forest mouse, and said to him, "Marry this maiden." Thereupon the mouse said, "Shew me how she is to be got into my hole." Then the hermit said, "It is better that she should return to her condition as a mouse." So he made her a mouse again, and gave her to that male mouse.

"So a creature returns to what it was, at the end of a long peregrination, accordingly you, Chirajivin, will never become an owl." When Raktaksha said this to Chirajivin, the latter reflected; "This king has not acted on the advice of this minister, who is skilled in policy. All these others are fools, so my object is gained." While he was thus reflecting, the king of the owls took Chirajivin with him to his own fortress, confiding in his own strength, disregarding the advice of Raktaksha. And Chirajivin, being about his person, and fed with pieces of meat and other delicacies by him, soon acquired as splendid a plumage as a peac.o.c.k. [99] One day, Chirajivin said to the king of the owls; "King, I will go and encourage that king of the crows and bring him back to his dwelling, in order that you may attack him this night and slay him, and that I may make [100]

some return for this favour of yours. But do you all fortify your door with gra.s.s and other things, and remain in the cave where your nests are, that they may not attack you by day." When, by saying this, Chirajivin had made the owls retire into their cave, and barricade the door and the approaches to the cave, with gra.s.s and leaves, he went back to his own king. And with him he returned, carrying a brand from a pyre, all ablaze, in his beak, and every one of the crows that followed him had a piece of wood hanging down from his beak. And the moment he arrived, he set on fire the door of the cave, in which were those owls, creatures that are blind by day, which had been barricaded with dry gra.s.s and other stuff.

And every crow, in the same way, threw down at the same time his piece of wood, and so kindled a fire and burnt the owls, king and all. [101]

And the king of the crows, having destroyed his enemies with the help of Chirajivin, was highly delighted, and returned with his tribe of crows to his own banyan-tree. Then Chirajivin told the story of how he lived among his enemies, to king Meghavarna, the king of the crows, and said to him; "Your enemy, king, had one good minister named Raktaksha; it is because he was infatuated by confidence, and did not act on that minister's advice, that I was allowed to remain uninjured. Because the villain did not act on his advice, thinking it was groundless, I was able to gain the confidence of the impolitic fool, and to deceive him. It was by a feigned semblance of submission that the snake entrapped and killed the frogs."

Story of the snake and the frogs. [102]

A certain old snake, being unable to catch frogs easily on the bank of a lake, which was frequented by men, remained there motionless. And when he was there, the frogs asked him, keeping at a safe distance; "Tell us, worthy sir, why do you no longer eat frogs as of old?" When the snake was asked this question by the frogs, he answered, "While I was pursuing a frog, I one day bit a Brahman's son in the finger by mistake, and he died. And his father by a curse made me a bearer of frogs. So how can I eat you now? On the contrary I will carry you on my back."

When the king of the frogs heard that, he was desirous of being carried, and putting aside fear, he came out of the water, and joyfully mounted on the back of the snake. Then the snake, having gained his good-will by carrying him about with his ministers, represented himself as exhausted, and said cunningly; "I cannot go a step further without food, so give me something to eat. How can a servant exist without subsistence?" When the frog-king, who was fond of being carried about, heard this, he said to him; "Eat a few of my followers then." So the snake ate all the frogs in succession, as he pleased, and the king of the frogs put up with it, being blinded with pride at being carried about by the snake.

"Thus a fool is deceived by a wise man who worms himself into his confidence. And in the same way I ingratiated myself with your enemies and brought about their ruin. So a king must be skilled in policy and self-restrained; a fool is plundered by his servants and slain by his foes at will. And this G.o.ddess of prosperity, O king, is ever treacherous as gambling, fickle as a wave, intoxicating as wine. But she remains as persistently constant to a king, who is self-contained, well-advised, free from vice, and knows differences of character, as if she were tied with a rope. So you must now remain attentive to the words of the wise, and glad at the slaughter of your enemies, rule a realm free from opponents." When the minister Chirajivin said this to the crow-king Meghavarna, the latter loaded him with honours, and ruled as he recommended.

When Gomukha had said this, he went on to say to the son of the king of Vatsa; "So you see, king, that even animals are able to rule prosperously by means of discretion, but the indiscreet are always ruined and become the laughing-stock of the public."

Story of the foolish servant.

For instance a certain rich man had a foolish servant. He, while shampooing him, in his extreme folly gave him a slap on his body, (for he fancied in his conceit that he thoroughly understood the business while he really knew nothing about it,) and so broke his skin. Then he was dismissed by that master and sank into utter despair.

"The fact is a man who, while ignorant, thinks himself wise, and rushes impetuously at any business, is ruined; hear another story in proof of it."

Story of the two brothers who divided all that they had. [103]

In Malava there were two Brahman brothers, and the wealth they inherited from their father was left jointly between them. And while dividing that wealth, they quarrelled about one having too little and the other having too much, and they made a teacher learned in the Vedas arbitrator, and he said to them; "You must divide every single thing into two halves, in order that you may not quarrel about the inequality of the division." When the two fools heard this, they divided every single thing into two equal parts, house, beds, et cetera; in fact all their wealth, even the cattle. They had only one female slave; her also they cut in two. When the king heard of that, he punished them with the confiscation of all their property.

"So fools, following the advice of other fools, lose this world and the next. Accordingly a wise man should not serve fools: he should serve wise men. Discontent also does harm, for listen to this tale."

The story of the mendicants who became emaciated from discontent.

There were some wandering mendicants, who became fat by being satisfied with what they got by way of alms. Some friends saw this and began to remark to one another; "Well! these mendicants are fat enough, though they do live on what they get by begging." Then one of them said,--"I will shew you a strange sight. I will make these men thin, though they eat the same things as before." When he had said this, he proceeded to invite the mendicants for one day to his house, and gave them to eat the best possible food, containing all the six flavours. [104] And those foolish men, remembering the taste of it, no longer felt any appet.i.te for the food they got as alms; so they became thin. So that man who had entertained them, when he saw these mendicants near, pointed them out to his friends, and said; "Formerly these men were sleek and fat, because they were satisfied with the food which they got as alms, now they have become thin, owing to disgust, being dissatisfied with their alms. Therefore a wise man, who desires happiness, should establish his mind in contentment; for dissatisfaction produces in both worlds intolerable and unceasing grief." When he had given his friends this lesson, they abandoned discontent, the source of crime; to whom is not a.s.sociation with the good improving? "Now king, hear of the fool and the gold."

Story of the fool who saw gold in the water. [105]

A certain young man went to a tank to drink water. There the fool saw in the water the reflection of a golden-crested bird, that was sitting on a tree. [106] This reflection was of a golden hue, and, thinking it was real gold, he entered the tank to get it, but he could not lay hold of it, as it kept appearing and disappearing in the moving water. But as often as he ascended the bank, he again saw it in the water, and again and again he entered the tank to lay hold of it, and still he got nothing. Then his father saw him and questioned him, and drove away the bird, and then, when he no longer saw the reflection in the water, explained to him the whole thing, and took the foolish fellow home.

"Thus foolish people, who do not reflect, are deceived by false suppositions, and become the source of laughter to their enemies, and of sorrow to their friends. Now hear another tale of some great fools."

Story of the servants who kept rain off the trunks. [107]

The camel of a certain merchant gave way under its load on a journey. He said to his servants, "I will go and buy another camel to carry the half of this camel's load. And you must remain here, and take particular care that, if it clouds over, the rain does not wet the leather of these trunks, which are full of clothes." With these words the merchant left the servants by the side of the camel, and went off, and suddenly a cloud came up and began to discharge rain. Then the fools said; "Our master told us to take care that the rain did not touch the leather of the trunks;" and after they had made this sage reflection, they dragged the clothes out of the trunks and wrapped them round the leather. The consequence was, that the rain spoiled the clothes. Then the merchant returned, and in a rage said to his servants; "You rascals! Talk of water! Why the whole stock of clothes is spoiled by the rain." And they answered him; "You told us to keep the rain off the leather of the trunks. What fault have we committed?" He answered; "I told you that, if the leather got wet, the clothes would be spoiled: I told it you in order to save the clothes, not the leather." Then he placed the load on another camel, and when he returned home, imposed a fine on his servants amounting to the whole of their wealth.

"Thus fools, with undiscerning hearts, turn things upside down, and ruin their own interests and those of other people, and give such absurd answers. Now hear in a few words the story of the fool and the cakes."

Story of the fool and the cakes. [108]

A certain traveller bought eight cakes for a pana; and he ate six of them without being satisfied, but his hunger was satisfied by eating the seventh. Then the blockhead exclaimed; "I have been cheated; why did I not eat this cake, which has allayed the pangs of hunger, first of all? Why did I waste those others, why did I not store them up?" In these words he bewailed the fact that his hunger was only gradually satisfied, and the people laughed at him for his ignorance.

Story of the servant who looked after the door. [109]

A certain merchant said to his foolish servant; "Take care of the door of my shop, I am going home for a moment. After the merchant had said this, he went away, and the servant took the shop-door on his shoulder and went off to see an actor perform. And as he was returning, his master met him and gave him a scolding. And he answered, "I have taken care of this door as you told me."

"So a fool, who attends only to the words of an order and does not understand the meaning, causes detriment. Now hear the wonderful story of the buffalo and the simpletons."