The Jātaka, vol. VI (nos. 538-547)

When he consented they gave him some meat and drink ; and when he finished his meal he asked them which he should carry over first. "Take your sister first and then take me," said Golakala. Then the man placed her on his shoulders and took the provisions and the present and went down into the stream. When he had gone a little way, he crouched down and walked along in a bent posture. Golakala, as he stood on the bank, thought to himself, "This stream must indeed be very deep; if it is so diflScult for even such a man as Dighapitthi, it must be impassable for me." When the other had carried the woman to the middle of the stream, he said to her, " Lady, I will cherish you, and you shall live bravely arrayed with fine dresses and ornaments and men-servants and maidservants ; what will this poor dwarf do for you 1 listen to what I tell you." She listened to his words and ceased to love her husband, and being at once infatuated with the stranger, she consented, saying, " If you will not abandon me, I will do as you say." So when they reached the opposite bank, they amused themselves and left Golakala, bidding him stay where he was. While he stood there looking on, they ate up the meat and drink and departed. When he saw it, he exclaimed, "They have struck up a friendship and are running away, leaving me here." [338] As he ran backwards and forwards he went a little way into the water and then drew back again in feai", and then in his anger at their conduct, he made a desperate leap, saying, "Let me live or die," and when once fairly in, he discovered how shallow the water was.

So he crossed it and pursued him and shouted, " You wicked thief, whither are you carrying my wife?" The other replied, "How is she your wife? she is mine"; and he seized him by the neck and whirled him round and threw him off. The other laid hold of Dighatala's hand and shouted, "Stop, where are you going? you are my wife whom I got after Avorking for seven years in a house " ; and as he thus disputed he came near the hall. A great crowd collected. The Great Being asked what the noise was about, and having sent for them and heard what each said he asked whether they would abide by his decision. On theii- both agreeing to do so, he sent for Dighapitthi and asked him his name. Then he asked his wife's name, but he, not knowing what it was, mentioned some other name.

Then he asked him the names of his parents and he told them, but when he asked him the names of his wife's parents he, not knowing, mentioned some other names. The Great Being put his story together and had him i-emoved. Tlien he sent for the other and asked him the names of all in the same way. He, knowing the truth, gave them correctly. Then he had him removed and sent for Dighatala and asked her what her name was and she gave it. Then he asked her her husband's name and she, not knowing, gave a wrong name. Then he asked her her parents' names and she gave them correctly, but when he asked her the names of her husband's parents'" names, she talked at random and gave wrong names. Then the sage sent for the other two and asked the multitude, " Does the woman's story agree with DTghapitthi or Golakala." They replied, "With Golakala." Then he pronounced his sentence, " This man is her husband, the other is a thief " ; and when he asked him he made him confess that he had acted as the thief. 7. " The chariot." A certain man, who was sitting in a chariot, alighted from it to wash his face. At that moment Sakka was considering and as he beheld the sage he resolved that he would make known the power and wisdom of Mahosadha the embryo Buddha.

So he came down in the form of a man^, and followed the chariot holding on behind. The man who sat in the chariot asked, " Why have you come 1 " He replied, "To serve you." The man agreed, and dismounting from the chariot went aside at a call of nature. Immediately Sakka mounted in the chariot and went off at speed. The owner of the chariot, his business do)ie, returned ; and when he saw Sakka hurrying away with the chariot, he ran quickly behind, crying, " Stop, stop, where are you taking my chariot ] " Sakka replied, " Your chariot must be another, this is mine." Thus wrangling they came to the gate of the hall. The sage asked, " What is this 1 " and sent for him : as he came, by his fearlessness and his eyes which winked not, the sage knew that this was Sakka and the other was the owner. Nevertheless he enquired the cause of the quarrel, and asked them, "Will you abide by my decision?" They said, "Yes." He went on, " I will cause the chariot to be driven, and you must both hold on behind : the owner will not let go, the other will." Then he told a man to drive the chariot, and he did so, the others holding on behind. The owner' went a little way, then being unable to run further he let go, but Sakka went on running with the chariot. When he had recalled the chariot, the sage said to the people : "This man ran a little way [339] and let go; the other ran out with the chariot and came back with it, yet there is not a drop of sweat on his body, no panting, he is fearless, his eyes wink not —

1 [Here Prof. Cowell's MS. comes to au end, and the mark remains in his copy of the text.] 166 The Jataha. Book XXII . this is Sakka, king of the gods." Then he asked, "Are you king of the gods?" "Yes." "Why did you come here? " "To spread the fame of your wisdom, O sage!" "Then," said he, "don't do that kind of thing again." Now Sakka revealed his power by standing poised in the air, and praised the sage, saying, " A wise judgment this ! " So he went to his own place. Then the minister unsummoned went to the king, and said, " O great king, thus was the Chariot Question resolved : and even Sakka was subdued by him; why do you not recognise superiority in men?" The king asked Senaka, " What say you, Senaka, shall we bring the sage here?" Senaka replied, " That is not all that makes a sage. Wait awhile : I will test him and find out." 8. " The pole." So one day, with a view of testing the sage, they fetcht an acacia pole, and cutting off about a span, they had it nicely smoothed by a turner, and sent it to the East Market-town, with this message : " The people of the Market-town have a name for wisdom. Let them find out then which end is the top and which the root of this stick.

If they cannot, thei'e is a fine of a thousand ])ieces." The people gathered together but could not find it out, and they said to their foreman, " Perhaps Mahosadha the sage would know ; send and ask him." The foreman sent for the sage from his playground, and told him the matter, how they could not find it out but perhaps he could. The sage thought in himself, " The king can gain nothing from knowing which is the top and which is the root ; no doubt it is sent to test me." He said, " Bring it here, my friends, I will find out." Holding it in his hand, he knew which was the top and which the root ; yet to please the heart of the people, he sent for a pot of water, and tied a string round the middle of the stick, and holding it by the end of the string he let it down to the surface of the water. The root being heavier sank first. Then he asked the people, " Is the root of a tree heavier, or the top?" " The root, wise sir!" " See then, this part sinks first, and this is therefore the root." By this mark he distinguished the I'oot from the top. The people sent it back to the king, distinguishing which was the root and which was the top. The king was pleased, and asked, who had found it out ? They said, " The sage Mahosadha, son of foreman Sirivaddhi." "Senaka, shall we send for him?" he asked. " Wait, my lord," he replied, " let us try him in another way."

9. " The head." Oue day, two heads were brought, one a woman's and one a man's ; these were sent to be distinguished, with a fine of a thousand pieces in case of failure. The villagers could not decide and asked the Great Being. He recognised them at sight, because, they say, the sutures in a man's head are straight, and in a woman's head they are crooked. By this mark he told which was whicli ; and they sent back to the king. The rest is as before. 10. " The snake." One day a male and a female snake were brought, and sent for the villagers to decide which was which. They asked the sage, and he knew at once when he saw them ; for the tail of the male snake is thick, that of the female is thin ; the male snake's head is thick, the female's is long; the eyes of the male are big, of the female small, the head' of the male is rounded, that of the female cut short. By these signs [340] he distinguished male from female. The rest is as before. 11. " The cock." One day a message was sent to the people of the East Market-towQ to this effect: "Send us a bull white all over, with horns on his legs, and a hump on the head, which utters his voice at three times" unfailingly; otherwise there is a fine of a thousand pieces." Not knowing one, they asked the sage. He said: "The king means you to send him a cock. This creature has horns on his feet, the spurs ; a hump on his head, the crest; and crowing thrice" utters his voice at thi-ee times unfailingly. Then send him a cock such as he describes." They sent one.

12. "The gem." The gem which Sakka gave to King Kusa was octagonal. Its thread was broken, and no one could remove the old thread and put in a new. One day they sent this gem, with dii-ections to take out the old thread and to put in a new ; the villagers could do neither the one nor the other, and in their difficulty they told the sage. He bade them fear nothing, and asked for a lump of honey. With this he smeared the two holes in the gem, and twisting a thread of wool, he smeared the end of this also with honey, he pushed it a little way into the hole, and put it in a place where ants wei'e passing. The ants smelling the honey came out of their hole, and eating away the old thi-ead bit hold of the end of the woollen thread and pulled it out at the other end. When he saw that it had passed through, he bade them present it to the king, who was pleased when he heard how the thread had been put in. ^ 13. "The calving." The royal bull was fed up for some months, so that his belly swelled out, bis horns were washed, he was anointed with oil, and bathed with turmeric, and then they sent him to the East Market-town, with this message : " You have a name for wisdom. Here is the king's royal bull, in calf ;

deliver him and send him back with the calf, or else there is a fine of a thousand pieces." The villagers, perplexed '^hat to do, applied to the sage ; who thought fit to meet one question with another, and asked, " Can you find a bold man able to speak to the king?" " That is no hard mattei'," they replied. So they summoned him, and the Great Being said — " Go, my good man, let your hair down loose over your shoulders, and go to the palace gate weeping and lamenting sore. Answer

J xavatthiko? I follow the Burmese version. 2 The Burmese version has " three notes ": — " when it crows it gives forth clearly three notes — one short, one middling, and one long." 168 The Jataka. Book XXII. none but the king, only lament ; and if the king sends for you to ask why you lament, say. This seven days my son is in labour and cannot bring forth; O help me ! tell me how I may deliver him ! Then the king will say, "What madness ! this is impossible ; men do not bear childi'en. Then you must say, If that be ti-ue, how can the ])eople of the East Market-town deliver your royal bull of a calf?" As he was bidden, so he did. The king asked who thought of that counter-quip ; and on hearing that it was the sage Mahosadha he was pleased. 14. "The boiled rice." Another day, to test the sage, this message was sent : " The people of the East Market-town must send us some boiled I'ice cooked under eight conditions, and these are — [341] without rice, without water, without a ))ot, without an oven, without lire, without firewood, without being sent along a road either by woman or man. If they cannot do it, there is a fine of a thousand pieces." The people perplext applied to the sage ; who said, " Be not troubled.

Take some broken rice^ for that is not rice ; snow, for that is not water ; an earthen bowl, which is no pot ; chop up some wood-blocks, which are no oven ; kindle fire by rubbing, instead of a proper fire ; take leaves instead of firewood ; cook your sour rice, put it in a new A^essel, press it well down, put it on the head of a eunuch, who is neither man nor woman, leave the main road and go along a footpath, and take it to the king." They did so; and the king was j^leased when he heard by whom the question had been solved.

15. "The sand." Another day, to test the sage, they sent this message to the villagers : " The king wishes to amuse himself in a swing, and the old rope is broken ; 3'ou are to make a rope of sand, or else pay a fine of a thousand pieces." They knew not what to do, and appealed to the sage, who saw that this was the place for a counter-question. He reassured the people ; and sending for two or three clever speakers, he bade them go tell the king : " My lord, the villagers do not know whether the sand-rope is to be thick or thin ; send them a bit of the old rope, a span long or four fingers; this they will look at and twist a rope of the same size." If the king replied, "Sand-rope there never was in ray house," they were to reply, " If your majesty cannot make a sand-rope, how can the villagers do so ] " They did so ; and the king Avas pleased on hearing that the sage had thought of this counter-quip. 16. "The tank." Another day, the mes.sage was : "The king desires to disport him in the water ; you must send me a new tank covered with water lilies of all five kinds, otherwise there is a fine of a thousand pieces." They told the sage, who saw that a counter-quip was wanted. He sent for several men clever at speaking, and said to them : " Go and play in the water till your eyes are red, go to the palace door with wet hair and wet

garments and your bodies all over mud, holding in your hands ropes, staves, and clods ; send word to the king of your coming, and when you are admitted say to him. Sire, inasmuch as your majesty has ordered the people of the East Market-town to send you a tank, we brought a great tank to suit your taste ; but she being used to a life in the forest, no sooner saw the town with its walls, moats, and watch-towers, than she took fright and broke the ropes and off into the forest : we pelted her with clods and beat her with sticks but could not make her come back. Give us then the old tank which your liTajesty is said to have brought from the forest, and we will yoke them together and bring the other back. The king will say, I never had a tank brought in from the forest, [342] and never send a tank there to be yoked and bring in another ! Then you must say. If that is so, how can the villagers send you a tank'?" They did so ; and the king was pleased to hear that the sage had thought of this.

17. " The park." Again on a day the king sent a message: " I wish to disport me in the park, and my })ark is old. The people of the East Market-town must send me a new park, filled with trees and flowers." The sage reassured them as before, and sent men to speak in the same manner as above. 18. Then the king was pleased, and said to Senaka : "Well, Senaka, shall we send for the sagel" But he, grudging the other's prosperity, said, " That is not all that makes a sage ; wait." On hearing this the king thought, "The sage Mahosadha was wise even as a child, and took my fancy. In all these mysterious tests and counter-quips he has given answers like a Buddha. Yet such a wise man as this Senaka will not let me siimmon him to my side. What care I for Senaka? I will bring the man here." So with a great following he set out for the village, mounted upon his royal horse. But as he went the horse put his foot into a hole and broke his leg ; so the king turned back from that place to the town. Then Senaka entered the presence and said : " Sire, did you go to the East Market-town to bring the sage back 1" " Yes, sir," said the king. "Sire," said Senaka, "you make me as one of no account.

I begged you to wait awhile ; but off you went in a hurry, and at the outset your royal horse broke his leg." The king had nothing to say to this. Again on a day he asked Senaka, "Shall we send for the sage, Senaka?" "If so, your majesty, don't go yourself but send a messenger, saying, O sage ! as I was on my way to fetch you my horse broke his leg : send us a better horse and a more excellent one'. If he takes the first alternative he will come himself, if the second he will send his father. Then will be a problem to test him." The king sent a messenger with this message. The sage on hearing it recognised that the king wished to see himself and

1 assataran no peseta settJuitaran ca. There is a play on the words; assatara may mean a mule, or a calf. 170 The Jdtaka. Book XXII. his father. So he went to his father, and said gieetiug him, " Father, the king wishes to see you and me. You go first with a thousand merchants in attendance ; and when you go, go not empty-handed, but take a sandalwood casket filled with fresh ghee. The king will speak kindly to you, and ofier you a householder's seat; take it and sit down. When you ai'e seated, I will come ; the king will speak kindly to me and ofier me such another seat. Then I will look at you ; take the cue and say, rising from your seat, Son Mahosadha the wise, take this seat. Then the question will be ripe for solution. "* He did so. On arriving at the palace door he caused his arrival to be made known to the king, and on the king's invitation, he entered, and greeted the king, and stood on one side. The king sjioke to him kindly, and asked where was his son the wise Mahosadha. " Coming after me, my lord." The king was pleased to hear of his coming, and bade the father sit in a suitable place. He found a place and sat there. [313] Meanwhile the Gi*eat Being drest himself in all his splendour, and attended by the thousand youths he came seated in a magnificent chariot.

As he entered the town he beheld an ass by the side of a ditch, and he directed some stout fellows to fasten up the mouth of the ass so that it should make no noise, to put him in a bag and cari*y him on their shoulders. They did so ; the Bodhisat entered the city with his great company. The people could not praise him enough. " This," they cried, " is the wise Mahosadha, the merchant Sirivaddhaka's son ; this they say is he, w^ho was born holding a herb of virtue in his hand ; he it is who knew the answers to so many problems set to test him." On arriving before tlie palace he sent in woi'd of his coming. The king was pleased to hear it and said, " Let my son the wise Mahosadha make haste to come in." So with his attendants he entered the palace and saluted the king and stood on one side. The king delighted to see him spoke to him very sweetly, and bade him find a fit seat and sit down. He looked at his father, and his father at this cue uprose from his seat and invited him to sit there, which he did. Thereupon the foolish men who were there, Senaka, Pukkusa, Kavinda, Devinda, and others, seeing him sit there, clapt their hands and laughed loudly and cried, " This is the blind fool they call wise ' He has made his father rise from his seat, and sits there himself !

Wise he should not be called surely." The king also was crestfallen. Then the Great Being said, " Why, my lord ! are you sad ?" "Yes, wise sir, I am sad. I Avas glad to hear of you, but to see you I am not glad." " Why so ? " " Because you have made your father rise from his seat, and sit there yourself." "What, my lord! do you think that in all eases the sire is better than the sons'?" "Yes, sir." "Did you not send word to me to bring you the better horse or the more excellent horse 1 " So saying he rose up and looking towards the young fellows, said, " Bring in the ass you have brought." Placing this ass

before the king he went on, " Sire, what is the price of this ass ? " The king said, " If it be serviceable, it is worth eight rupees." " But if he get a mule colt out of a thorobred Sindh mare, what will the price of it bel" "It will be priceless." "Why do you say that, my lord? Have you not just said that in all cases the sire is better than the sons? By your own saying the ass is worth more than the mule colt. Now have not your wise men clapt their hands and laughed at me because they did not know that 1 What wisdom is this of your wise men ! where did you get them 1 " And in contempt for all four of them he addrest the king in this stanza of the First Book^ : "Thiukst thou that the sii-e is always better than the son, 0 excellent king? Then is yon creature better than the mule ; the ass is the mule's sire 2." After this said, [344] he went on, " My lord, if the sire is better than the son, take my sire into your service ; if the son is better than the sire, take me." The king was delighted ; and all the company cried out applauding and praising a thousand times — " Well indeed has the wise man solved the question.'' There was ci'acking of fingers and waving of a thousand scarves : the four were crestfallen.

Now no one knows better than the Bodhisat the value of parents. If one ask then, why he did so : it was not to throw contempt on his father, but when the king sent the message, send the better horse or the more excellent horse," he did thus in order to solve that problem, and to make his wisdom to be recognised, and to take the shine out of the four sages*. The king was pleased; and taking the golden vase filled with scented water, poured the water upon the merchant's hand, saying, " Enjoy the East Market-town as a gift from the king. — Let the other merchants," he went ou, " be subordinate to this." This done he sent to the mother of the Bodhisat all kinds of ornaments. Delighted as he was at the Bodhisat's solution of the Ass Question, he wished to make the Bodhisat as his own son, and to the father said, " Good sir, give me the Great Being to be my son." He replied, "Sire, very young is he still; even yet his mouth smells of milk : but when he is old, he shall be with you." The king said however, " Good sir, henceforth you must give up your attachment to the boy ; from this day he is my son. I can support my son, so go your ways." Then he sent him away. He did obeisance to the king, and embraced his son, and throwing his arms about him kissed him upon the head, and gave him good counsel. The boy also bade his father farewell, and begged him not to be anxious, and sent him away.

The king then asked the sage, whether he would take his meals inside the palace or without it. He thinking that with so large a retinue it 1 Vol. I. p. 474 (traus., p. 254) ; cf. i. p. 53. See also Milinda, 205. - The metre shews corruption ; I do not understand hamsi. ' ' Gadrabha-iiaTiho nitthito.^ 172 The Jataha. Book XX 11. were best to have his meals outside the palace, replied to that effect. Then the king gave him a suitable house, and providing for the maintenance of the thousand youths and all, gave him all that was needful. From that time the sage attended upon the king. 19. Now the king desired to test the sage. At that time there was h precious jewel in a crow's nest on a palm-tree which stood on the bank of a lake near the southern gate, and the image of this jewel was to be seen reflected upon the lake. They told the king that there was a jewel in the lake. He sent for Senaka, [345] saying, "They tell me there is a jewel in the lake; how are we to get it?" Senaka said, "The best way is to drain out the water." The king instructed him to do so ; and he collected a number of men, and got out the water and mud, and dug up the soil at the bottom — but no jewel could he see.

But when the lake was again full, there was the reflexion of the jewel to be seen once more. Again Senaka did the same thing, and found no jewel. Then the king sent for the sage, and said, "A jewel has been seen in the lake, and Senaka has taken out the water and mud and dug up the earth without finding it, but no sooner is the lake full than it appears again. Can you get hold of it ? " He replied, " That is no hard task, sire, I will get it for you." The king was pleased at this promise, and with a great following he went to the lake, ready to see the might of the sage's knowledge. The Great Being stood on the bank, and looked. He perceived that the jewel was not in the lake, but must be in the tree, and he said aloud, " Sire, there is no jewel in the tank." " What ! is it not visible in the water?" So he sent for a pail of water, and said, " Now my lord, see — is not this jewel visible both in the pail and the lake?" "Then where can the jewel be?" "Sire, it is the reflexion which is visible both in the lake and in the pail, but the jewel is in a crow's nest in this palm-tree: send up a man and have it brought down." The king did so:

the man brought down the jewel, and the sage put it into the king's hand. All the people applauded the sage and mocked at Senaka — " Here's a precious jewel in a crow's nest up a tree, and Senaka makes strong men dig out the lake ! Surely a wise man should be like Mahosadha\" Thus they praised the Great Being ; and the king being delighted with him, gave him a necklace of ])earls from his own neck, and strings of pearls to the thousand boys, and to him and his retinue he granted the right to wait upon him without ceremony".

Again, on a day the king went with the sage into the park; [346] when a chameleon, which lived on the top of the ai'ched gateway, saw the king approach and came down and lay flat upon the ground. The king seeing this asked, "What is he doing, wise sir?" "Paying respect to 1 There is no need to add nn, as the editor suggests. ■■' ' EkunavUati-panho nitthito ' ; end of the Nineteen Problems. you, sire." " If so, let not his service be without reward ; give him a largess." " Sire, a largess is of no use to him ; all he wants is something to eat." "And what does he eat?" "Meat, sire." " How much ought he to have?" "A farthing's worth, sire." "A farthing's worth is no gift from a king," said the king, and he sent a man with orders to bring regularly and give to the chameleon a half-anna's worth of meat. This was done thereaftei-. But on a fast day, when there is no killing, the man could find no meat ; so he bored a hole through the half-anna piece, and strung it upon a thread, and tied it upon the chameleon's neck. This made the creature proud. That day the king again went into the park ; but the chameleon as he saw the king draw near, in pride of wealth made himself equal to the king, thinking within himself— "You may be very rich, Vedeha, but so am I." So he did not come down, but lay still on the archway, stroking his head. The king seeing this said, " Wise sir, this creature does not come down to-day as usual ; what is the reason 1 " and he recited the first stanza :

"Yon chameleon used not to climb upon the archway: explain, Mahosadha, why the chameleon has become stiff-necked." The sage perceived that the man must have been unable to find meat on this fast day when there was no killing, and tliat the creature must have become proud because of the coin hung about his neck ; so he recited this stanza : " The chameleon has got what he never had before, a half-anna piece ; hence he despises Vedeha lord of Mithila." [347] The king sent for the man and questioned him, and he told him all about it truly. Then he was more than ever pleased with the sage, who (it seemed) knew the idea of the chameleon, without asking any questions, with a wisdom like the supreme wisdom of a Buddha ; so he gave him the revenue taken at the four gates. Being angry with the chameleon, he thought of discontinuing the gift, but the sage told him that it was unfitting and dissuaded him'. Now a lad Pinguttara living in Mithila came to Takkasila, and studied under a famous teacher, and soon completed his education ; then after diligent study he proposed to take leave of his teacher and go. But in this teacher's family there was a custom, that if there should be a daughter ripe for marriage she should be given to the eldest pupil. This teacher had a daughter beautiful as a nymph divine, so he said, " My son, I will give you my daughter and you shall take her with you." Now this lad was unfortunate and unlucky, but the girl was very lucky. When he saw her he did not care for her ; but though he said so, he agreed, not wishing to disregard his master's words, and the brahmin married the

1 ' Kakantaka-panho nitthito.'' Here endeth the Chameleon (Question, 174 Tlie Jataka. Book XXII. daughter to him. Night came, when he lay upon the prepared bed ; no sooner had she got into the bed than up he got groaning and lay down upon the floor. She got out and lay beside him, then he got up and went to bed again ; when she came into the bed again he got out — for ill luck cannot mate with good luck. So the girl stayed in bed and he stayed on the ground. Thus they spent seven days. Then he took leave of his teacher and departed taking her with him. On the road there was not so much as an exchange of talk between them. Both unhappy they came to Mithila. Not far from the town, Pinguttara saw a fig-tree covered with fruit, and being hungry he climbed up and ate some of the figs. The girl also being hungry came to the foot of the tree and called out — "Throw down some fruit for me too." " What ! " says he, " have you no hands or feet? Climb up and get it yourself." She climbed up also and ate. No sooner did he see that she had climbed than he came down quickly, [348] and piled thorns around the tree, and made off saying to himself — " I have got rid of the miserable woman at last." She could not get down, but remained sitting where she was.

Now the king, who had been amusing himself in the forest, was coming back to town on his elephant in the evening time when he saw her, and fell in love ; so he sent to ask had she a husband or no. She replied, "Yes, I have a husband to whom my family gave me ; but he has gone away and left me here alone." The courtier told this tale to the king, who said, " Treasure trove belongs to the Crown." She was brought down and placed on the elephant and conveyed to the palace, where she was sprinkled with the water of consecration as his queen consort. Dear and darling .she was to him ; and the name Udumbara or Queen Fig was given to her because he first saw her upon a fig-tree.

One day after this, they who dwelt by the city gate had to clean the road for the king to go disporting into his pai-k ; and Pinguttara, who had to earn his living, tucked up his clothes and set to work clearing the road with a hoe. Before the road was clean the king with Queen Udumbara came along in a chariot ; and the queen seeing the wretch clearing the road could not restrain her triumph, but smiled to see the wretch there. The king was angry to see her smile, and asked why she did so. "My lord," she said, "that road-cleaner fellow is my former husband, who made me climb up the fig-tree and then piled thorns about it and left me ; when I saw him I could not help feeling triumphant at my good fortune, and smiled to see the wretch there." The king said, " You lie, you laughed at someone else, and I will kill you ! " And he drew his sword. She was alarmed and said, " Sire, pray ask your wise men ! " The king asked Senaka whether he believed her. "No, my lord, I do not," said Senaka, "for who would leave such a woman if he once possest her]" When she heard this she was more frightened than ever. But the king

thought, "What does Senaka know about it? I will ask the sage"; and asked him reciting this stanza' : " Should a woman be virtuous and fair, and a man not desire her — do you believe it Mahosadha 1 " [349] The sage replied : " 0 king, I do believe it : the man would be an unlucky wretch ; good luck and ill luck never can mate together." These woi'ds allayed the king's anger, and his heart was calmed, and much pleased he said, " O wise man ! if you had not been here, I should have trusted the words of that fool Senaka and lost this precious woman : you have saved me my queen." He recompensed the sage with a thousand pieces of money. Then the queen said to the king respectfully, "Sii-e, it is all through this wise man that my life has been saved ; grant me the boon, that I may treat him as my youngest brother." "Yes, my queen, I consent, the boon is gi-anted." "Then, my lord, from this day I will eat no dainties without my brother, from this day in season and out of season my door shall be open to send him sweet food — this boon I crave." " You may have this boon also, my lady," quoth the king. Here endeth the Question of Good and Bad Luck^

Another day, the king after breakfast was walking up and down in the long walk when he saw through a doorway a goat and a dog making friends. Now this goat was in the habit of eating the grass thrown to the elephants beside their stable before they touched it; the elephant-keepers beat it and drove it away; and as it ran away bleating, one man ran quickly after and struck it on the back with a stick. The goat with its back humped in pain went and lay down by the great wall of the palace, on a bench. Now there was a dog which had fed all its days upon the bones, skin, and refuse of the royal kitchen. That same day the cook had finished preparing the food, and had dished it up, and while he was wiping the sweat off his body the dog could no longer bear the smell of the meat and fish, and entered the kitchen, pushed off the cover [350] and began eating the meat. But the cook hearing the noise of the dishes ran in and saw the dog : he clapt to the door and beat it with sticks and stones. The dog dropt the meat from his mouth and ran off yelping ; and the cook seeing him run, ran after and struck him full on the back with a stick. The dog humping his back and holding up oue leg came to the place where the goat was lying. Then the goat said, " Friend, why do you hump your back 1 Are you suffering from colic?" The dog replied, "You are humping your back too, have you an attack of colic?" He told his tale. Then the goat added, "Well, can you ever go to the kitchen again?" "No, it is as

1 See Vol. 11. p. 115. * ' Sirikdlakanni-panho nitthito,' 176 The Jataha. Book XXII. much as my life's wox'tli. — Can you go to the stable again?" "No more than you, 'tis as much as my life's worth." Well, they began to wonder how they could live. Then the goat said, " If we could manage to live together I have an idea." '= Pray tell it." " Well, sir, you must go to the stable ; the elephant-keepers will take no notice of you, for (think they) he eats no gi'ass ; and you must bring me my grass. I will go to the kitchen, and the cook will take no notice of me, thinking that I eat no meat, so I will bring you your meat." " That's a good plan," said the other, and they made a bargain of it : the dog went to the stable and brought a bundle of grass in his teeth and laid it beside the great wall ; the other went to the kitchen and brought away a great lump of meat in his mouth to the same place. The dog ate the meat and the goat ate the grass ; and so by this device they lived together in harmony by the great wall. When the king saw their friendship he thought — " Never have I seen such a thing before. Here are two natural enemies living in friendship together. I will put this in the form of a question to my wise men ; those who cannot understand it I will banish from the realm, and if anyone guesses it [351] I will declare him the sage incomparable and shew him all honour. There is no time to-day ; but to-morrow when they come to wait upon me I will ask them the question. So next day when the wise men had come to wait upon him, he put his question in these words :

"Two natural enemies, who never before in the world could come within seven paces of each other, have become friends and go inseparable. What is the reason ? " After this he added another stanza : " If this day before noon you cannot solve me this question, I will banish you all. I have no need of ignorant men." Now Senaka was seated in the first seat, the sage in the last ; and thought the sage to himself, " This king is too slow of wit to have thought out this question by himself, he must have seen something. If I can get one day's grace I will solve the riddle. Senaka is sure to find some means to postpone it for a day." And the other four wise men could see nothing, being like men in a dark room : Senaka looked at the Bodhisat to see what he would do, the Bodhisat looked at Senaka. By the way Mahosadha looked Senaka perceived his state of mind ; he sees that even this wise man does not understand the question, he cannot answer it to-day but wants a day's grace ; he would fulfil this wish. So he laughed loudly in a reassuring manner and said, " What, sire, you will banish us all if we cannot answer your question"?" "Yes, sir." "Ah, you know that it is a knotty question, and we cannot solve it ; do but wait a little. A knotty question cannot be solved in a crowd. We will think it over,

and afterwards [352] explain it to you. So let us have a chance." So he said relying on the Great Being, and then recited these two stanzas : " In a great crowd, where is a great din of people assembled, our minds are distracted, our thoughts cannot concentrate, and we cannot solve the question. But alone, calm in thought, apart they will go and ponder on the matter, in solitude grappling with it hrmly, then they will solve it for thee, O lord of men." The king, exasperated though he was at his speech, said, threatening them, " Very well, think it over and tell nie ; if you do not, I will banish you." The four wise men left the palace, and Senaka said to the others, " Friends, a delicate question this which the king has put ; if we cannot solve it there is great fear for us. So take a good meal and reflect carefully." After this they went each to his own house. The sage on his part rose and sought out Queen Udumbara, and to her he said, " O queen, where was the king most of to-day and yesterday?" "Walking lip and down the long walk, good sir, and looking out of the window."

" Ah," thought the Bodhisat, " he must have seen something there." So he went to the place and looked out and saw the doings of the goat and the dog. "The king's question is solved!" he concluded, and home he went. The three others found out nothing, and came to Senaka, who asked, "Have you found out the question?" "No, master." "If so, the king will banish you, and what will you do?" "But you have found it out?" "Indeed no, not I." "If you cannot find it out, how can we? We roared like lions before the king, and said. Let us think and we will solve it; and now if we cannot, he will be angry. What are we to do?" "This question is not for us to solve : [353] no doubt the sage has solved it in a hundred ways." " Then let us go to him." So they came all four to the Bodhisat's door, and sent to announce their coming, and entering spoke politely to him ; then standing on one side they asked the Great Being, " W^ell, sii', have you thought out the question?" "If I have not, who will? Of course I have." "Then tell us too." He thought to

himself, "If I do not tell them, the king will banish them, and will honour me with the seven precious things. But let not these fools perish — I will tell them." So he made them sit down on low seats, and to uplift their hands in salutation, and without telling them what the king had really seen, he composed four stanzas, and taught them one each in the Pali language, to recite when the king should ask them, and sent them away. Next day they went to wait on the king, and sat where they were told to sit, and the king asked Senaka, " Have you solved the question, Senaka?" "Sire, if I do not know it who can?" "Tell me, then." "Listen, my lox'd," and he recited a stanza as he had been taught : "Young beggars and j^oung princes like and delight in ram'«' flesh ; dog's flesh they do not eat. Yet there might be friendship betwixt ram and dog." ^ The words mendo and urabbho mean ' ram,' and I have translated them literally in the following stanzas, reserving ' goat ' for elaka. 178 The Jataka. Book XXII. Although Seuaka recited the stanza he did not know its meaning ; but the king did because he had seen the thing. " Senaka has found it out," he thought; and then turned to Pukkusa and asked him. "What? am not I a wise man?" asked Pukkusa, and recited his stanza as he had been taught :

" They take oft' a goatskin to cover the horse's back withal, but a dogskin they do not use for covering : yet there might be friendship betwixt ram and dog." [354] Neither did he understand the matter, but the king thought he did because he had seen the thing. Then he asked Kavinda and he also recited his stanza : " Twisted horns hath a ram, the dog hath none at all ; one eateth grass, one flesh : yet there might be friendship loetwixt ram and dog." " He has found it out too," thought the king, and passed on to Devinda ; who with the otliers recited his stanza as he had been taught : " Grass and leaves doth the ram eat, the dog neither grass nor leaves ; the dog would take a hare or a cat : yet there might be friendship betwixt ram and dog." Next the king questioned the sage : " Mj son, do you understand this question ? " " Sire, who else can understand it from Avici to Bhavagga, from lowest hell to highest heaven?" "Tell me, then." "Listen, sire"; and he made clear his knowledge of the fact by reciting these two stanzas :

" The ram, with eight half-feet on his four feet, and eight hooves, unobserved, brings meat for the other, and he brings grass for him^. The chief of Videha, the lord of men, on his terrace beheld with his own eyes the interchange of food given by each to the other, between bow-wow and full-mouth." [355] The king, not knowing that the others had their knowledge through the Bodhisat, was delighted to think that all five had found out the riddle each by his own wisdom, and recited this stanza : "No small gain is it that I have men so wise in my house. A matter profound and subtile they have penetrated with noble speech, the clever men ! " So he said to them, " One good turn deserves another," and made his return in the following stanza : " To each I give a chariot and a she-mule, to each a rich village, very choice, these I give to all the wise men, delighted at their noble speech." All this he gave. Here endeth the Question of the Goat in the Twelfth Book^ ^ I have transposed the two last lines, to suit the obvious sense; the grammar is incorrect as they stand. One might almost suppose that Senaka was reciting his verse learnt by rote.

- Mendalia-pahho: see iv. 186 (trans., p. 115). But Queeu Udumbara knew that the others had got their knowledge of the question through the sage ; and thought she, " The king has given the same reward to all five, like a man who makes no difference between peas and beans. Surely my brother should have had a special reward." So she went and asked the king, "Who discovered the riddle for you, sir?" "The five wise men, madam." "But my lord, through whom did the four get their knowledge?" "I do not know, madam." "Sire, what do those men know ! It was the sage — who wished that these fools should not be ruined through him, and taught them the problem. [356] Then you give the same reward to them all. That is not right ; you should make a distinction for the sage." The king was pleased that the sage had not revealed that they had their knowledge through him, and being desirous of giving him an exceeding great reward, he thought, " Never mind : I will ask my son another question, and when he replies, I will give him a great reward." Thinking of this he hit on the Question of Poor and Rich.

One day, when the five wise men had come to wait upon him, and when they were comfortably seated, the king said, " Senaka, I will ask a question." " Do, sire." Then he recited the first stanza in the Question of Poor and Rich : "Endowed with wisdom and bereft of wealth, or wealthy and without wisdom ■ — I ask you this question, Senaka : Which of these two do clever men call the better ? " Now this question had been handed down from generation to generation in Senaka's family, so he replied at once : " Verily, O king, wise men and fools, men educated or uneducated, do service to the wealthy, although they be high-born and he be base-born. Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, and the wealthy is better." The king listened to this answer; then without asking the other three, he said to the sage Mahosadha who sat by : " Thee also I ask, lofty in wisdom, Mahosadha, who knowest all the Law : A fool with wealth or a wise man with small store, which of the two do clever men call the better ? " [357] Then the Great Being replied, " Hear, O king :

"The fool commits sinful acts, thinking 'In this world I am the better' ; he looks at this world and not at the next, and gets the worst of it in both. Beholding this I say: The wise is better than the wealthy fool." This said, the king looked at Senaka : " Well, you see Mahosadha says the wise man is the best." Senaka said, " Your majesty, Mahosadha is a child ; even now his mouth smells of milk. What can he know?" and he I'ecited this stanza : " Science does not give riches, nor does family or personal beauty. Look at that idiot Gorimanda greatly prospering, because Luck favours the wretch ^ Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, the wealthy is better." 1 Bead sin hiiiam as two words. 180 The Jataka. Book XXII. [358] Hearing this the king said, "What now, Mahosadha my soni" He answered, " My lord, what does Senaka know % He is like a crow where rice is scattered, like a dog trying to lap up milk : sees himself but sees not the stick which is ready to fall upon his head. Listen, my lord," and he recited this stanza :

" He that is small of wit, when he gets wealth, is intoxicated : struck by misfortune he becomes stupefied : struck by ill luck or good luck as chance may come, he writhes like a fish in the hot sun. Beholding this I say : The wise is better than the wealthy fool." "Now then, master!" said the king on hearing this. Senaka said, " My lord, what does he know ? Not to speak of men, it is the fine tree full of fruit which the birds go after," and he recited this stanza : " As in the forest, the birds gather from all quarters to the tree which has sweet fruit, so to the rich man who has treasure and wealth crowds flock together for their profit. Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, the wealthy is the better." "Well, my son, what now?" the king asked. The sage answered, "What does that pot-belly know? Listen, my lord," and he recited this " The powerful fool does not well to win treasure by violence ; roar loud as he will, they^ drag the simpleton oflf to hell. [359] Beholding this I say : The wise is better than the wealthy fool."

Again the king said, " Well, Senaka ? " to which Senaka replied : " Whatsoever streams pour themselves into the Gauges, all these lose name and kind. The Ganges falling into the sea, is no longer to be distinguished. So the world is devoted to wealth. Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, the rich is better." Again the king said, " Well, sage?" and he answered, "Hear, 0 king!" with a couple of stanzas : "This mighty ocean of which he spoke, whereinto always flow rivers innumerable, this sea beating incessantly on the shore can never pass over it, mighty ocean though it be. So it is with the chatterings of the fool : his prosperity cannot overpass the wise. Beholding this I say : The wise is better than the prosperous fool." [360] "Well, Senaka?" said the king. " Hear, O king!" said he, and recited this stanza : " A wealthy man in high position may lack all self-control, but if he says anything to others, his word has weight in the midst of his kinsfolk ; but wisdom has not that effect for the man without wealth. Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, the rich is better."

" Well, my son ? " said the king again. " Listen, sire ! what does that stupid Senaka know?" and he I'ecited this stanza : " For another's sake or his own the fool and small of wit speaks falsely ; he is put to shame in the midst of company, and hereafter he goeth to misery. Beholding this I say : The wise is better than the wealthy fool." ' I.e. ' nirayapdld,' the guardians of hell. Then Senaka recited a stanza : " Even if one be of great wisdom, but without rice^ or grain, and needy, should he say anything, his word has no weight in the midst of his kinsfolk, [361] and prosperity does not come to a man for his knowledge. Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, the rich is better." Again the king said, " What say you to that, my son ? " And the sage replied, " What does Senaka know 1 he looks at this world, not the next," and lie recited this stanza : " Xot for his own sake nor another's does the man of gi-eat wisdom speak a lie; he is honoured in the midst of the assembly, and hereafter he goes.* happiness. Beholding this I say : The wise is better than the wealthy fool."

Then Senaka recited a stanza : "Elephants, kine, horses, jewelled earrings, women, are found in rich families; these all are for the enjoyment of the rich man without supernatural power. Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, the rich is bettei-." The sage said, "What does he know?" and continuing to explain the matter he recited this stanza : " The fool, who does thoughtless acts and speaks foolish words, the unwise, is cast oft' by Fortune as a snake ca.sts the old skin. Beholding this I say : The wise is better than the wealthy fool." [362] "What nowl" asked the king then; and Senaka said, "My lord, what can this little boy know 1 Listen ! " and he recited this stanza, thinking that he would silence the sage : " We are five wise men, venerable sir, all waiting upon you with gestures of respect ; and you are our lord and master, like Sakka, lord of all creatures, king of the gods. Beholding this I say : The wise is mean, the rich is better." When the king heard this he thought, " That was neatly said of Senaka ; I wonder whether my son will be able to refute it and to say something else." So he asked him, "Well, wise sir, what now?" But this argument of Senaka's there was none able to refute except the Bodhisat ; so the Great Being refuted it by saying, " Sire, what does this fool know ? He only looks at himself and knows not the excellence of wisdom. Listen, sire," and he recited this stanza :

"The wealthy fool is but the slave of a wise man, when questions of this kind arise ; when the sage solves it cleverly, then the fool falls into confusion. Beholding this I say : The wise is better than the wealthy fool." As if he drew forth golden sand from the foot of Sineru, as though he bought the full moon up in the sky, so did he set forth this argument, so did the Great Being shew his wisdom. Then the king said to Senaka, " Well, Senaka, cap that if you can ! " But like one who had used up all the corn in his granary, he sat without answer, disturbed, [363] grieving. • andlayo. Follovving the Burmese version I derive this from ndli, a measure (of rice, &c.). 182 The Jataka. Book XXII. If he could have produced another argument, even a thousand stanzas would not^ have finished this Birth. But when he remained without an answer, the Great Being went on with this stanza in praise of wisdom, as though he poured out a deep flood : "Verily wisdom is esteemed of the good; wealth is beloved because men are devoted to enjoyment. The knowledge of the Buddhas i.s incomparable, and wealth never surpasses wisdom."

Hearing this the king was so pleased with the Great Being's solution of the question, tliat he rewarded him with riches in a great sliower, and recited a stanza : "Whatsoever I asked he has answered me, Mahosadha- the only preacher of the Law. A thousand kine, a bull and an elephant, and ten chariots drawn by thorobreds, and sixteen excellent villages, here I give thee, pleased with thy answer to the question 3." Here endeth the Question of Rich and Poor (Book xx). From that day the Bodliisat's glory was great, and Queen Udumbara managed it all. When he was sixteen she thought : " My young brother has grown up, and great is his glory ; we must find a wife for him." This she said to the king, and the king was well pleased. " Very good," said he, " tell him." [364:] She told him, and he agreed, and she said, " Then let us find you a bride, my son." The Great Being thought, " I should never be satisfied if they choose me a wife ; I will find one for myself." And he said, " Madam, do not tell the king for a few days, and I will go seek a wife to suit my taste, and then I will tell you." " Do so, my son," she replied. He took leave of the queen, and went to his house, and informed his companions.

Then he got by some means the outfit of a tailor, and alone went out by the northern gate into North Town, Now in that place was an ancient and decayed merchant-family, and in this f aniily was a daughter, the lady Amara, a beautiful girl, wise, and with all the marks of good luck. That morning early, this girl had set out to the place where her father was plowing, to bring him rice-gruel which she had cooked, and it so happened that she went by the same road. When the Great Being saw her coming he thought, " A woman with all lucky marks ! If she is unwed she must be my wife." She also when she beheld him thought, " If I could live in the house of such a man, I might restore my family." The Great Being thought, " Whether she be wed or not I do not know : I will ask her by hand-gesture, and if she be wise she will understand." So standing afar off he clenched his fist. She understood that he was asking whether she had a husband, and spread out her hand. Then he went up to her, and asked her name. She said, " My

1 na seems to be wanted before nitthapeyya. - I translate as though Mahosadho; I cannot understand the syntax of the text. name is that which neither is, nor was, nor ever shall be." "Madam, there is nothing in the world immortal, and your name must be Amara, the Immortal." "Even so, master." "For whom, madam, do you carry that gruel ■?" "For the god of old time." "Gods of old time are one's parents^, and no doubt you mean your father." " So it must be, master." "What does your father do"?" "He makes two out of one." Now the making two out of one is plowing. " He is plowing, madam." [365] "Even so, master." "And where is your father plowing?" "Where those who go come not again." " The place whence those who go come not again is the cemetery: he is plowing then near a cemetery." "Even so, master." "Will you' come again to-day, madam?" "If a come I will not come^, if a come not I will come." " Your father, methinks, madam, is plowing by a riverside, and if the flood come you will not come, if it come not you will." After this interchange of talk, the lady Amara offered him a drink of the gruel. The Great Being, tliinking it ungracious to refuse, said he would like some. Then she put down the jar of gruel ; and the Great Being thought, " If she offer it to me without first washing the pot and giving me water to wash my hands, I will leave her and go." But she took up water in the pot and offered him water for washing, placed the pot empty upon the ground not in his hands, stirred up the gruel in the jar, filled the pot with it.

But there was not much rice in it, and the Great Being said, " Why, madam, there is very little rice here!" "We got no water, master." " You mean when your field was in growth, you got no water upon it." " Even so, master." So she kept some gruel for her father, and gave some to the Bodhisat. He drank, and gargled his mouth, and said, " Madam, I will go to your house ; kindly shew me the way." She did so by reciting a stanza which is given in the First Book :

" By the way of the cakes and gruel, and the double-leaf tree in flower, by the hand wherewith I eat I bid thee go, not by that whei'ewith I eat not : that is the way to the market- town, that secret path you must find*." Here endeth the Question of the Secret Path. [366] He reached the house by the way indicated ; and Amara's mother saw him and gave him a seat. " May I offer you some gruel, master?" she asked. "Thank you, mother — sister Amara gave me a little." She at once recognized that he must have come on her daughter's account. ^ jmbbadevatu ndma mdtdpitaro. 2 Reading with B<^ essasiti, or C*^^" essathd ti. ■' essati in the original, having uo subject, might refer to the father, " if he come." This increases the subtlety of the riddle. * The schoHast explains thus : " Entering the village you will see a cake-shop and then a gruel-shop, further on an ebony tree in flower {kovildro, Bauhinia Variegata) : take a path to the right (south)." — Channapatha-pahho nitthito. 184 Tlie Jataka. Booh XXII. The Great Being, when he saw their poverty, said, "Mother, I am a tailor : have you anything to mend?" "Yes, master, but nothing to pay." "There is no need to pay, mother; bring the things and I will mend them." She brought him some old clothes, and each as she brought it the Bodhisat mended. The wise man's business always goes well, you know. He said then, " Go tell the people in the street." She {)ublished it abroad in the village ; and in one day by his tailoring the Great Being earned a thou.sand j)ieces of money. The old dame cooked him a midday meal, and in the evening asked how much she should cook. " Enough, mother, for all those who live in this house." She cooked a quantity of rice with some curry and condiments.

Now Amara in the evening came back from the forest, bearing a faggot of wood upon her head and leaves on her hip. She threw down the wood before the front door and came in by the back door. Her father returned later. The Great Being ate of a tasteful meal ; the girl served her parents before herself eating, washed their feet and the Bodhisat's feet. For several days he lived there watching her. Then one day to test her, he said, " My dear Amara, take half a measure of rice and with it make me gruel, a cake, and boiled rice." She agreed at once ; and husked the rice ; with the big grains she made gruel, the middling grains she boiled, and made a cake with the little ones, adding the suitable condiments. She gave the gruel with its condiments to the Great Being ; [367] he no sooner took a mouthful of it than he felt its choice flavour thrill through him: nevertheless to test her he said, "Madam, if you don't know how to cook why did you spoil my rice?" and spat it out on the ground. But she was not angry ; only gave him the cake, saying, " If the gruel is not good eat the cake." He did the same with that, and again rejecting the boiled rice, said, "If you don't know how to cook why did you waste my property?" As though angry he mixed all three together and smeared them all over her body from the head downwards, and told her to sit at the door. " Yery good, master," she said, not angry at all, and did so. Finding that there was no pride in her he said, "Come here, madam." At the first word she came.

When the Great Being came, he had brought with him a thousand rupees and a dress in his betel-nut-bag. Now he took out this dress and placed it in her hands, saying, " Madam, bathe with your companions and put on this dress and come to me." She did so. The sage gave her parents all the money he had brought or earned, and comforted them, and took her back to the town with him. There to test her he made her sit down in the gatekeeper's house, and telling the gatekeeper's wife of his plans, went to his own house. Then he sent for some of his men, and said, " I have left a woman in such and such a house ; take a thousand pieces of money with you and test her." He gave them the money and sent them away. They did as they were bid. She refused, saying, " That is not worth the dust on ray master's feet." The men came back and told the result. He sent them again, and a third time; and the fourth time he bade them drag her away by force. They did so, and when she saw the Great Being in all his glory she did not know him, but smiled and wept at the same time as she looked at him. He asked her why she did this. She replied, " Master, I smiled when I beheld your magnificence, and thought that this magnificence was not given you without cause, but for some good deed in a former life :

see the fruit of goodness ! I thought, and I smiled. But I wept to think that now you would sin against the property which another watched and tended, [368] and would go to hell : in pity for that I wept." After this test he knew her chastity, and sent her back to the same place. Putting on his tailor's disguise, he went back to her and there spent the night.

Next morning he repaired to the palace and told Queen Udumbara all about it; she informed the king, and adorning Amara with all kinds of ornaments, and seated her in a great chariot, and with great honour brought her to the Great Being's house, and made a gala day. The king sent the Bodhisat a gift worth a thousand pieces of money : all the people of the town sent gifts from tlie doorkeepers onwards. Lady Amara divided the gifts sent by the king into halves, and sent one portion back to the king ; in the same way she divided all the gifts sent to her by the citizens, and returned half, thus winning the hearts of the people. From that time the Great Being lived with her in happiness, and instructed the king in things temporal and spiritual. One day Senaka said to the other three who had come to see him, " Friends, we are not enough for this common man's son Mahosadha ; and now he has gotten him a wife cleverer than himself. Can we find a means to make a breach between him and the king ? " " What do we know, sir teacher — you must decide." " Well, never mind, there is a way. I will steal the jewel from the royal crest ; you, Pukkusa, take his golden necklace ; you, Kavinda, take his woollen robe ; you, Devinda, his golden slipper." They all four found a way to do these things.

Then Senaka said, " We must now get them into the fellow's house without his knowledge." So Senaka put the jewel in a pot of dates and sent it by a slavegirl, saying, " If anyone else wants to have this pot of dates, refuse, but give them pot and all to the people in Mahosadha's house." She took it and went to the sage's house, and walked up and down crying, " D'ye lack dates'?" But the lady Amara standing by the door saw this : she noticed that the girl went nowhere else, there must be something behind it ; so making a sign for her servants to approach, she cried herself to the girl, " Come here, girl, I will take the dates." [369] When slie came, the mistress called for her servants, but none answered, so she sent the girl to

186 The Jataka. Book XXII. fetch them. While she was gone Amaia put her hand into the pot and found the jewel. Wheu the girl returned Aniara asked her, " Whose servant are you, girl ? " " Pandit Senaka's maid." Then she enquired her name and her mother's name and said, " Well, give me some dates." " If you want it, mother, take it pot and all — I want no payment." "You may go, then," said Amara, and sent her away. Then she wrote down on a leaf, " On such a day of such a month the teacher Senaka sent a jewel from the king's crest for a present by the hand of such and such a girl." Pukkusa sent the golden necklet hidden in a casket of jasmine flowers ; Kavinda sent the robe in a basket of vegetables ; Devinda sent the golden slipper in a bundle of stx*aw. She received them all and put down names and all on a leaf, which she put away, telling the Great Being about it. Then those four men went to the palace, and said, " Why, my lord ! won't you wear your jewelled cresti" "Yes, I will — fetch it," said the king. But they could not find the jewel or the other things. Then the four said, " My lord, your oi'naments are in Mahosadha's house, and he uses them : that common man's son is your enemy!" So they slandered him.

Then his well-wishers went and told Mahosadha; and he said, "I will go to the king and find out." He waited upon the king, who was angry and said, " I know him not ! what does he want here 1 " He would not grant him an audience. When the sage learnt that the king was angry he returned home. Tiie king sent to seize him ; which the sage hearing from well-wishers indicated to Amara that it was time he departed. So he escaped out of the city in disguise to South Town where he plied the trade of a potter in a potter's house. All the city was full of the news that he had run away. Senaka and the other three hearing that he was gone, each unknown to the rest sent a letter to the lady Amara, to this effect: "Never mind: are we not wise men?" [370] She took all four letters, and answered to each that he should come at such a time. When they came, she had them clean shaven with razors, and threw them into the jakes, and tormented them sore, and wrapping them up in rolls of matting sent word to the king. Taking them and the four precious things together she went to the king's courtyard and there greeting him said : " My lord, the wise Mahosadha is no thief ; here are the thieves. Senaka stole the jewel, Pukkusa stole the golden necklace, Devinda stole the golden slipper :

on such a day of such a month by the hand of such and such a slave-girl these four were sent as presents. Look at this leaf. Take what is yours, and cast oat the thieves." And thus heaping contumely on these four persons she returned home. But the king was perplext about this, and since the Bodhisat had gone and there were no other wise men he said nothing, but told them to bathe and go home. Now the deity that dwelt in the royal parasol no longer hearing the voice of the Bodhisat's discourse wondered what might be the cause, and

when she had found it out determined to bring the sage back. So at night she appeared through a hole in the circuit of the parasol, and asked the king four questions which are found in the Questions of the Goddess, Book iv^, the verses beginning " He strikes with hands and feet." The king could not answer, and said so, but offered to ask his wise men, asking a day's delay. Next day he sent a message summoning them, but they replied, " We are ashamed to shew ourselves in the street, shaven as we are." So he sent them four skullcaps to wear on their heads. (That is the origin of these caps, so they say.) Then they came, and sat where they were invited to go, and the king said, " Senaka, last night the deity that dwells in my pai-asol asked me four questions, wliich I could not solve but said I would ask my wise men. Pray solve them for me." And then he recited the first stanza : " He strikes with hands and feet, and beats on the face ; yet, 0 king, he is dear, and gi-ows dearer than a husband 2."

Senaka stammered out whatever came first, "Strikes how, strikes whom," [371] and could make neither head nor tail of it; the others were all dumb. The king was full of distress. When again at night the goddess asked whether he had found out the riddle, he said, " I asked my four wise men, and not even they could say." She replied, " What do they know "? Save wise Mahosadha there is none can solve it. If you do not send for him and get him to solve these questions, I will cleave your head with this fiery blade." After thus frightening him she went on : "0 king, when you want fire don't blow a firefly, and when you want milk don't milk a horn." Then she repeated the Firefly Question* of the Fifth Book: "When light is extinguisht, who that goes in search of fire ever thinks a firefly to be fire, if he sees it at night? If he crumbles over it cow-dung and grass, it is a foolish idea ; he cannot make it burn. So also a beast gets no benefit by wrong means, if it milks a cow by the horn where milk will not flow. By many means men obtain benefit, by punishment of enemies and kindness shewn to friends. By winning over the chiefs of the army, and by the counsel of friends, the lords of the earth possess the earth and the fulness thereof."

[372] " They are not like you, blowing at a firefly in the belief that it is a fire : you are like one blowing at a firefly when fire is at hand, like one who throws down the balance and weighs with the hand, like one who wants milk and milks the horn, when you ask deep questions of Senaka and the like of liim. What do they know 1 Like fireflies are they, like a great flaming fire is Mahosadha blazing with wisdom. If you do not find out this question, you are a dead man." Having thus terrified the king, she disappeared "*. 1 Vol. ni. p. 1.52 alludes to this. ^ Kkajjopanaka-pafiho: in. 197. ■* Khajjopanaka-panho nitthito. Here endeth the Firefly Question. 188 The Jataka. Book XXIL Hereat the king, smitten with mortal fear, sent out the next day four of his courtiers, with orders to mount each in a chariot, and to go forth from the four gates of the city, and wheresoever they should find his son, the wise Mahosadha, to shew him all honour and speedily to bring him back. Three of these found not the sage ; but the fourth who went out by south gate found the Great Being in the South Town, who, after fetching clay and turning his master's wheel, sat all clay-besmeared on a bundle of straw eating balls of rice dipt in a little soup. Now the reason why he did so was this :

he thought that the king might suspect him of desiring to grasp the sovereign power, but if he heard that he was living by the craft of a potter this suspicion would be put away. When he perceived the courtier he knew that the man had come for himself; he understood that his prosperity would be restored, and he should eat all manner of choice food prepared by the lady Araara : so he dropt the ball of rice which he held, stood up, and rinsed his mouth. At that moment up came the courtier : now this was one of Senaka's faction, so he addrest him rudely as follows : " Wise Teacher, what Senaka said was useful information. Your prosperity gone, all your wisdom was unavailing ; and now there you sit all besmeared with clay on a truss of straw, eating food like that ! " and he recited this stanza from the Bhuri-paiiha or Question of Wisdom, Book x' :

[373] " Is it true, as they say, that you are one of profound wisdom ? So great prosperity, cleverness, and intelligence does not serve you, thus brought to insignificance, while you eat a little soup like that." Then the Great Being said, " Blind fool ! By power of my wisdom when I want to restore that prosperity I will do it " ; and he recited a couple of stanzas. " I make weal ripen by woe, I discriminate between seasonable and unseasonable times, biding at my own will ; I unlock the doors of profit ; therefore I am content with boiled rice. When I perceive the time for an effort, maturing my profit by my designs, I will bear myself valiantly like a lion, and by that mighty power you shall see me again." Then the courtier said: "Wise sir, the deity who lives in the parasol has put a question to the king, and the king asked the four wise men, — not a wise man of them could solve it ! Therefore the king has sent me for you." [374] " In that case," said the Great Being, " do you not see the power of wisdom 1 At such a time prosperity is of no use, but only one who is wise." Thus he praised wisdom. Then the courtier handed over to the Great Being the thousand pieces of money and the suit of clothes provided by the king, that he might bathe him and dress at once. The potter was terrified to think that Mahosadha the sage had been his workman, but the Great Being consoled him, saying, "Fear not, my master,

' Vol. IV. p. 72. you have been of great help to me," Then he gave him a thousand pieces; and with the mud-stains yet upon him mounted in the chariot and went to town. The courtier told the king of his arrival. " Whei'e did you find the sage, my son?" "My lord, he was earning his livelihood as a potter in the South Town ; but as soon as he heard that you had sent for him, without bathing, the mud yet staining his body, he came." The king thought, " If he were my enemy he would have come with pomp and retinue; he is not my enemy." Then he gave orders to take him to his house, and bathe him, and adorn him, and to bid him come back with the pomp that should be provided. This was done. He returned, and entered, and gave the king greeting, and stood on one side. The king spoke kindly to him, then to test him said this stanza : " Some do no sin because they are wealthy, but others do no sin for fear of the taint of blame. You are able, if your mind desired much wealth. Why do you not do me harm 1 "

The Bodhisat said : "Wise men do not sinful deeds for the sake of the pleasure that wealth gives. [375] Good men, even though struck by misfortune and brought low, neither for friendship nor for enmity will renounce the right." Again the king recited this stanza, the mysterious saying of a Khattiya^: " He who for any cause, small or great, should upraise himself from a low place, thereafter would walk in righteousness." And the Great Being recited this stanza with an illustration of a ti'ee : " From ofif a tree beneath whose shade a man should sit and rest, 'Twere treachery to lop a branch. False friends we do detest 2." Then he went on : " Sire, if it is treachery to lo|) a branch from a tree which one has used, what are we to say of one who kills a man 1 Your majesty has given my father gi-eat wealth, and has shewn me great favour: how could I be so treacherous as to injure you?" Thus having demonstrated altogether his loyalty he reproached the king for his fault : " When any man has disclosed the right to any, or has cleared his doubts, the other becomes his protection and refuge ; and a wise man will not destroy this friendship."

N"ow admonishing the king he said these two stanzas'* : "The idle sensual layman I detest. The false ascetic is a rogue confest. A bad king will a case unheard decide ; Wrath in the sage can ne'er be justified. [376] The warrior prince takes careful thought, and well-weighed verdict gives. When kings their judgment ponder well, their fame for ever lives*." 1 khattiijamdijd : cf. Dhp. p. 155. 2 Vol. V. p. 240 = trans., p. 123. 3 See in. 105, 154 = trans., pp. 70, 103, iv. 451 = trans., p. 279. * Bhuripanho nitthito. 190 The Jataka. Book XXII. When he had thus said, the king caused the Great Being to sit on the royal throne under the white ])arasol outspread, and himself sitting on a low seat he said : " Wise sir, the deity who dwells in the white parasol asked me four questions. I consulted the four wise men and they could not find them out: solve me the questions, my son!" "Sire, be it the deity of the parasol, or be they the four great kings, or be they who they may; let who will ask a question and I will answer it." So the king put the question a.s the goddess had done, and said :

" He strikes with hands and feet, he beats the face ; and he, 0 king, is dearer than a husband." When the Great Being had heard the question, the meaning became as clear as though the moon had risen in the sky. "Listen, O king!" he said, " When a child on the mother's laj) happy and playful beats his mother with hands and feet, pulls her hair, beats her face with his fist, she says. Little rogue, why do you beat me] And in love she presses him close to her breast unable to restrain her affection, and kisses him ; and at such a time he is dearer to her than his father." Thus did he make clear this question, as though he made the sun rise in the sk}'; and hearing this the goddess shewed half her body from the aperture in the royal parasol, and said in a sweet voice, "The question is well solved !" Then she presented the Great Being with a precious casket full of divine perfumes and flowers, and disappeai-ed. Tlie king also [377] presented him with flowers and so forth, and asked him the second question, reciting the second stanza :

" She abuses him roundly, yet wishes him to be near : and he, 0 king, is dearer than a husband." The Great Being said, " Sire, the child of seven years, who can now do his mother's bidding, when he is told to go to the field or to the bazaai-, says. If you will give me this or that sweetmeat I will go ; she says. Here my son, and gives them ; then he eats them and says. Yes, you sit in the cool shade of the house and I am to go out on your business ! He makes a grimace, or mocks her with gestures, and won't go. She is angry, picks up a stick and cries — You eat what I give you and then won't do anything for me in the field ! She scares him, otF he runs at full speed ; .she cannot follow and cries — Get out, may the thieves chop you up into little bits! So she abuses him roundly as much as she will ; but what her mouth speaks she does not wish at all, and so she wishes him to be near. He plays about the livelong day, and at evening not daring to come home he goes to the house of some kinsman. The mother watches the road for his coming, and sees hiui not, and thinking that he durst not return has her heart full of pain ; with tears streaming from her eyes she searches the houses of her kinsfolk, and when she sees her son she hugs and kisses

him and squeezes him tight with both arms, and loves him more than ever, as she cries, Did you take my words in earnest 1 Thus, sii-e, a mother ever loves her son more in the hour of anger." Thus he explained the second question : the goddess made him the same offering as before and so did the king. Then the king asked him the thii'd question in another stanza : " She reviles him without cause, and without reason reproaches ; yet he, O king, is dearer than a husband." The Great Being said, " Sire, when a pair of lovers in secret [378] enjoy their love's delights, and one says to the other, You don't care for me, your heart is elsewhere I know ! all false and without reason, chiding and reproaching each other, then they grow dearer to each other. That is the meaning of the question." The goddess made the same offering as before, and so did the king ; who then asked him another question, reciting the fourth stanza : " One takes food and drink, clothes and lodging, — verily the good men carry them off: yet they, 0 king, are dearer than a husband."

He replied, " Sire, this question has reference to righteous mendicant brahmins. Pious families that believe in this world and the next give to them and delight in giving : when they see such brahmins receiving what is given and eating it, and think. It is to us they came to beg, our own food which they eat — they increase affection towards them. Thus verily they take the things, and wearing on the shoulder what has been given, they become dear." When this question had been answered the goddess exprest her a))proval by the same offering as before, and laid before the Great Being's feet a precious casket full of the seven precious things, praying him to accept it ; the king also delighted made him Commander in Chief. Henceforward great was the glory of the Great Being. Here endeth the Question of the Goddess'. Again these four said, "This common fellow is waxen greater: what are we to do ? " Senaka said to them, "All right, I know a plan. Let us go to the fellow and ask him, To whom is it right to tell a secret 1 If he says, To no one, we will speak against him to the king and say that he is a traitor." So the four went to the wise man's house, and greeted him, and said, " Wise sir, we want to ask you a question." "Ask away," said he.

Senaka said, " Wise sir, wherein should a man be firmly established ? " "In the truth." "That done, [379] what is the next thing to do? " " He must make wealth." " What next after that? " " He must learn good counsel." "After that what next?" "He must tell no man his own secret." " Thank you, sir," they said, and went away happy, thinking, " This day we shall see the fellow's back ! " Then they entered the king's presence and said to him, " Sire, the fellow is a traitor to you! "

192 The Jdtaka. Book XXII. The king replied, " I do not believe you, he will never be traitor to me." " Believe it, sire, for it is true ! but if yon do not believe, then ask him to whom a secret ought to be told ; if he is no traitor, he will say. To so and so ; but if he is a traitor he will say, A secret should be told to no one ; when your desire is fulfilled, then you may speak. Then believe us, and be suspicious no longer." Accordingly one day when all were seated together he recited the first stanza of the Wise Man's Question, Book xx^: " The five wise men are now together, and a question occurs to me : listen. To whom should a secret be revealed, whether good or bad ?" This said, Senaka, thinking to bring the king over to their side, repeated this stanza : " Do thou declare thy mind, O lord of the earth ! thou art our supporter and bearest our burdens. The five clever men will understand thy wish and pleasure, and will then speak, 0 master of men ! "

Then the king in his liumau infirmity recited this stanza: " If a woman be virtuous, and faithful, subservient to her husband's wish and will, affectionate, [380] a secret should be told whether good or bad to the wife." " Now the king is on my side ! " thought Senaka, and pleased he repeated a stanza, explaining his own course of conduct ; " He who protects a sick man in distress and who is his refuge and support, may reveal to his friend a secret whether good or bad." Then the king asked Pukkusa : " How does it seem to you, Pukkusa ? to whom should a secret be told 1 " and Pukkusa recited this stanza : "Old or young or betwixt, if a brother be virtuous and trusty, to such a brother a secret may be told whether good or bad." Next the king asked Kavinda, and he recited this stanza : "When a son is obedient to his father's heart, a true son, of lofty wisdom, to that son a secret may be revealed whether good or bad." And then the king asked Devinda, who recited this stanza : " O lord of men I if a mother cherishes her son with loving fondness, to his mother he may reveal a secret whether good or bad."

[381] After asking them the king asked, "How do you look upon it, wise sir 1 " and he recited this stanza : " Good is the secrecy of a secret, the revealing of a secret is not to be praised. The clever man should keep it to himself whilst it is not accomplished ; but after it is done he may speak when he will." When the sage had said this the king was displeased : then the king looked at Senaka and Senaka looked at the king. This the Bodhisat saw, and recognized the fact, that these four had once before slandered him to 1 Vol. IV. p. 473, trans., p. 293. the king, and that this question must have been put to test him. Now whilst they were talking the sun had set, and lamps had been lit. "Hard are the ways of kings," thought he, " what will happen no one can tell ; 1 must depart with speed." So he rose from his seat, and greeted the king, and went away thinking, " Of these four, one said it should be told to a friend, one to a brother, one to a son, one to a mother : they must have done or seen something ; or I think, they have heard others tell what they have seen. Well, well, I shall find out to-day." Such was his thought. Now on other days, these four on coming out of the palace used to sit on a trough at the palace door, and talk of their plans before going home :

so the sage thought that if he should hide beneath that trough he might learn their secrets. Lifting the trough accoi'dingly, he caused a rug to be spread beneath it and crept in, giving directions to his men to fetch him when the four wise men had gone away after their talk. The men l^romised and departed. Meanwhile Senaka was saying to the king, " Sire, you do not believe us, [382] now what do you think 1 " The king accepted the word of these breedbates without investigation, and asked in terror, "What are we to do now, wise Senaka?" "Sire, without delay, without a word to anyone, he must be killed." "0 Senaka, no one cares for my interests but you. Take you friends with you and wait at the door, and in the morning when the fellow comes to wait upon me, cleave his head with a sword." So saying he gave them his own precious sword. " Very good, my lord, fear nothing, we will kill him." They went out saying, "We have seen the back of our enemy ! " and sat down on the trough. Then Senaka said, " Friends, who shall strike the fellowl " The others said, "You, our teacher," laying the task on him. Then Senaka said, "You said, friends, that a secret ought to be told to such and such a person : was it something you had done, or seen, or heard 1 " " Never mind that, teacher :

when you said that a secret might be told to a friend, was that something which you had done? " "What does that matter to you 1 " he asked. " Pray tell us, teacher," they i-epeated. He said, "If the king come to know this secret, my life would be forfeit." " Do not fear, teacher, there's no one here to betray your secret, tell us, teacher." Then, tapping upon the trough, Senaka said, "What if that clodhopper is under this ! " " O teacher ! the fellow in all his glory would not creep into such a place as this ! He must be intoxicated with his prosperity. Come, tell us." Senaka told his secret and said, "Do you know such and such a harlot in this city]" " Yes, teacher." "Is she now to be seen 1 " " No, teacher." " In the sal-grove I lay with her, and afterwards killed her to get her ornaments, which I tied up in a bundle and took to my house and hung up on an elephant's tusk in such a room of such a storey : but use them [383] I cannot until it has blown over. This

194 The Jdtaha. Book XXII. crime I have disclosed to a friend, and he has not told a soul ; and that is why I said a secret may be told to a friend." The sage heard this seci'et of Senaka's and bore it in mind. Then Pukkusa told his secret. "On my thigh is a spot of leprosy. In the morning my young brother washes it, puts a salve on it and a bandage, and never tells a soul. When the king's heart is soft he cries, Come here, Pukkusa, and he often lays his head on my thigh. But if he knew he would kill me. No one knows this except my young brother ; and that is why I said, A secret may be told to a brother." Kavinda told his secret. " As for me, in the do.rk fortnight on the fast-day a goblin named Naradeva takes possession of me, and I bark like a mad dog. I told my son of this ; and he, when he sees me to be possest, fastens me up indoors, and then he leaves me shutting the door, and to hide my noises he gathers a party of people. That is why I said that a secret might be told to a son." Then they all three asked Devinda, and he told his secret. " I am inspector of the king's jewels ; and I stole a wonderful lucky gem, the gift of Sakka to King Kusa, and gave it to my mother.

When I go to Court she hands it to me, without a word to anyone ; aiad by reason of that gem I am pervaded with the spirit of good fortune when I enter the palace. The king speaks to nie first before any of you, and gives me each day to spend eight rupees, or sixteen, or thirtytwo, or sixty-four. If the king knew of my having that gem concealed I'm a dead man ! That is why I said that a secret might be told to a mother."

The Great Being took careful note of all their secrets ; [384] but they, after disclosing their secrets as if they had ript up their bellies and let the entrails out, rose up from the seat and departed, saying, "Be sure to come early and we will kill the churl." When they were gone the sage's men came and turned up the trough and took the Great Being home. He washed and drest and ate ; and knowing that his sister Queen Udumbari would that day send him a message from the palace, he placed a trusty man on the look-out, bidding him send in at once anyone coming from the palace. Then he lay down on his bed. At that time the king also was lying upon his bed and remembering the virtue of the sage. " The sage Mahosadha has served me since he was seven years old, and never done me wrong. When the goddess asked me her questions but for the sage I had been a dead man. To accept the words of revengeful enemies, to give them a sword and bid them slay a peerless sage, this I ought never to have done. After to-morrow I shall see him no more ! " He grieved, sweat poured from his body, possest with grief his heart had no peace. Queen Udumbari, who was with him on his couch, seeing him in this frame, asked, " Have I done any offence

against you ? or has any othei' thing caused grief to my lord 1 " and she repeated this stanza : " Why art tliou perplext, 0 king '? we hoar not the voice of the lord of men ! What dost thou ponder thus downcast '? there is no offence from me, my lord." Then the king repeated a stanza : " They said, ' the wise Mahosadha must be slain ' ; and condemned by me to death is the most wise one. As I think on this I am downcast. There is no fault in thee, my queen." [385] When she heard this, grief crushed her like a rock for the Great Being; and she thought, "I know a plan to console the king: when he goes to sleep I will send a message to my brother." Then she said to him, " Sire, it is your doing that the churl's son was raised to great power ; you made him commander-ia-chief. Now they say he has become your enemy. No enemy is insigniBcant ; killed he must be, so do not grieve." Thus she consoled the king ; his grief waned and he fell asleep. Then up rose the queen and went to her chamber, and wrote a letter to this eflfect. " Mahosadha, the four wise men have slandered you ; the king is angry, and to-morrow has commanded that you be slain in the gate.

Do not come to the palace to-morrow morning ; or if you do come, come with power to hold the city in your hand." 8he put the letter within a sweetmeat, and tied it up with a thread, and put it in a new jar, perfumed it, sealed it up, and gave it to a handmaid, saying, " Take this sweetmeat and giA-e it to my brother." She did so. You must not wonder how she got out in the night ; for the king had erewhiles given this boon to the queen, and therefore no one hindered her. The Bodhisat received the present and dismissed the woman, who returned and re[)orted that she had delivered it. Then the queen went and lay down by the king. The Bodhisat opened the sweetmeat, and read the letter, and understood it, and after deliberating what should be done went to rest.

Early in the morning, the other four wise men sword in hand stood by the gate, but not seeing the sage they became downcast, and went in to the king. " Well," said he, " is the clodhopper killed 1- " They replied, " We have not seen him, sire." And the Great Being at sunrise got the whole city into his power, set guards here and tliei-e, and in a chariot with a great host of men and great magnificence came to the palace gates. The king stood looking out of an open window. Then the Great Being got down from his chariot and saluted him ; and the king thought, " If he were my enemy, [386] he would not salute me." Then the king sent for him, and sat upon his throne. The Great Being came in and sat on one side : the four wise men also sat down there. Then the king made as if he knew nothing and said, " My son, yesterday you left us and now you come 196 The JCitaka. Book XXII. again ; why do you treat me thus negligently 1 " and he repeated this stanza : "At evening you went, now you come. What have you heard? what doth your mind fear ? Who commanded you, 0 most wise ? Come, we are listening for the word : tell me."

The Great Being replied, " Sire, you listened to the four wisemen and commanded my death, that is why I did not come," and reproaching him repeated this stanza : " ' The wise Mahosadha must be slain ' : if you told this last night secretly to your wife, your secret was disclosed and 1 heard it." When the kiug heard this he looked angrily at his wife thinking that she must have sent word of it on the instant. Observing this the Great Being said, " Why are you angry with the queen, my lord ? I know all the past, present, and future. Suppose the queen did tell your secret : who told me the secrets of master Senaka, and Pukkusa, and the rest of them ? But I know all their secrets " ; and he told Senaka's secret in this stanza : "The sinful and wicked deed which Senaka did in the sal-grove [387] he told to a friend in secret, that secret has been disclosed and I have heard it." Looking at Senaka, the king asked, " Is it true ] " " Sire, it is true," he replied, and the king ordered him to be cast into prison. Then the sage told Pukkusa's secret in this stanza :

" In the man Pukkusa, 0 king of men, there is a disease unfit for a king's touching : he told it in secret to his brother. That secret has been disclosed and I have heard it." The king looking upon him asked, "Is it true?" "Yes, my lord," said he; and the king sent him also to prison. Then the sage told Kavinda's secret in this stanza : " Diseased is yon man, of evil nature, possest of Narade^'a. He told it in secret to his sou : this secret has been disclosed and I have heard it." [388] "Is it true, Kavinda? " the king asked ; and he answered, " It is true." Then the king sent him also to prison. The sage now told Devinda's secret in this stanza : "The noble and precious gem of eight facets, which Sakka gave to your grandfather, that is now in Devinda's hands, and he told it to his mother in secret. That secret has been disclosed and I have heard it." "Is it true, Devinda?" the kiug asked; and he answered, "It is true." So he sent him also to prison. Thus they who had plotted to slay the Bodhisat were all in bonds together. And the Bodhisat said, "This is why I say, a man should tell his secret to no one; those who

said that a secret ought to be told, have all come to utter ruin." And he recited these stanzas, proclaiming a higher doctrine : " The secrecy of a secret is always good, nor is it well to divulge a secret. When a thing is not accomplished the wise man should keep it to himself: when he has accomplished his aim let him speak an he will. One should not disclose a secret thing, but should guard it like a treasure ; for a secret thing is not well revealed by the prudent. Not to a woman wovdd the wise man tell a secret, not to a foe, nor to one who can be enticed by self-interest, nor for aSection's sake. He who discloses a secret thing unknown, through fear of broken confidence must endure to be the other's slave. As many as are those who know a man's secret, so many are his anxieties: therefore one should not disclose a secret. Go apart to tell a secret by day ; by night in a soft whisper : [389] for listeners hear the words, therefore the words soon come out^." When the king heard the Great Being speak he was angry, and thought he, " These men, traitors themselves to their king, make out that the wise man is traitor to me!" Then he said, " Go drive them out of the town, and impale them or cleave their heads !

" So they bound their hands behind them, at every street corner gave them a hundred blows. But as they were dragged along, the sage said, " My lord, these are your ancient ministers, pardon them their fault ! " The king consented, and gave them to be his slaves. He set them free at once. Then the king said, " Well, they shall not live in my dominion," and ordered that they should be banished. But the sage begged him to pardon their blind folly, and appeased him, and persuaded him to restore their positions. The king was much pleased with the sage: if this were his tender mercy towards his foes, what must it be to others ! Thenceforward the four wise men, like .snakes with their teeth drawn and their poison gone, could not find a word to say, we ai-e told.

Here endeth the Question of the Five Wise Men, and likewise the Story of Calumny^. After this time he used to instruct the king in things temporal and spiritual : and he thought, " I am indeed the king's white parasol ; it is I manage the kingdom : [390] vigilant I must therefore be." He caused a great rampart to be built for the city. Along the rampart were watchtowers at the gates, and between the watch-towers he dug three moats — a water-moat, a mud-moat, and a dry-moat. Within the city he caused all the old houses to be restored : large banks were dug and made reservoirs for water ; all the storehouses were filled with corn. All the confidential priests had to bring down from Himavat mud and edible lily-seeds. The water conduits were cleaned out, and the old houses outside were also restored. This was done as a defence against future dangers. Merchants who came from one place or another were asked whence they came; and on their replying, they were asked what their king liked ; when this was 1 See V. 81 (trans., p. 45). ^ Pancapandita-pauho : Parihhindana-katlul. 198 The Jataka. Book XXII.

told, they were kindly treated before they went away. Then he sent for a hundred and one soldiers and said to them, " My men, take these gifts to the liundred and one royal cities, and give them to their several kings to please them : live there in their service, listen to their actions and plans, and send nie word. I will care for your wives and children." And he sent with them earrings for some, and golden slipjiers for others, and golden necklets for others, with letters engraved upon them, which he appointed to reveal themselves when it should suit his purpose. The men went this way and that, and gave these gifts to the kings, saying that they were come to live in their service. When asked whence they came, they told tlie names of other ])laces than that from which they had really come. Their offer accepted, they remained there in attendance, and made themselves to be trusted. Now in the kingdom of Ekal)ala was a king named Sarhkhapala, who was collecting arms and assembling an army. The man who had come to him sent a message to the sage, saying, " This is the news here, but what he intends I know not; send and hnd out the truth of the matter." Then the Great Being called a parrot and said, " Friend, go and find out what King Saihkhapala is doing in Ekabala, [391] then travel over all India and briflg me the news." He fed it with honey and grain, and gave it sweet water to drink, anointed the joints of the wings with oil a hundred and a thousand times refined, stood by the eastern window, and let it go.

Tlie parrot went to tlie man aforesaid and found out the truth. As he passed back through India he came to Uttarapaucala city in tlie kingdom of Kamjtilla. There was reigning a king named Culani-Brahmadatta, who had for spiritual and temporal adviser a brahmin Kevatta, wise and learned. The brahmin one morning awoke at dawn, antl looking by the light of the lamp upon his magnificent chamber, as he regarded its splendour, thought, " To whom does this splendour belong 1 To no one but to Ciilani-Brahraadatta. A king who gives splendour like this ought to be the chief king in all India, and I will be his chaplain-in-chief." And so early in the morning he went to the king, and when he had enquired whether he had slept well, he said, "My lord, there is something I wish to say." "Say on, teacher." " My lord, a secret cannot be told in the town, let us go into the park." " Very well, teacher.'' The king went to the park with him, and left the retinue without, and set a guard, and entered the park with the V)rahmin, and sat down upon the royal seat. The parrot, seeing this, thought that there must be something afoot; "To-day I shall hear something which must be sent to my wise master." So he flew into the ])ark, and perched amid the leaves of the royal sal-tree. The king said, "Speak on, teacher." He said, "Sire, bend your ear this way; this is a plan for four ears only. If, sii-e, you will do what I advise, I will make you chief king in all India." The king heard him greedily, and answered

well pleased, "Tell me, my teacher, and I will do it." "My lord, let us raise an army, and first besiege a small city. Then I will enter the city by a postern gate, and will say to the king, Sii-e, there is no use in your fighting : just be our man ; your kingdom you may keep, but if you fight with our mighty force, [-392] you will be utterly conquered. If he does^ wliat I advise, we will receive him; if not, we will fight and kill him, and with two armies go and take another city, and then another, and in this way we shall gain dominion over all India and drink the cup of victory. Then we will bring the hundred and one kings to our city, and make a drinking booth in the i)ark, and seat them there, and provide them with poisoned liquor, and so kill them all and cast them into the Ganges. Thus we will get the hundred and one royal capitals into our hands, and you will become chief king of all India." " Very well, my teacher," said he, " I will do so." " 8ire, this plan is for four ears only, no one else must know of it. Make no delay but set forth at once." The king was pleased with this advice and resolved to do so. The parrot which had overheard all their conversation let fall on Kevatta's head a lump of dung as though it dro[)t from a twig.

" What's that 1 " cried he, looking upwards with mouth gaping wide : whereupon the bird dropt another into his mouth and flew oflf crying out, " Cree cree ! O Kevatta, you think your plan is for four ears only, but now it is for six ; by and by it will be for eight ears and for hundreds of them ! " " Catch him, catch him ! " they cried; but swift as the wind he flew to Mithila and entered the wi,se man's house. Now the parrot's custom was this : If news from any place was for the sage's ears alone, he would perch on his shoulder ; if Queen Amara was also to hear it, he perched on his lap ; if the company might hear it, upon the ground. This time he perched on the shoulder, and at that sign the company retired, knowing it to be secret. The sage took him up to the top storey and asked him, " Well, my dear, what have you seen, what have yovi heard 1 " He said, " My lord, in no other king of all India have I seen any danger ; but only Kevatta, chaplain to CiilaniBrahmadatta in the city of Uttarapaficala, took his king into the park and told him a plan for tlieir four ears : I was sitting amidst the branches and dropt a ball of dung in his mouth, and here I am !

" Then he told the sage all he had seen and heard. [393] "Did the king agree to if?" asked he. "Yes, he did," said tlie parrot. 8o the sage tended the bird as was fitting, and put him in his golden cage strewn with soft rugs. He thought to himself, " Kevatta methinks does not know that I am the wise Mahosadha. I will not allow him to accomplish his plan." Then he removed outside all the poor people who lived in the city, and he brought from all the kingdom, the country side, and the suburb villages, and settled within

200 The Jataka. Book XXII. the city the rich families of the powerful, and he gathered great quantities of corn. And Culani-Bi-ahmadatta did as Kevatta had proposed : he went with his array and laid siege to a city. Kevatta, as he had suggested, went into the city and explained matters to the king and won him over. Then joining the two ai-mies Culani-Brahiiiadatta followed Kevatta's advice and weiit on to another kingdom, until he had brought all the kings of India under his power except King Vedeha. The men provided by the Bodhisat kept on sending messages to say, " Brahmadatta has taken such and such towns, be on your guard": to which he replied, "I am on my guard here, be watchful yourselves without remissness." In seven years and seven months and seven days Brahmadatta gained possession of all India, excepting Vedeha. Then he said to Kevatta : " Teacher, let us seize the empire of Vedeha at Mithila ! " "Sire," he said, "we shall never be able to get possession of tlie city where wise Mahosadlia lives : he is full of this sort of skill, veiy clever in device." Then he expatiated on the virtue of the Great Being, as though he drew it on the disk of the moon. Now he was himself very skilful in device, so he said, " The kingdom of Mithila, is very small, and the dominion of all India is enough for us." Thus he consoled the king;

but the other princes said, "No, we will take the kingdom of Mithila and drink the cup of victory!" Kevatta would have stayed them, saying, " What good will it be to take Vedeha's kingdom? That king is our man already. Come back." Such was his counsel : they listened to him and turned back. The Great Being's men seut him word that Brahmadatta with a hundred and one kings on his way to Mithila turned back [394] and went to his own city. He sent word in answer, that they were to obsei-ve what he did.

Now Brahmadatta deliberated with Kevatta what was next to do. Hoping to drink the cup of victory, they adorned the park, and told the servants to set out wine in thousands of jars, to prepare fish and flesh of all sorts. This news also the sage's men sent to him. Now they did not know of the plan to poison the kings, but the Great Being knew it fi'om what the parrot had told him ; he sent a message to them accordingly, that they should inform him of the day fixt for this festival, and they did so. Then he thought, " It is not right that so many kings should be killed while a wi.se man like myself lives. I will help them." He sent for ten thousand warriors, his birth-fellows, and said, " Friends, on such a day Culani-Brahmadatta, they tell me, wishes to adorn his park and to drink wine with the hundred and one kings. Go ye thither, and before anyone sits on the seats provided for the kings, take possession of the seat of honour next to Culani-Brahmadatta, saying. This is for our king. When they ask whose men you are, tell them King Vedeha's. They will make a great outcry and say. What ! for seven years and seven months

and seven days we have been conquering kingdoms, and not once did we see your king Vedeha ! What king is he ? Go find him a seat at the end! You must then squabble and say, Except Brahmadatta, no king is above our king ! If we cannot get even a seat for our king we will not let you eat or drink now! So shouting and jumping al)OUt, terrify them with tlie noise, break all the pots with your great clubs, scatter the food, and make it unfit to eat, rush amongst the crowd at the top of your speed, and make a din like titans invading the city of the gods, calling aloud, We ai-e the wise Mahosadha's men of Mithila city : catch us if you can ! Thus shew them that you are there, and then return to me." They promised to obey, [395] and took their leave ; and, armed with the five weapons, set off. They entered the decorated park like Nandana Grove, and beheld all its magnificent array, the seats placed for the hundred and one kings, the white parasols outspread, and all the rest. They did all as directed by the Great Being, and after caixsing confusion amongst the crowd they I'eturned to Mithila.

The king's men told him what had happened : Brahmadatta was angry, that such a fine plan to poison the princes had failed ; whilst the princes were angry, because they had been deprived of the cup of victory ; and the soldiers were angry, l^ecause they had lost the chance of free drink. So Brahmadatta said to the princes, " Come, friends, let us go to Mithila, and cut off King Vedeha's head with the sword, and trample it underfoot, and then come back and drink the cup of victory ! Go tell your armies to get them ready." Then going apart with Kevatta, he told him about it, saying, "See, we shall capture the enemy who has threatened this fine plan. With the hundred and one princes and the eighteen complete armies we shall assail that town. Come, my teacher ! " But the brahmin was wise enough to know that they could never capture the sage Mahosadha, but all they would get would be disgrace ; the king must be dissuaded. So he said : " Sire ! this king of Vedeha has no strength ; the management is in the hands of the sage Mahosadha, and he is very powerful. Guarded by him, as a lion guards his den, Mithila can be taken by none. We shall only be disgraced : do not think of going." But the king, mad with soldier's pride and the intoxication of empire, cried out, "What will he do!" and departed, with the hundred and one princes and the eighteen complete armies'. Kevatta, unable to persuade him to take his advice, and thinking that it was of no use to thwart him, went with him.

But those warriors came to Mithila in one night, and told the sage all that had passed. And the men whom he had before sent into service sent him word, that Culani-Brahmadatta was on his way with the hundred and one kings to take King Vedeha ; he must be vigilant. The mes.sages 1 " Eighteen akkhohinl's," each being 10,000,000". 202 The Jdtaka. Book XXII. came one after another : " To-day he is in such a phice, [396] to-day in such a place, to-day lie will reach the city." On hearing this the Great Being redoubled his care. And King Vedeha heard it noised about on all sides that Brahniadatta was on his way to take the city. Now Brahmadatta in the early evening surrounded the city by the light of a hundred thousand torches. He girdled it with fences of elephants and of chariots and of horses, :ind at regular intervals placed a mass of soldiers : there stood the men, shouting, snapping their fingei-s, roaring, dancing, crying aloud. With the light of the torches and the sheen of the ai-mour the whole city of Mithila in its seven leagues was one blaze of light, the noise of elephants and horses, of chariots, and men made the very earth to crack. The four wise men, hearing the waves of sound and not knowing what it should be, went to the king and said, "Sire, there is a great din, and we know not what it is :

will the king enquire ? " Hereat the king thought, "No doubt Brahmadatta is come"; and he opened a window, and looked out. When he saw that he was indeed come, the king was dismayed, and said to them, " We are dead men I to-morrow he will kill us all doubtless ! " So they sat talking together. But when the Great Being saw that he had come, fearless as a lion he set guards in all the city, and then went up into the palace to encourage the king. Greeting him, he stood on one side. The king was encouraged to see him, and thought, " There is no one can save me from this trouble except the wise Mahosadha ! " and he addressed him as follows :

" Brahmadatta of Paiicala has come with all hi.s host ; this army of Paficala is infinite, O Mahosadha I Men with burdens on their backs ^, foot-soldiers, men skilful in fight, men ready to destroy, a great din, the noise of drums and conchs, here is all skill in the use of steel weapons, here are banners and knights in mail, accomplished warriors and heroes I Ten sages are here, profoimd in wisdom, .secret in stratagem, and eleventh, the mother of the king^ encouraging ^ pltthimatl (fern.) : explained by scbol. as containing a force of carpenters laden with all necessary materials. 2 To explain this, the scholiast tells the following story. — Amongst those wise men the king's mother, they say, was still more wise. One day a man set out to cross over a river, holding a bundle of husked rice, a meal of boiled rice wrapt in a leaf, and a thousand rupees. When he came to the mid-river he could get no further, and so he called out to the men on the bank — " See, I have in my hand a bundle of husked rice, a leaf of boiled rice, and a thousand rupees ; I will give whichever of these I like if anyone will take me across." Then a strong man girt up his loins and dived in, caught the man by the hands and pulled him across. " Now," quoth he, " give me my due." "You may have the husked rice or the boiled rice," said the man.