The
woodpecker
perched upon his tree-top.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v20 - Phi to Qui
Why then should I lose it outright?
I will eat
it myself. " And he turned to go away, when the Future Buddha
from the fork of his tree exclaimed, "My good man, if you were
a great lord you would bring me dainty manchets; but as you
are a poor man, what shall I have to eat if not that cake? Rob
me not of my portion. " And he uttered this stanza:
"As fares his worshiper, a Sprite must fare:
Bring me the cake, nor rob me of my share. ”
Then the man turned again, and seeing the Future Buddha,
offered up his sacrifice. The Future Buddha fed on the savor
and said, "Why do you worship me? " "I am a poor man, my
lord, and I worship you to be eased of my poverty. "-"Have no
more care for that. You have sacrificed to one who is grateful
and mindful of kindly deeds. Round this tree, neck to neck, are
buried pots of treasure. Go tell the King, and take the treasure
away in wagons to the King's court-yard. There pile it in a heap,
and the King shall be so well pleased that he will make you
Lord Treasurer. " So saying, the Future Buddha vanished from
sight. The man did as he was bidden, and the King made him
Lord Treasurer. Thus did the poor man by aid of the Future
Buddha come to great fortune; and when he died, he passed
away to fare according to his deserts.
―
His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying:-"The
poor man of to-day was also the poor man of those times, and I the
Tree-sprite who dwelt in the castor-oil tree. "
EEING Quick dead. "
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
From the Jataka,' No. 97
This story was told by the Master while at
about a brother who thought went by names.
For we hear that a young man of good family, named "Base,"
had given his heart to the Faith, and joined the Brotherhood. And
the brethren used to call him, "Here, brother Base! " and "Stay,
brother Base"; till he resolved that as "Base" gave the idea of in-
carnate wickedness and ill luck, he would change his name to one of
better omen. Accordingly he asked his teachers and preceptors to
## p. 11452 (#66) ###########################################
11452
PILPAY
give him a new name. But they said that a name only served to
denote, and did not impute qualities; and they bade him rest content
with the name he had. Time after time he renewed his request, till
the whole Brotherhood knew what importance he attached to a mere
name. And as they sat discussing the matter in the Hall of Truth,
the Master entered and asked what it was they were speaking about.
Being told, he said: "This is not the first time this brother has
believed luck went by names: he was equally dissatisfied with the
name he bore in a former age. " So saying, he told this story of the
past.
ONCE ON
a time the Future Buddha was a world-renowned
professor at Takkasila, and five hundred young brahmans learnt
the Vedas from his lips. One of these young men was named
Base. And from continually hearing his fellows say, "Go, Base,"
and "Come, Base,” he longed to get rid of his name, and to take
one that had a less ill-omened ring about it. So he went to his
master, and asked that a new name of a respectable character
might be given him. Said his master, "Go, my son, and travel
through the land till you have found a name you fancy.
come back and I will change your name for you. "
Then
The young man did as he was bidden; and taking provisions
for the journey, wandered from village to village till he came
to a certain town. Here a man named Quick had died, and the
young brahman, seeing him borne to the cemetery, asked what
his name was.
"Quick," was the reply. "What, can Quick be dead? " —
"Yes, Quick is dead: both Quick and Dead die just the same.
A name only serves to mark who's who. You seem a fool. "
Hearing this he went on into the city, feeling neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied with his own name.
Now a slave-girl had been thrown down at the door of a
house, while her master and mistress beat her with rope-ends
because she had not brought home her wages. And the girl's
name was Rich. Seeing the girl being beaten, as he walked
along the street, he asked the reason, and was told in reply that
it was because she had no wages to show.
"And what is the girl's name? ”
"Rich," said they. -"And cannot Rich make good a paltry
day's pay? "-"Be she called Rich or Poor, the money's not
forthcoming any the more. A name only serves to mark who's
who. You seem a fool. "
## p. 11453 (#67) ###########################################
PILPAY
11453
More reconciled to his own name, the young brahman left
the city, and on the road found a man who had lost his way.
Having learnt that he had lost his way, the young man asked
what his name was. "Guide," was the reply. -"And has Guide
lost his way? "-"Guide or Misguide, you can lose your way just
the same. A name only serves to mark who's who. You seem
a fool. "
Quite reconciled now to his name, the young brahman came
back to his master.
"Well, what name have you chosen? " asked the Future
Buddha. -"Master," said he, "I find that death comes to 'Quick'
and 'Dead' alike, that 'Rich' and 'Poor' may be poor together,
and that 'Guide' and 'Misguide' alike miss their way. I know
now that a name serves only to tell who is who, and does not
govern its owner's destiny. So I am satisfied with my own
name, and do not want to change it for any other. »
Then the Future Buddha uttered this stanza, combining what
the young brahman had done with the sights he had seen:—
"Seeing Quick dead, Guide lost, Rich poor,
Base learned content, nor traveled more. "
His story told, the Master said, "So you see, brethren, that in for-
mer days as now this brother imagined there was a great deal in a
name. " And he identified the Birth by saying:-"This brother who
is discontented with his name was the discontented young brahman
of those days; the Buddha's disciples were the pupils; and I myself
their master. "
THE BUDDHIST DUTY OF COURTESY TO ANIMALS
From the Jataka,' No. 28
"SP
PEAK only words of kindness. "— This story was told by the Mas-
ter while at Jetavana, about the bitter words spoken by the
Six. For in those days the Six, when they disagreed with
respectable brethren, used to taunt, revile, and jeer them, and load
them with the ten kinds of abuse. This the brethren reported to
the Blessed One, who sent for the Six and asked whether this charge
was true. On their admitting its truth, he rebuked them, saying,
"Brethren, hard words gall even animals: in bygone days an animal
made a man who had used harsh language to him lose a thousand
pieces. " And so saying, he told this story of the past.
## p. 11454 (#68) ###########################################
11454
PILPAY
as
ONCE on a time, at Takkasila in the land of Gandhara, there
was a king reigning there, and the Future Buddha came to life
bull. When he was quite a tiny calf, he was presented
by his owners to a brahman who came in, they being known to
give away presents of oxen to such-like holy men. The brahman
called it Nandi-Visala (Great-Joy), and treated it like his own
child, feeding the young creature on rice gruel and rice. When
the Future Buddha grew up, he thought thus to himself: "I have
been brought up by this brahman with great pains, and all India
cannot show the bull which can draw what I can. How if I
were to repay the brahman the cost of my nurture by making
proof of my strength? " Accordingly, one day he said to the
brahman, "Go, brahman, to some merchant rich in herds, and
wager him a thousand pieces that your bull can draw a hundred
loaded carts. "
་
The brahman went his way to a merchant, and got into a
discussion with him as to whose oxen in the town were strong.
"Oh, so-and-so's, or so-and-so's," said the merchant.
"But,"
added he, "there are no oxen in the town which can compare
with mine for real strength. " Said the brahman, “I have a bull
who can pull a hundred loaded carts. " "Where's such a bull
to be found? " laughed the merchant. "I've got him at home,"
said the brahman. -"Make it a wager.
» said the
Certainly,"
brahman, and staked a thousand pieces. Then he loaded a hun-
dred carts with sand, gravel, and stones, and leashed the lot
together, one behind the other, by cords from the axle-tree of
the one in front to the trace-bar of its successor. This done,
he bathed Nandi-Visala, gave him a measure of perfumed rice to
eat, hung a garland round his neck, and harnessed him all alone
to the leading cart. The brahman in person took his seat upon
the pole, and flourished his goad in the air, shouting,
then, you rascal! pull them along, you rascal! "
"I'm not the rascal he calls me," thought the Future Buddha
to himself; and so he planted his four feet like so many posts,
and budged not an inch.
>>>
-
་་
Straightway the merchant made the brahman pay over the
thousand pieces. His money gone, the brahman took his bull
out of the cart and went home, where he lay down on his bed
in an agony of grief. When Nandi-Visala strolled in and found
the brahman a prey to such grief, he went up to him and
inquired if the brahman were taking a nap. "How should I be
taking a nap, when I have had a thousand pieces won of me? "
## p. 11455 (#69) ###########################################
PILPAY
11455
“Brahman, all the time I have lived in your house, have I ever
broken a pot, or squeezed up against anybody, or made messes
about? -"Never, my child. " "Then why did you call me a
rascal? It's you who are to blame, not I. Go and bet him two
thousand this time. Only remember not to miscall me rascal
again. "
-
--
When he heard this, the brahman went off to the merchant
and laid a wager of two thousand. Just as before, he leashed
the hundred carts to one another, and harnessed Nandi Visala,
very spruce and fine, to the leading cart. If you ask how he
harnessed him, well, he did it in this way: first he fastened
the cross-yoke on to the pole; then he put the bull in on one
side, and made the other fast by fastening a smooth piece of
wood from the cross-yoke on to the axle-tree, so that the yoke
was taut and could not skew around either way. Thus a single
bull could draw a cart made to be drawn by two.
So now
seated on the pole, the brahman stroked Nandi-Visala on the
back, and called on him in this style: "Now then, my fine fel-
low! pull them along, my fine fellow! " With a single pull the
Future Buddha tugged along the whole string of the hundred
carts, till the hindermost stood where the foremost had started.
The merchant rich in herds paid up the two thousand pieces he
had lost to the brahman. Other folks, too, gave large sums to
the Future Buddha, and the whole passed into the hands of the
brahman. Thus did he gain greatly by reason of the Future
Buddha.
Thus laying down, by way of rebuke to the Six, the rule that hard
words please no one, the Master, as Buddha, uttered this stanza:
"Speak only words of kindness, never words
Unkind. For him who spoke him fair, he moved
A heavy load, and brought him wealth, for love. "
When he had thus ended his lesson as to speaking only words of
kindness, the Master identified the Birth by saying: "Ananda was
the brahman of those days, and I myself Nandi-Visala. "
## p. 11456 (#70) ###########################################
11456
PILPAY
MONKEYS IN THE GARDEN
From the Jataka,' No. 268
"B
EST of all," etc. - This story the Master told whilst dwelling in
the country near South Mountain, about a gardener's son.
After the rains, the Master left Jetavana, and went on alms-
pilgrimage in the district about South Mountain. A layman invited
the Buddha and his company, and made them sit down in his grounds
till he gave them of rice and cakes. Then he said, "If any of the
holy Fathers care to see over the grounds, they might go along with
the gardener;" and he ordered the gardener to supply them with any
fruit they might fancy.
By-and by they came upon a bare spot.
"What is the reason,"
they asked, "that this spot is bare and treeless? " "The reason is,"
answered the gardener, "that a certain gardener's son, who had to
water the saplings, thought he had better give them water in propor-
tion to the length of the roots; so he pulled them all up to see, and
watered them accordingly. The result was that the place became
bare. "
The brethren returned, and told this to their Master. Said he,
"Not now only has the lad destroyed a plantation: he did just the
same before;" and then he told them an old-world tale.
ONCE upon a time, when a king named Vissasena was reign-
ing over Benares, proclamation was made of a holiday. The
park keeper thought he would go and keep holiday; so calling
the monkeys that lived in the park, he said:-
"This park is a great blessing to you. I want to take a
week's holiday. Will you water the saplings on the seventh
day? " "Oh, yes," said they. So he gave them the watering-
skins, and went his way.
The monkeys drew water, and began to water the roots.
The eldest monkey cried out: "Wait, now! It's hard to get
water always. We must husband it. Let us pull up the plants,
and notice the length of their roots: if they have long roots,
they need plenty of water; but short ones need only a little.
"True, true," they agreed; and then some of them pulled up the
plants, while others put them in again and watered them.
The Future Buddha at the time was a young gentleman liv-
ing in Benares. Something or other took him to this park, and
he saw what the monkeys were doing.
"Who bids you do that? " asked he.
## p. 11457 (#71) ###########################################
PILPAY
"Our chief," they replied.
"If that is the wisdom of the chief, what must the rest of
you be like! " said he; and to explain the matter, he uttered the
first stanza:
11457
"Best of all the troop is this:
What intelligence is his!
If he was chosen as the best,
What sort of creatures are the rest! "
Hearing this remark, the monkeys rejoined with the second
stanza:
"Brahman, you know not what you say,
Blaming us in such a way!
If the root we do not know,
How can we tell the trees that grow? "
To which the Future Buddha replied by the third, as follows:-
"Monkeys, I have no blame for you,
Nor those who range the woodland through.
The monarch is a fool, to say
'Please tend my trees while I'm away. ""
When this discourse was ended, the Master identified the Birth:
"The lad who destroyed the park was the monkey chief, and I was
the wise man. "
THE ANTELOPE, THE WOODPECKER, AND THE TORTOISE
From the Jataka,' No. 206
་་
"Co
[This story is found sculptured upon an ancient Hindu monument of the
greatest archæological interest, the Stupa of Bharhut. The history of the tale
may accordingly be traced by actual records-in stone and in books-from
250 B. C. through Buddhist, Mohammedan, Jewish, and Christian literature,
down to La Fontaine (Fables,' xii. 15) and later. ]
OME, tortoise," etc. - This story the Master told at Veluvana,
about Devadatta. News came to the Master that Devadatta
was plotting his death. "Ah, Brethren," said he, "it was just
the same long ago: Devadatta tried then to kill me, as he is trying
now. " And he told them this story.
ONCE upon a time, when Brahmadatta was King of Benares,
the Future Buddha became an antelope, and lived within a forest,
XX-717
## p. 11458 (#72) ###########################################
11458
PILPAY
in a thicket near a certain lake. Not far from the same lake
sat a woodpecker perched at the top of a tree; and in the lake
dwelt a tortoise. And the three became friends, and lived to-
gether in amity.
A hunter, wandering about in the wood, observed the Future
Buddha's footprint at the going down into the water; and he set
a trap of leather, strong, like an iron chain, and went his way.
In the first watch of the night the Future Buddha went down to
drink, and got caught in the noose; whereat he cried loud and
long. Thereupon the woodpecker flew down from her tree-top,
and the tortoise came out of the water, and consulted what was
to be done.
Said the woodpecker to the tortoise, "Friend, you have teeth,
bite this snare through: I will go and see to it that the hunter
keeps away; and if we both do our best, our friend will not lose
his life. " To make this clear he uttered the first stanza:
"Come, tortoise, tear the leathern snare,
And bite it through and through,
And of the hunter I'll take care,
And keep him off from you. "
The tortoise began to gnaw the leather thong; the woodpecker
made his way to the hunter's dwelling. At dawn of day the
hunter went out, knife in hand. As soon as the bird saw him
start, he uttered a cry, flapped his wings, and struck him in the
face as he left the front door. "Some bird of ill omen has
struck me! " thought the hunter; he turned back, and lay down
for a little while. Then he rose up again, and took his knife.
The bird reasoned within himself, "The first time he went out
by the front door, so now he will leave by the back:" and he
sat him down behind the house. The hunter too reasoned in the
same way: When I went out by the front door, I saw a bad
omen: now will I go out by the back! " and so he did. But the
bird cried out again, and struck him in the face. Finding that
he was again struck by a bird of ill omen, the hunter exclaimed,
"This creature will not let me go! " and turning back he lay
down until sunrise, and when the sun was risen he took his
knife and started.
((
The woodpecker made all haste back to his friends. "Here
comes the hunter! " he cried. By this time the tortoise had
gnawed through all the thongs but one tough thong; his teeth
## p. 11459 (#73) ###########################################
PILPAY
11459
seemed as though they would fall out, and his mouth was all
smeared with blood. The Future Buddha saw the young hunter
coming on like lightning, knife in hand: he burst the thong, and
fled into the woods.
The woodpecker perched upon his tree-top.
But the tortoise was so weak that he lay where he was.
hunter threw him into a bag, and tied it to a tree.
The
The Future Buddha observed that the tortoise was taken, and
determined to save his friend's life. So he let the hunter see
him, and made as though he were weak. The hunter saw him,
and thinking him to be weak, seized his knife and set out in
pursuit. The Future Buddha, keeping just out of his reach, led
him into the forest; and when he saw that they had come far
away, gave him the slip and returned swift as the wind by
another way.
He lifted the bag with his horns, threw it upon
the ground, ripped it open, and let the tortoise out. And the
woodpecker came down from the tree.
Then the Future Buddha thus addressed them both: "My
life has been saved by you, and you have done a friend's part to
Now the hunter will come and take you; so do you, friend
woodpecker, migrate elsewhere with your brood, and you, friend
tortoise, dive into the water. " They did so.
me.
The Master, becoming perfectly enlightened, uttered the second
stanza:-
The tortoise went into the pond, the deer into the wood,
And from the tree the woodpecker carried away his brood.
The hunter returned, and saw none of them. He found his
bag torn; picked it up, and went home sorrowful. And the
three friends lived all their life long in unbroken amity, and
then passed away to fare according to their deeds.
When the Master had ended this discourse, he identified the
Birth: "Devadatta was the huntsman, Sariputta the woodpecker.
Moggallana the tortoise, and I was the antelope. "
## p. 11460 (#74) ###########################################
11460
PILPAY
PRINCE FIVE-WEAPONS
From the Jataka,' No. 55
[The essential feature of this story bears a striking, but probably fortui-
tous, resemblance to that of the Tar-baby of Uncle Remus. The narrator's
naively religious interpretation of the Sword of Adamant is highly charac-
teristic. Rahu is the demon that swallows the moon, and so causes eclipses. ]
"WHE
>>
no attachment. This story was told by the Master
while at Jetavana, about a brother who had given up all
earnest effort.
Said the Master to him, "Is the report true, brother, that you are
a backslider? »
――――
"Yes, Blessed One. "
"In bygone days, brother," said the Master, "the wise and good
won a throne by their dauntless perseverance in the hour of need. "
And so saying he told this story of the past.
ONCE on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
it was as his queen's child that the Future Buddha came to life
once more. On the day when he was to be named, the parents
inquired as to their child's destiny from one hundred and eight
brahmans, to whom they gave their hearts' desire in all pleas-
ures of sense. Marking the promise which he showed of a
glorious destiny, these clever soothsaying brahmans foretold that,
coming to the throne at the king's death, the child should be a
mighty king, endowed with every virtue; famed and renowned
for his exploits with five weapons, he should stand peerless
throughout all the Land of the Rose-apple (India). And because
of this prophecy of the brahmans, the parents named their son
Prince Five-Weapons.
Now, when the prince was come to years of discretion, and
was sixteen years old, the king bade him go away and study.
"With whom, sire, am I to study? " asked the prince.
"With the world-renowned professor in the town of Takkasila
in the Gandhara country. Here is his fee," said the king, hand-
ing his son a thousand pieces.
So the prince went to Takkasila and was taught there. When
he was leaving, his master gave him a set of five weapons; armed
with which, after bidding adieu to his old master, the prince set
out from Takkasila for Benares.
## p. 11461 (#75) ###########################################
PILPAY
11461
On his way he came to a forest haunted by an ogre named
Sticky-hair; and at the entrance to the forest, men who met him
tried to stop him, saying, "Young brahman, do not go through
that forest: it is the haunt of the ogre Sticky-hair, and he kills
every one he meets. " But bold as a lion, the self-reliant Future
Buddha pressed on, till in the heart of the forest he came on the
ogre.
The monster made himself appear in stature as tall as a
palm-tree, with a head as big as an arbor, and huge eyes like
bowls, with two tusks like turnips, and the beak of a hawk; his
belly was blotched with purple; and the palms of his hands and
the soles of his feet were blue-black! "Whither away? " cried
the monster: "halt! you are my prey. " "Ogre," answered the
Future Buddha, "I knew what I was doing when I entered this
forest. You will be ill advised to come near me. For with a
poisoned arrow I will slay you where you stand. " And with this
defiance, he fitted to his bow an arrow dipped in deadliest poison
and shot it at the ogre. But it only stuck on to the monster's
shaggy coat. Then he shot another and another, till fifty were
spent, all of which merely stuck on the ogre's shaggy coat.
Hereon the ogre, shaking the arrows off so that they fell at his
feet, came at the Future Buddha; and the latter, again shouting
defiance, drew his sword and struck at the ogre. But like the
arrows, his sword, which was thirty-three inches long, merely
stuck fast in the shaggy hair. Next the Future Buddha hurled
his spear, and that stuck fast also. Seeing this, he smote the
ogre with his club; but like his other weapons, that too stuck
fast. And thereupon the Future Buddha shouted, "Ogre, you
never heard yet of me, Prince Five-Weapons. When I ventured
into this forest, I put my trust not in my bow and other
weapons, but in myself! Now will I strike you a blow which
shall crush you into dust. " So saying, the Future Buddha smote
the ogre with his right hand; but the hand stuck fast upon the
hair. Then, in turn, with his left hand and with his right and
left feet, he struck at the monster, but hand and feet alike clave
to the hide. Again shouting, "I will crush you into dust! " he
butted the ogre with his head, and that too stuck fast.
Yet even when thus caught and snared in fivefold wise, the
Future Buddha, as he hung upon the ogre, was still fearless, still
undaunted. And the monster thought to himself, "This is a
very lion among men, a hero without a peer, and no mere man.
## p. 11462 (#76) ###########################################
11462
PILPAY
Though he is caught in the clutches of an ogre like me, yet not
so much as a tremor will he show. Never, since I first took to
slaying travelers upon this road, have I seen a man to equal
him. How comes it that he is not frightened? " Not daring to
devour the Future Buddha offhand, he said, "How is it, young
brahman, that you have no fear of death? "
"Why should I? " answered the Future Buddha. "Each life
must surely have its destined death. Moreover, within my body
is a sword of adamant, which you will never digest, if you eat
me. It will chop your inwards into mincemeat, and my death
will involve yours too. Therefore it is that I have no fear. "
(By this, it is said, the Future Buddha meant the Sword of
Knowledge, which was within him. )
Hereon the ogre fell a-thinking. "This young brahman is
speaking the truth and nothing but the truth," thought he.
"Not a morsel so big as a pea could I digest of such a hero.
I'll let him go. " And so, in fear of his life, he let the Future
Buddha go free, saying, "Young brahman, you are a lion among
men: I will not eat you. Go forth from my hand, even as the
moon from the jaws of Rahu, and return to gladden the hearts
of your kinsfolk, your friends, and your country. "
"As for myself, ogre," answered the Future Buddha, "I will
go. As for you, it was your sins in bygone days that caused you
to be reborn a ravening, murderous, flesh-eating ogre; and if you
continue in sin in this existence, you will go on from darkness to
darkness. But having seen me, you will be unable thenceforth
to sin any more. Know that to destroy life is to insure rebirth
either in hell or as a brute or as a ghost or among the fallen
spirits. Or if the rebirth be into the world of men, then such
sin cuts short the days of a man's life. ”
In this and other ways the Future Buddha showed the evil
consequences of the five bad courses, and the blessing that comes
of the five good courses; and so wrought in divers ways upon
that ogre's fears that by his teaching he converted the monster,
imbuing him with self-denial and establishing him in the Five
Commandments. Then making the ogre the fairy of that forest,
with a right to levy dues, and charging him to remain steadfast,
the Future Buddha went his way, making known the change in
the ogre's mood as he issued from the forest. And in the end
he came, armed with the five weapons, to the city of Benares,
and presented himself before his parents. In later days, when
## p. 11463 (#77) ###########################################
PILPAY
11463
king, he was a righteous ruler; and after a life spent in charity
and other good works, he passed away to fare thereafter accord-
ing to his deserts.
This lesson ended, the Master, as Buddha, recited this stanza:
When no attachment hampers heart or mind,
When righteousness is practiced peace to win,
He who so walks shall gain the victory,
And all the Fetters utterly destroy.
When he had thus led his teaching up to Arahatship as its crown-
ing point, the Master went on to preach the Four Truths, at the close
whereof that brother won Arahatship. Also the Master showed the
connection and identified the Birth by saying, "Angulimala was the
ogre of those days, and 'I myself Prince Five-Weapons. "
AN EXAMPLE» OF THE EVILS OF RASHNESS
[This "example," which points a warning against rash action, we give in
three versions; partly for their intrinsic interest, and partly to show the
surprising diversity in style and in details of treatment of what is essentially
one motif. The first is from the Sanskrit of the 'Hitopadeça,' an offshoot
of the Panchatantra. The second is from E. B. Eastwick's translation of the
Persian 'Lights of Canopus. ' If this is a "simplified recast of Nasr Allah's
version," what must that have been! The third is from G. L. Gomme's
reprint (London, 1885) of the British Museum chap-book entitled 'The Seven
Wise Masters of Rome,' printed in 1520 by Wynkyn de Worde.
The sources
and imitations of this tale are given by Edouard Lancereau in his French
translation of the Panchatantra (Paris, 1871), page 384. The story is the
same as that told of Llewellyn the Great and his faithful hound Gellert,
and familiar to English readers through the well-known ballad of William R.
Spencer. The hound, which is the European representative of the plucky
little Indian ichneumon, has become a martyr and a patron saint of little
children in the popular belief of the South of France, and is invoked by
mothers under the name of St. Guinefort. ]
FIRST VERSION
THE BRAHMAN AND HIS FAITHFUL ICHNEUMON
From the Hitopadeça›
N UJJAIN lived a brahman named Madhava, whose wife once
left him in charge of their little child and went to bathe.
Now an invitation came from the King for the brahman to
perform a funeral oblation and partake of the funeral meal. At
which news the poor fellow bethought himself: "If I go not
## p. 11464 (#78) ###########################################
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PILPAY
quickly, then some one else will receive the funeral meal. For
'tis said:-
'Hast aught to give, or aught to take or do,
Give, take it, do it, quickly, ere the morrow rise;
Or else thy sloth full bitter shalt thou rue,
And ruthless Time shall suck the juice from thy emprise. '
But there is no one here to take care of the child. What then
shall I do? Hold! I have here an ichneumon, which I have
kept this long time and cared for as if he were my son: I will
leave him to take care of the babe, and go. " And so doing, he
went.
Meantime there came near the child a black cobra; which
when the ichneumon saw, he killed it and tore it in pieces.
Then, with blood-smeared snout and paws, he ran to meet the
brahman as he was returning home, and fawned at his feet.
But the brahman, seeing the ichneumon in that plight, came
rashly to the conclusion that the beast had eaten his child; and
forthwith killed the ichneumon. Then when he came nigh and
looked, behold, his child was asleep and the cobra slain. Then
he saw that the ichneumon had done him a service, and sorrow-
fully recognizing the rashness of his deed, he was filled with
despair.
Translation of Charles R. Lanman.
WHO
SECOND VERSION
THE RESULTS OF PRECIPITATION
From the 'Anvár-i Suhailí' or 'Lights of Canopus,' a Persian rendering of Pilpay
COUPLET
Ho dares to act without due thought and care,
Will sink at last in sorrow and despair.
And there are many anecdotes and innumerable stories apro-
pos of this subject which are written and commemorated in the
pages of nocturnal conversations and elegant annals, and among
these is the story of the Holy Man who rashly stepped into the
plain of precipitate action, and staining his hands with innocent
blood, destroyed the unfortunate ichneumon; which displays the
ill effects of this precipitation.
## p. 11465 (#79) ###########################################
PILPAY
11465
The King asked, "How was that? "
He said.
They have related that a Devotee after long celibacy desired.
to put in practice the injunction, "Matrimony is my command-
ment; therefore he who turns away from my commandment is
none of mine. " After extensive inquiry and infinite pains, the
Devotee, through the aid of his lofty fortune and the help of
his noble spirit, obtained a wife of a great family and an illus-
trious stock. The reflection of her countenance gave radiance to
the morn, and the hue of her curling ringlets aided the perfumer
of evening in intensifying his gloom. The azure sky had never
beheld her equal, save in the mirror of the sun; and the swift-
sighted limner of the imagination had ne'er looked on the like.
of her lovely semblance, save in the world of dreams.
VERSE
The glories of thy sunny cheek the world of beauty warmly kiss;
Like the full moon, thou hast arisen amid the sky of loveliness;
Thy countenance the brightest rose, thy form the fairest cypress is,
That ever grew in beauty's bower, or 'mid the flowers of comeli-
ness.
And together with this beauty of form, she was adorned with
excellence of disposition, and the graces of her body were set off
by those of her mind. The Devotee, in his daily prayers, re-
turned thanks for such a blessing; and having thus commenced
his intercourse with that partner whose face resembled the beau-
ties of Eden, he desired to beget a son. And no wise person
bases his desire for children on mere sensual appetite, nor yields
his body to the task save in quest of a virtuous son, who, in
procuring the blessings asked for by prayer, is equivalent to the
perpetual offering of alms.
And a son of fair visage and lovely form was born, such that
the tokens of beauty and accomplishments bespoke his perfec-
tion, and the signs of admirable gifts shone and gleamed on the
forehead of his condition. The Devotee beheld the morn of
hope begin to smile from the dawning-place of desire, and the
nightingale of his pleasure commenced singing on the rose-shrub
of joy.
COUPLET
A fair gem from the boundless sea of Grace, was brought to light;
Upon the sky of Law divine a new star glittered bright.
## p. 11466 (#80) ###########################################
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PILPAY
The Devotee indulged in raptures at the beauty of his son,
and fulfilled a variety of vows which he had made; and girding
up his loins in attendance on his son's cradle night and day, drew
through other matters the pen of oblivion, and expended all his
energies in [promoting] his growth and strength, and grace and
freshness and vigor.
COUPLET
How long shall I on thee bestow my breath like morn's young
breeze,
That thou mayst blossom like a rose, to gladden and to please?
One day the mother of the child desiring to take a warm
bath, committed him, with many injunctions, to the care of his
father, who besides had nothing else then to do. Some time
passed, and a confidential person, sent by the king of the country,
came to request his attendance, and there was no possibility of
delay. He was of necessity compelled to go out of the house.
Now they had an ichneumon, in whose charge they left the
house, and through him their minds were altogether set at ease;
and he used to display the utmost exertion in ridding them of
noxious reptiles, and beasts that bite or sting. The Devotee
came out and left the ichneumon with his son. To be short, no
sooner had he left the house than a large snake showed itself
near the cradle. When the ichneumon saw that dart-like, armor-
wearing snake,- that malignant creature swift to wrath, which
when quiescent assumes the shape of a circle, that arrowy-
paced reptile, which at times, like a curved bow, joins its
extremities,-
-
STANZA
Straight as a dart, anon, like buckler, round;
Anon in noose-like circles flows its form;
No cloud within, two lightnings forked are found,
No sea, but waves roll there-a mimic storm,-
making for the cradle, and intending to kill the child, it leapt
up, and seizing his throat, imprisoned him in the ring of the
noose of death; and by the blessed influence of its defense, the
boy escaped from that whirlpool of destruction. Shortly after,
the Devotee returned; and the ichneumon, smeared with blood,
ran to meet him, in exultation at having done a good deed.
## p. 11467 (#81) ###########################################
PILPAY
11467
The Devotee imagined that it had killed his son, and that these
stains were from his blood. The fire of wrath was kindled in
the stove of his heart, and the smoke of precipitation entered
the aperture of his brain; and his reason, through the murkiness
of the fumes of rashness,-which, like the cloud of tyranny, is
the cause of darkening the world,-covered its face with the veil
of concealment. Before inquiring into the matter, or examining
into the real state of the case, he smote down his staff on the
ichneumon, and broke the vertebræ of its back, and knocked its
head into the casket of its chest. But when he entered the
house he beheld the child sleeping in safety in the cradle, and
a huge serpent lying there torn in pieces. Then the smoke of
remorse ascended from his heart, and he began to smite his
breast with the stone of regret, and complaining and lamenting
said: —
COUPLET
"Hereafter, I and grief are one; and every man this well must see,-
For me to have a cheerful heart, impossible and strange would be.
Alas! that the fire of this distressing accident cannot be extin-
guished by the water of excuses, and that the dart of the shame
of this troublous transaction will not be repelled by the shield of
extenuation. What unjust action is this that I have committed!
and what unsuitable act is this that my hands have done!
COUPLET
-
'Tis right that I my blood should drink, in shame for this distress;
'Tis fit that I my life resign for this unhappiness.
Would to God that this son had never come into existence from
nonentity, and that I had not set my love and affections upon
him! so that this innocent blood would not have been shed on
this account, and I should not have happened to embark in this
unholy business. And what answer shall I give to my Creator
for this, that I have causelessly destroyed one that dwelt in the
same house with me; and have slain the guardian of my home,
and the protector of my beloved son, without reason? And what
excuse can I offer to my fellow-creatures for this? And here-
after the chain of censure will not be removed from my neck,
and the writing of infamy will never be obliterated from the
page of my affairs. "
## p. 11468 (#82) ###########################################
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PILPAY
THIRD VERSION
THE EXAMPLE OF THE FIRST MASTER
From The Seven Wise Masters of Rome': Printed from the edition of
Wynkyn de Worde, 1520, and edited, with an introduction, by George
Laurence Gomme, F. S. A. London: printed for the Villon Society, 1885.
T
HERE was a valiant knight which had only one son as ye have.
The which he loved so much that he ordained for his keep-
ing three nurses: the first should give him suck and feed
him, the second should wash him and keep him clean, the third
should bring him to sleep and to rest. This knight had also a
greyhound and a falcon that he also loved right well.
The grey-
hound was so good that he never ran to no game but he took it
and held it till his master came. And if his master disposed him
to go to battle, if he should not speed in the battle, anon as
he should mount upon his horse the greyhound would take the
horse's tail in his mouth and draw backward, and would also cry
and howl marvelously loud. By these signs the knight under-
stood if that he should speed in his journey or not. The falcon
was so gentle and so hardy that he was never cast off to his
prey but he took it. This same knight had great pleasure in
jousting and tourneying, so that upon a time under his castle he
let proclaim a tournament to the which came many good lords
and knights. The knight entered into the tourney, and his lady
went with her maidens to see it. And as they went out, after
went the nurses, and left the child lying alone in the cradle in
the hall, where the greyhound lay nigh the wall, and the hawk
or falcon standing upon a perch. In this hall there was a ser-
pent lurking or hid in a hole, to all them of the castle unknown.
The which when he felt that they were all absent, he put out
his head of his hole. And as he no man saw, but the child lying
in the cradle, he went out of his cavern towards the cradle for
the child to have slain. The noble falcon seeing that, beheld the
greyhound that was sleeping; she made such a noise and rustling
with her wings or feathers that the greyhound awoke and rose
up. And when he saw the serpent nigh the child, anon against
him he leapt, and they both fought so long together till that the
serpent had grievously hurted and wounded the greyhound that
he bled sore, so that the earth about the cradle was all bebled
with the blood of the greyhound. The greyhound, when that he
## p. 11469 (#83) ###########################################
PILPAY
11469
felt himself so grievously hurted and wounded, started fiercely
upon the serpent, and fought sore together and so eagerly, so
that between them the cradle was overturned with the child.
And because that the cradle had four pommels or feet, they
saved the child's visage and his life from any hurtful falling
towards the earth. And what shall I say more? Incontinent
thereafter with great pain the greyhound overcame and slew
the serpent, and went and laid him down again in his place and
licked his wounds. And anon after, as the jousts and tourney
was done, the nurses were the first that came into the castle.
And as they saw the cradle reversed, with blood upon the earth
environed, and that the greyhound was also bloody, they thought
and said amongst themselves that the greyhound had slain the
child, and they were not so wise as to turn up again the cradle
with the child for to have seen what was thereof befallen. But
they said, Let us flee or run away, lest that our master put or
lay the blame upon us and slay us.
it myself. " And he turned to go away, when the Future Buddha
from the fork of his tree exclaimed, "My good man, if you were
a great lord you would bring me dainty manchets; but as you
are a poor man, what shall I have to eat if not that cake? Rob
me not of my portion. " And he uttered this stanza:
"As fares his worshiper, a Sprite must fare:
Bring me the cake, nor rob me of my share. ”
Then the man turned again, and seeing the Future Buddha,
offered up his sacrifice. The Future Buddha fed on the savor
and said, "Why do you worship me? " "I am a poor man, my
lord, and I worship you to be eased of my poverty. "-"Have no
more care for that. You have sacrificed to one who is grateful
and mindful of kindly deeds. Round this tree, neck to neck, are
buried pots of treasure. Go tell the King, and take the treasure
away in wagons to the King's court-yard. There pile it in a heap,
and the King shall be so well pleased that he will make you
Lord Treasurer. " So saying, the Future Buddha vanished from
sight. The man did as he was bidden, and the King made him
Lord Treasurer. Thus did the poor man by aid of the Future
Buddha come to great fortune; and when he died, he passed
away to fare according to his deserts.
―
His lesson ended, the Master identified the Birth by saying:-"The
poor man of to-day was also the poor man of those times, and I the
Tree-sprite who dwelt in the castor-oil tree. "
EEING Quick dead. "
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
From the Jataka,' No. 97
This story was told by the Master while at
about a brother who thought went by names.
For we hear that a young man of good family, named "Base,"
had given his heart to the Faith, and joined the Brotherhood. And
the brethren used to call him, "Here, brother Base! " and "Stay,
brother Base"; till he resolved that as "Base" gave the idea of in-
carnate wickedness and ill luck, he would change his name to one of
better omen. Accordingly he asked his teachers and preceptors to
## p. 11452 (#66) ###########################################
11452
PILPAY
give him a new name. But they said that a name only served to
denote, and did not impute qualities; and they bade him rest content
with the name he had. Time after time he renewed his request, till
the whole Brotherhood knew what importance he attached to a mere
name. And as they sat discussing the matter in the Hall of Truth,
the Master entered and asked what it was they were speaking about.
Being told, he said: "This is not the first time this brother has
believed luck went by names: he was equally dissatisfied with the
name he bore in a former age. " So saying, he told this story of the
past.
ONCE ON
a time the Future Buddha was a world-renowned
professor at Takkasila, and five hundred young brahmans learnt
the Vedas from his lips. One of these young men was named
Base. And from continually hearing his fellows say, "Go, Base,"
and "Come, Base,” he longed to get rid of his name, and to take
one that had a less ill-omened ring about it. So he went to his
master, and asked that a new name of a respectable character
might be given him. Said his master, "Go, my son, and travel
through the land till you have found a name you fancy.
come back and I will change your name for you. "
Then
The young man did as he was bidden; and taking provisions
for the journey, wandered from village to village till he came
to a certain town. Here a man named Quick had died, and the
young brahman, seeing him borne to the cemetery, asked what
his name was.
"Quick," was the reply. "What, can Quick be dead? " —
"Yes, Quick is dead: both Quick and Dead die just the same.
A name only serves to mark who's who. You seem a fool. "
Hearing this he went on into the city, feeling neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied with his own name.
Now a slave-girl had been thrown down at the door of a
house, while her master and mistress beat her with rope-ends
because she had not brought home her wages. And the girl's
name was Rich. Seeing the girl being beaten, as he walked
along the street, he asked the reason, and was told in reply that
it was because she had no wages to show.
"And what is the girl's name? ”
"Rich," said they. -"And cannot Rich make good a paltry
day's pay? "-"Be she called Rich or Poor, the money's not
forthcoming any the more. A name only serves to mark who's
who. You seem a fool. "
## p. 11453 (#67) ###########################################
PILPAY
11453
More reconciled to his own name, the young brahman left
the city, and on the road found a man who had lost his way.
Having learnt that he had lost his way, the young man asked
what his name was. "Guide," was the reply. -"And has Guide
lost his way? "-"Guide or Misguide, you can lose your way just
the same. A name only serves to mark who's who. You seem
a fool. "
Quite reconciled now to his name, the young brahman came
back to his master.
"Well, what name have you chosen? " asked the Future
Buddha. -"Master," said he, "I find that death comes to 'Quick'
and 'Dead' alike, that 'Rich' and 'Poor' may be poor together,
and that 'Guide' and 'Misguide' alike miss their way. I know
now that a name serves only to tell who is who, and does not
govern its owner's destiny. So I am satisfied with my own
name, and do not want to change it for any other. »
Then the Future Buddha uttered this stanza, combining what
the young brahman had done with the sights he had seen:—
"Seeing Quick dead, Guide lost, Rich poor,
Base learned content, nor traveled more. "
His story told, the Master said, "So you see, brethren, that in for-
mer days as now this brother imagined there was a great deal in a
name. " And he identified the Birth by saying:-"This brother who
is discontented with his name was the discontented young brahman
of those days; the Buddha's disciples were the pupils; and I myself
their master. "
THE BUDDHIST DUTY OF COURTESY TO ANIMALS
From the Jataka,' No. 28
"SP
PEAK only words of kindness. "— This story was told by the Mas-
ter while at Jetavana, about the bitter words spoken by the
Six. For in those days the Six, when they disagreed with
respectable brethren, used to taunt, revile, and jeer them, and load
them with the ten kinds of abuse. This the brethren reported to
the Blessed One, who sent for the Six and asked whether this charge
was true. On their admitting its truth, he rebuked them, saying,
"Brethren, hard words gall even animals: in bygone days an animal
made a man who had used harsh language to him lose a thousand
pieces. " And so saying, he told this story of the past.
## p. 11454 (#68) ###########################################
11454
PILPAY
as
ONCE on a time, at Takkasila in the land of Gandhara, there
was a king reigning there, and the Future Buddha came to life
bull. When he was quite a tiny calf, he was presented
by his owners to a brahman who came in, they being known to
give away presents of oxen to such-like holy men. The brahman
called it Nandi-Visala (Great-Joy), and treated it like his own
child, feeding the young creature on rice gruel and rice. When
the Future Buddha grew up, he thought thus to himself: "I have
been brought up by this brahman with great pains, and all India
cannot show the bull which can draw what I can. How if I
were to repay the brahman the cost of my nurture by making
proof of my strength? " Accordingly, one day he said to the
brahman, "Go, brahman, to some merchant rich in herds, and
wager him a thousand pieces that your bull can draw a hundred
loaded carts. "
་
The brahman went his way to a merchant, and got into a
discussion with him as to whose oxen in the town were strong.
"Oh, so-and-so's, or so-and-so's," said the merchant.
"But,"
added he, "there are no oxen in the town which can compare
with mine for real strength. " Said the brahman, “I have a bull
who can pull a hundred loaded carts. " "Where's such a bull
to be found? " laughed the merchant. "I've got him at home,"
said the brahman. -"Make it a wager.
» said the
Certainly,"
brahman, and staked a thousand pieces. Then he loaded a hun-
dred carts with sand, gravel, and stones, and leashed the lot
together, one behind the other, by cords from the axle-tree of
the one in front to the trace-bar of its successor. This done,
he bathed Nandi-Visala, gave him a measure of perfumed rice to
eat, hung a garland round his neck, and harnessed him all alone
to the leading cart. The brahman in person took his seat upon
the pole, and flourished his goad in the air, shouting,
then, you rascal! pull them along, you rascal! "
"I'm not the rascal he calls me," thought the Future Buddha
to himself; and so he planted his four feet like so many posts,
and budged not an inch.
>>>
-
་་
Straightway the merchant made the brahman pay over the
thousand pieces. His money gone, the brahman took his bull
out of the cart and went home, where he lay down on his bed
in an agony of grief. When Nandi-Visala strolled in and found
the brahman a prey to such grief, he went up to him and
inquired if the brahman were taking a nap. "How should I be
taking a nap, when I have had a thousand pieces won of me? "
## p. 11455 (#69) ###########################################
PILPAY
11455
“Brahman, all the time I have lived in your house, have I ever
broken a pot, or squeezed up against anybody, or made messes
about? -"Never, my child. " "Then why did you call me a
rascal? It's you who are to blame, not I. Go and bet him two
thousand this time. Only remember not to miscall me rascal
again. "
-
--
When he heard this, the brahman went off to the merchant
and laid a wager of two thousand. Just as before, he leashed
the hundred carts to one another, and harnessed Nandi Visala,
very spruce and fine, to the leading cart. If you ask how he
harnessed him, well, he did it in this way: first he fastened
the cross-yoke on to the pole; then he put the bull in on one
side, and made the other fast by fastening a smooth piece of
wood from the cross-yoke on to the axle-tree, so that the yoke
was taut and could not skew around either way. Thus a single
bull could draw a cart made to be drawn by two.
So now
seated on the pole, the brahman stroked Nandi-Visala on the
back, and called on him in this style: "Now then, my fine fel-
low! pull them along, my fine fellow! " With a single pull the
Future Buddha tugged along the whole string of the hundred
carts, till the hindermost stood where the foremost had started.
The merchant rich in herds paid up the two thousand pieces he
had lost to the brahman. Other folks, too, gave large sums to
the Future Buddha, and the whole passed into the hands of the
brahman. Thus did he gain greatly by reason of the Future
Buddha.
Thus laying down, by way of rebuke to the Six, the rule that hard
words please no one, the Master, as Buddha, uttered this stanza:
"Speak only words of kindness, never words
Unkind. For him who spoke him fair, he moved
A heavy load, and brought him wealth, for love. "
When he had thus ended his lesson as to speaking only words of
kindness, the Master identified the Birth by saying: "Ananda was
the brahman of those days, and I myself Nandi-Visala. "
## p. 11456 (#70) ###########################################
11456
PILPAY
MONKEYS IN THE GARDEN
From the Jataka,' No. 268
"B
EST of all," etc. - This story the Master told whilst dwelling in
the country near South Mountain, about a gardener's son.
After the rains, the Master left Jetavana, and went on alms-
pilgrimage in the district about South Mountain. A layman invited
the Buddha and his company, and made them sit down in his grounds
till he gave them of rice and cakes. Then he said, "If any of the
holy Fathers care to see over the grounds, they might go along with
the gardener;" and he ordered the gardener to supply them with any
fruit they might fancy.
By-and by they came upon a bare spot.
"What is the reason,"
they asked, "that this spot is bare and treeless? " "The reason is,"
answered the gardener, "that a certain gardener's son, who had to
water the saplings, thought he had better give them water in propor-
tion to the length of the roots; so he pulled them all up to see, and
watered them accordingly. The result was that the place became
bare. "
The brethren returned, and told this to their Master. Said he,
"Not now only has the lad destroyed a plantation: he did just the
same before;" and then he told them an old-world tale.
ONCE upon a time, when a king named Vissasena was reign-
ing over Benares, proclamation was made of a holiday. The
park keeper thought he would go and keep holiday; so calling
the monkeys that lived in the park, he said:-
"This park is a great blessing to you. I want to take a
week's holiday. Will you water the saplings on the seventh
day? " "Oh, yes," said they. So he gave them the watering-
skins, and went his way.
The monkeys drew water, and began to water the roots.
The eldest monkey cried out: "Wait, now! It's hard to get
water always. We must husband it. Let us pull up the plants,
and notice the length of their roots: if they have long roots,
they need plenty of water; but short ones need only a little.
"True, true," they agreed; and then some of them pulled up the
plants, while others put them in again and watered them.
The Future Buddha at the time was a young gentleman liv-
ing in Benares. Something or other took him to this park, and
he saw what the monkeys were doing.
"Who bids you do that? " asked he.
## p. 11457 (#71) ###########################################
PILPAY
"Our chief," they replied.
"If that is the wisdom of the chief, what must the rest of
you be like! " said he; and to explain the matter, he uttered the
first stanza:
11457
"Best of all the troop is this:
What intelligence is his!
If he was chosen as the best,
What sort of creatures are the rest! "
Hearing this remark, the monkeys rejoined with the second
stanza:
"Brahman, you know not what you say,
Blaming us in such a way!
If the root we do not know,
How can we tell the trees that grow? "
To which the Future Buddha replied by the third, as follows:-
"Monkeys, I have no blame for you,
Nor those who range the woodland through.
The monarch is a fool, to say
'Please tend my trees while I'm away. ""
When this discourse was ended, the Master identified the Birth:
"The lad who destroyed the park was the monkey chief, and I was
the wise man. "
THE ANTELOPE, THE WOODPECKER, AND THE TORTOISE
From the Jataka,' No. 206
་་
"Co
[This story is found sculptured upon an ancient Hindu monument of the
greatest archæological interest, the Stupa of Bharhut. The history of the tale
may accordingly be traced by actual records-in stone and in books-from
250 B. C. through Buddhist, Mohammedan, Jewish, and Christian literature,
down to La Fontaine (Fables,' xii. 15) and later. ]
OME, tortoise," etc. - This story the Master told at Veluvana,
about Devadatta. News came to the Master that Devadatta
was plotting his death. "Ah, Brethren," said he, "it was just
the same long ago: Devadatta tried then to kill me, as he is trying
now. " And he told them this story.
ONCE upon a time, when Brahmadatta was King of Benares,
the Future Buddha became an antelope, and lived within a forest,
XX-717
## p. 11458 (#72) ###########################################
11458
PILPAY
in a thicket near a certain lake. Not far from the same lake
sat a woodpecker perched at the top of a tree; and in the lake
dwelt a tortoise. And the three became friends, and lived to-
gether in amity.
A hunter, wandering about in the wood, observed the Future
Buddha's footprint at the going down into the water; and he set
a trap of leather, strong, like an iron chain, and went his way.
In the first watch of the night the Future Buddha went down to
drink, and got caught in the noose; whereat he cried loud and
long. Thereupon the woodpecker flew down from her tree-top,
and the tortoise came out of the water, and consulted what was
to be done.
Said the woodpecker to the tortoise, "Friend, you have teeth,
bite this snare through: I will go and see to it that the hunter
keeps away; and if we both do our best, our friend will not lose
his life. " To make this clear he uttered the first stanza:
"Come, tortoise, tear the leathern snare,
And bite it through and through,
And of the hunter I'll take care,
And keep him off from you. "
The tortoise began to gnaw the leather thong; the woodpecker
made his way to the hunter's dwelling. At dawn of day the
hunter went out, knife in hand. As soon as the bird saw him
start, he uttered a cry, flapped his wings, and struck him in the
face as he left the front door. "Some bird of ill omen has
struck me! " thought the hunter; he turned back, and lay down
for a little while. Then he rose up again, and took his knife.
The bird reasoned within himself, "The first time he went out
by the front door, so now he will leave by the back:" and he
sat him down behind the house. The hunter too reasoned in the
same way: When I went out by the front door, I saw a bad
omen: now will I go out by the back! " and so he did. But the
bird cried out again, and struck him in the face. Finding that
he was again struck by a bird of ill omen, the hunter exclaimed,
"This creature will not let me go! " and turning back he lay
down until sunrise, and when the sun was risen he took his
knife and started.
((
The woodpecker made all haste back to his friends. "Here
comes the hunter! " he cried. By this time the tortoise had
gnawed through all the thongs but one tough thong; his teeth
## p. 11459 (#73) ###########################################
PILPAY
11459
seemed as though they would fall out, and his mouth was all
smeared with blood. The Future Buddha saw the young hunter
coming on like lightning, knife in hand: he burst the thong, and
fled into the woods.
The woodpecker perched upon his tree-top.
But the tortoise was so weak that he lay where he was.
hunter threw him into a bag, and tied it to a tree.
The
The Future Buddha observed that the tortoise was taken, and
determined to save his friend's life. So he let the hunter see
him, and made as though he were weak. The hunter saw him,
and thinking him to be weak, seized his knife and set out in
pursuit. The Future Buddha, keeping just out of his reach, led
him into the forest; and when he saw that they had come far
away, gave him the slip and returned swift as the wind by
another way.
He lifted the bag with his horns, threw it upon
the ground, ripped it open, and let the tortoise out. And the
woodpecker came down from the tree.
Then the Future Buddha thus addressed them both: "My
life has been saved by you, and you have done a friend's part to
Now the hunter will come and take you; so do you, friend
woodpecker, migrate elsewhere with your brood, and you, friend
tortoise, dive into the water. " They did so.
me.
The Master, becoming perfectly enlightened, uttered the second
stanza:-
The tortoise went into the pond, the deer into the wood,
And from the tree the woodpecker carried away his brood.
The hunter returned, and saw none of them. He found his
bag torn; picked it up, and went home sorrowful. And the
three friends lived all their life long in unbroken amity, and
then passed away to fare according to their deeds.
When the Master had ended this discourse, he identified the
Birth: "Devadatta was the huntsman, Sariputta the woodpecker.
Moggallana the tortoise, and I was the antelope. "
## p. 11460 (#74) ###########################################
11460
PILPAY
PRINCE FIVE-WEAPONS
From the Jataka,' No. 55
[The essential feature of this story bears a striking, but probably fortui-
tous, resemblance to that of the Tar-baby of Uncle Remus. The narrator's
naively religious interpretation of the Sword of Adamant is highly charac-
teristic. Rahu is the demon that swallows the moon, and so causes eclipses. ]
"WHE
>>
no attachment. This story was told by the Master
while at Jetavana, about a brother who had given up all
earnest effort.
Said the Master to him, "Is the report true, brother, that you are
a backslider? »
――――
"Yes, Blessed One. "
"In bygone days, brother," said the Master, "the wise and good
won a throne by their dauntless perseverance in the hour of need. "
And so saying he told this story of the past.
ONCE on a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares,
it was as his queen's child that the Future Buddha came to life
once more. On the day when he was to be named, the parents
inquired as to their child's destiny from one hundred and eight
brahmans, to whom they gave their hearts' desire in all pleas-
ures of sense. Marking the promise which he showed of a
glorious destiny, these clever soothsaying brahmans foretold that,
coming to the throne at the king's death, the child should be a
mighty king, endowed with every virtue; famed and renowned
for his exploits with five weapons, he should stand peerless
throughout all the Land of the Rose-apple (India). And because
of this prophecy of the brahmans, the parents named their son
Prince Five-Weapons.
Now, when the prince was come to years of discretion, and
was sixteen years old, the king bade him go away and study.
"With whom, sire, am I to study? " asked the prince.
"With the world-renowned professor in the town of Takkasila
in the Gandhara country. Here is his fee," said the king, hand-
ing his son a thousand pieces.
So the prince went to Takkasila and was taught there. When
he was leaving, his master gave him a set of five weapons; armed
with which, after bidding adieu to his old master, the prince set
out from Takkasila for Benares.
## p. 11461 (#75) ###########################################
PILPAY
11461
On his way he came to a forest haunted by an ogre named
Sticky-hair; and at the entrance to the forest, men who met him
tried to stop him, saying, "Young brahman, do not go through
that forest: it is the haunt of the ogre Sticky-hair, and he kills
every one he meets. " But bold as a lion, the self-reliant Future
Buddha pressed on, till in the heart of the forest he came on the
ogre.
The monster made himself appear in stature as tall as a
palm-tree, with a head as big as an arbor, and huge eyes like
bowls, with two tusks like turnips, and the beak of a hawk; his
belly was blotched with purple; and the palms of his hands and
the soles of his feet were blue-black! "Whither away? " cried
the monster: "halt! you are my prey. " "Ogre," answered the
Future Buddha, "I knew what I was doing when I entered this
forest. You will be ill advised to come near me. For with a
poisoned arrow I will slay you where you stand. " And with this
defiance, he fitted to his bow an arrow dipped in deadliest poison
and shot it at the ogre. But it only stuck on to the monster's
shaggy coat. Then he shot another and another, till fifty were
spent, all of which merely stuck on the ogre's shaggy coat.
Hereon the ogre, shaking the arrows off so that they fell at his
feet, came at the Future Buddha; and the latter, again shouting
defiance, drew his sword and struck at the ogre. But like the
arrows, his sword, which was thirty-three inches long, merely
stuck fast in the shaggy hair. Next the Future Buddha hurled
his spear, and that stuck fast also. Seeing this, he smote the
ogre with his club; but like his other weapons, that too stuck
fast. And thereupon the Future Buddha shouted, "Ogre, you
never heard yet of me, Prince Five-Weapons. When I ventured
into this forest, I put my trust not in my bow and other
weapons, but in myself! Now will I strike you a blow which
shall crush you into dust. " So saying, the Future Buddha smote
the ogre with his right hand; but the hand stuck fast upon the
hair. Then, in turn, with his left hand and with his right and
left feet, he struck at the monster, but hand and feet alike clave
to the hide. Again shouting, "I will crush you into dust! " he
butted the ogre with his head, and that too stuck fast.
Yet even when thus caught and snared in fivefold wise, the
Future Buddha, as he hung upon the ogre, was still fearless, still
undaunted. And the monster thought to himself, "This is a
very lion among men, a hero without a peer, and no mere man.
## p. 11462 (#76) ###########################################
11462
PILPAY
Though he is caught in the clutches of an ogre like me, yet not
so much as a tremor will he show. Never, since I first took to
slaying travelers upon this road, have I seen a man to equal
him. How comes it that he is not frightened? " Not daring to
devour the Future Buddha offhand, he said, "How is it, young
brahman, that you have no fear of death? "
"Why should I? " answered the Future Buddha. "Each life
must surely have its destined death. Moreover, within my body
is a sword of adamant, which you will never digest, if you eat
me. It will chop your inwards into mincemeat, and my death
will involve yours too. Therefore it is that I have no fear. "
(By this, it is said, the Future Buddha meant the Sword of
Knowledge, which was within him. )
Hereon the ogre fell a-thinking. "This young brahman is
speaking the truth and nothing but the truth," thought he.
"Not a morsel so big as a pea could I digest of such a hero.
I'll let him go. " And so, in fear of his life, he let the Future
Buddha go free, saying, "Young brahman, you are a lion among
men: I will not eat you. Go forth from my hand, even as the
moon from the jaws of Rahu, and return to gladden the hearts
of your kinsfolk, your friends, and your country. "
"As for myself, ogre," answered the Future Buddha, "I will
go. As for you, it was your sins in bygone days that caused you
to be reborn a ravening, murderous, flesh-eating ogre; and if you
continue in sin in this existence, you will go on from darkness to
darkness. But having seen me, you will be unable thenceforth
to sin any more. Know that to destroy life is to insure rebirth
either in hell or as a brute or as a ghost or among the fallen
spirits. Or if the rebirth be into the world of men, then such
sin cuts short the days of a man's life. ”
In this and other ways the Future Buddha showed the evil
consequences of the five bad courses, and the blessing that comes
of the five good courses; and so wrought in divers ways upon
that ogre's fears that by his teaching he converted the monster,
imbuing him with self-denial and establishing him in the Five
Commandments. Then making the ogre the fairy of that forest,
with a right to levy dues, and charging him to remain steadfast,
the Future Buddha went his way, making known the change in
the ogre's mood as he issued from the forest. And in the end
he came, armed with the five weapons, to the city of Benares,
and presented himself before his parents. In later days, when
## p. 11463 (#77) ###########################################
PILPAY
11463
king, he was a righteous ruler; and after a life spent in charity
and other good works, he passed away to fare thereafter accord-
ing to his deserts.
This lesson ended, the Master, as Buddha, recited this stanza:
When no attachment hampers heart or mind,
When righteousness is practiced peace to win,
He who so walks shall gain the victory,
And all the Fetters utterly destroy.
When he had thus led his teaching up to Arahatship as its crown-
ing point, the Master went on to preach the Four Truths, at the close
whereof that brother won Arahatship. Also the Master showed the
connection and identified the Birth by saying, "Angulimala was the
ogre of those days, and 'I myself Prince Five-Weapons. "
AN EXAMPLE» OF THE EVILS OF RASHNESS
[This "example," which points a warning against rash action, we give in
three versions; partly for their intrinsic interest, and partly to show the
surprising diversity in style and in details of treatment of what is essentially
one motif. The first is from the Sanskrit of the 'Hitopadeça,' an offshoot
of the Panchatantra. The second is from E. B. Eastwick's translation of the
Persian 'Lights of Canopus. ' If this is a "simplified recast of Nasr Allah's
version," what must that have been! The third is from G. L. Gomme's
reprint (London, 1885) of the British Museum chap-book entitled 'The Seven
Wise Masters of Rome,' printed in 1520 by Wynkyn de Worde.
The sources
and imitations of this tale are given by Edouard Lancereau in his French
translation of the Panchatantra (Paris, 1871), page 384. The story is the
same as that told of Llewellyn the Great and his faithful hound Gellert,
and familiar to English readers through the well-known ballad of William R.
Spencer. The hound, which is the European representative of the plucky
little Indian ichneumon, has become a martyr and a patron saint of little
children in the popular belief of the South of France, and is invoked by
mothers under the name of St. Guinefort. ]
FIRST VERSION
THE BRAHMAN AND HIS FAITHFUL ICHNEUMON
From the Hitopadeça›
N UJJAIN lived a brahman named Madhava, whose wife once
left him in charge of their little child and went to bathe.
Now an invitation came from the King for the brahman to
perform a funeral oblation and partake of the funeral meal. At
which news the poor fellow bethought himself: "If I go not
## p. 11464 (#78) ###########################################
11464
PILPAY
quickly, then some one else will receive the funeral meal. For
'tis said:-
'Hast aught to give, or aught to take or do,
Give, take it, do it, quickly, ere the morrow rise;
Or else thy sloth full bitter shalt thou rue,
And ruthless Time shall suck the juice from thy emprise. '
But there is no one here to take care of the child. What then
shall I do? Hold! I have here an ichneumon, which I have
kept this long time and cared for as if he were my son: I will
leave him to take care of the babe, and go. " And so doing, he
went.
Meantime there came near the child a black cobra; which
when the ichneumon saw, he killed it and tore it in pieces.
Then, with blood-smeared snout and paws, he ran to meet the
brahman as he was returning home, and fawned at his feet.
But the brahman, seeing the ichneumon in that plight, came
rashly to the conclusion that the beast had eaten his child; and
forthwith killed the ichneumon. Then when he came nigh and
looked, behold, his child was asleep and the cobra slain. Then
he saw that the ichneumon had done him a service, and sorrow-
fully recognizing the rashness of his deed, he was filled with
despair.
Translation of Charles R. Lanman.
WHO
SECOND VERSION
THE RESULTS OF PRECIPITATION
From the 'Anvár-i Suhailí' or 'Lights of Canopus,' a Persian rendering of Pilpay
COUPLET
Ho dares to act without due thought and care,
Will sink at last in sorrow and despair.
And there are many anecdotes and innumerable stories apro-
pos of this subject which are written and commemorated in the
pages of nocturnal conversations and elegant annals, and among
these is the story of the Holy Man who rashly stepped into the
plain of precipitate action, and staining his hands with innocent
blood, destroyed the unfortunate ichneumon; which displays the
ill effects of this precipitation.
## p. 11465 (#79) ###########################################
PILPAY
11465
The King asked, "How was that? "
He said.
They have related that a Devotee after long celibacy desired.
to put in practice the injunction, "Matrimony is my command-
ment; therefore he who turns away from my commandment is
none of mine. " After extensive inquiry and infinite pains, the
Devotee, through the aid of his lofty fortune and the help of
his noble spirit, obtained a wife of a great family and an illus-
trious stock. The reflection of her countenance gave radiance to
the morn, and the hue of her curling ringlets aided the perfumer
of evening in intensifying his gloom. The azure sky had never
beheld her equal, save in the mirror of the sun; and the swift-
sighted limner of the imagination had ne'er looked on the like.
of her lovely semblance, save in the world of dreams.
VERSE
The glories of thy sunny cheek the world of beauty warmly kiss;
Like the full moon, thou hast arisen amid the sky of loveliness;
Thy countenance the brightest rose, thy form the fairest cypress is,
That ever grew in beauty's bower, or 'mid the flowers of comeli-
ness.
And together with this beauty of form, she was adorned with
excellence of disposition, and the graces of her body were set off
by those of her mind. The Devotee, in his daily prayers, re-
turned thanks for such a blessing; and having thus commenced
his intercourse with that partner whose face resembled the beau-
ties of Eden, he desired to beget a son. And no wise person
bases his desire for children on mere sensual appetite, nor yields
his body to the task save in quest of a virtuous son, who, in
procuring the blessings asked for by prayer, is equivalent to the
perpetual offering of alms.
And a son of fair visage and lovely form was born, such that
the tokens of beauty and accomplishments bespoke his perfec-
tion, and the signs of admirable gifts shone and gleamed on the
forehead of his condition. The Devotee beheld the morn of
hope begin to smile from the dawning-place of desire, and the
nightingale of his pleasure commenced singing on the rose-shrub
of joy.
COUPLET
A fair gem from the boundless sea of Grace, was brought to light;
Upon the sky of Law divine a new star glittered bright.
## p. 11466 (#80) ###########################################
11466
PILPAY
The Devotee indulged in raptures at the beauty of his son,
and fulfilled a variety of vows which he had made; and girding
up his loins in attendance on his son's cradle night and day, drew
through other matters the pen of oblivion, and expended all his
energies in [promoting] his growth and strength, and grace and
freshness and vigor.
COUPLET
How long shall I on thee bestow my breath like morn's young
breeze,
That thou mayst blossom like a rose, to gladden and to please?
One day the mother of the child desiring to take a warm
bath, committed him, with many injunctions, to the care of his
father, who besides had nothing else then to do. Some time
passed, and a confidential person, sent by the king of the country,
came to request his attendance, and there was no possibility of
delay. He was of necessity compelled to go out of the house.
Now they had an ichneumon, in whose charge they left the
house, and through him their minds were altogether set at ease;
and he used to display the utmost exertion in ridding them of
noxious reptiles, and beasts that bite or sting. The Devotee
came out and left the ichneumon with his son. To be short, no
sooner had he left the house than a large snake showed itself
near the cradle. When the ichneumon saw that dart-like, armor-
wearing snake,- that malignant creature swift to wrath, which
when quiescent assumes the shape of a circle, that arrowy-
paced reptile, which at times, like a curved bow, joins its
extremities,-
-
STANZA
Straight as a dart, anon, like buckler, round;
Anon in noose-like circles flows its form;
No cloud within, two lightnings forked are found,
No sea, but waves roll there-a mimic storm,-
making for the cradle, and intending to kill the child, it leapt
up, and seizing his throat, imprisoned him in the ring of the
noose of death; and by the blessed influence of its defense, the
boy escaped from that whirlpool of destruction. Shortly after,
the Devotee returned; and the ichneumon, smeared with blood,
ran to meet him, in exultation at having done a good deed.
## p. 11467 (#81) ###########################################
PILPAY
11467
The Devotee imagined that it had killed his son, and that these
stains were from his blood. The fire of wrath was kindled in
the stove of his heart, and the smoke of precipitation entered
the aperture of his brain; and his reason, through the murkiness
of the fumes of rashness,-which, like the cloud of tyranny, is
the cause of darkening the world,-covered its face with the veil
of concealment. Before inquiring into the matter, or examining
into the real state of the case, he smote down his staff on the
ichneumon, and broke the vertebræ of its back, and knocked its
head into the casket of its chest. But when he entered the
house he beheld the child sleeping in safety in the cradle, and
a huge serpent lying there torn in pieces. Then the smoke of
remorse ascended from his heart, and he began to smite his
breast with the stone of regret, and complaining and lamenting
said: —
COUPLET
"Hereafter, I and grief are one; and every man this well must see,-
For me to have a cheerful heart, impossible and strange would be.
Alas! that the fire of this distressing accident cannot be extin-
guished by the water of excuses, and that the dart of the shame
of this troublous transaction will not be repelled by the shield of
extenuation. What unjust action is this that I have committed!
and what unsuitable act is this that my hands have done!
COUPLET
-
'Tis right that I my blood should drink, in shame for this distress;
'Tis fit that I my life resign for this unhappiness.
Would to God that this son had never come into existence from
nonentity, and that I had not set my love and affections upon
him! so that this innocent blood would not have been shed on
this account, and I should not have happened to embark in this
unholy business. And what answer shall I give to my Creator
for this, that I have causelessly destroyed one that dwelt in the
same house with me; and have slain the guardian of my home,
and the protector of my beloved son, without reason? And what
excuse can I offer to my fellow-creatures for this? And here-
after the chain of censure will not be removed from my neck,
and the writing of infamy will never be obliterated from the
page of my affairs. "
## p. 11468 (#82) ###########################################
11468
PILPAY
THIRD VERSION
THE EXAMPLE OF THE FIRST MASTER
From The Seven Wise Masters of Rome': Printed from the edition of
Wynkyn de Worde, 1520, and edited, with an introduction, by George
Laurence Gomme, F. S. A. London: printed for the Villon Society, 1885.
T
HERE was a valiant knight which had only one son as ye have.
The which he loved so much that he ordained for his keep-
ing three nurses: the first should give him suck and feed
him, the second should wash him and keep him clean, the third
should bring him to sleep and to rest. This knight had also a
greyhound and a falcon that he also loved right well.
The grey-
hound was so good that he never ran to no game but he took it
and held it till his master came. And if his master disposed him
to go to battle, if he should not speed in the battle, anon as
he should mount upon his horse the greyhound would take the
horse's tail in his mouth and draw backward, and would also cry
and howl marvelously loud. By these signs the knight under-
stood if that he should speed in his journey or not. The falcon
was so gentle and so hardy that he was never cast off to his
prey but he took it. This same knight had great pleasure in
jousting and tourneying, so that upon a time under his castle he
let proclaim a tournament to the which came many good lords
and knights. The knight entered into the tourney, and his lady
went with her maidens to see it. And as they went out, after
went the nurses, and left the child lying alone in the cradle in
the hall, where the greyhound lay nigh the wall, and the hawk
or falcon standing upon a perch. In this hall there was a ser-
pent lurking or hid in a hole, to all them of the castle unknown.
The which when he felt that they were all absent, he put out
his head of his hole. And as he no man saw, but the child lying
in the cradle, he went out of his cavern towards the cradle for
the child to have slain. The noble falcon seeing that, beheld the
greyhound that was sleeping; she made such a noise and rustling
with her wings or feathers that the greyhound awoke and rose
up. And when he saw the serpent nigh the child, anon against
him he leapt, and they both fought so long together till that the
serpent had grievously hurted and wounded the greyhound that
he bled sore, so that the earth about the cradle was all bebled
with the blood of the greyhound. The greyhound, when that he
## p. 11469 (#83) ###########################################
PILPAY
11469
felt himself so grievously hurted and wounded, started fiercely
upon the serpent, and fought sore together and so eagerly, so
that between them the cradle was overturned with the child.
And because that the cradle had four pommels or feet, they
saved the child's visage and his life from any hurtful falling
towards the earth. And what shall I say more? Incontinent
thereafter with great pain the greyhound overcame and slew
the serpent, and went and laid him down again in his place and
licked his wounds. And anon after, as the jousts and tourney
was done, the nurses were the first that came into the castle.
And as they saw the cradle reversed, with blood upon the earth
environed, and that the greyhound was also bloody, they thought
and said amongst themselves that the greyhound had slain the
child, and they were not so wise as to turn up again the cradle
with the child for to have seen what was thereof befallen. But
they said, Let us flee or run away, lest that our master put or
lay the blame upon us and slay us.
