The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
persons, cannot keep her footing long, she will certainly abandon
one of the two. And a king, who hates a good servant and honours a
bad servant, is to be avoided by the wise, as a wicked patient by
physicians. Where there is a speaker and a hearer of that advice,
which in the beginning is disagreeable, but in the end is useful,
there Fortune sets her foot. He, who does not hear the advice of the
good, but listens to the advice of the bad, in a short time falls
into calamity, and is afflicted. So what is the meaning of this love
of yours for the bull, O king? And what does it matter that you gave
him protection, or that he came as a suppliant, if he plots against
your life? Moreover, if this bull remains always about your person,
you will have worms produced in you by his excretions. And they will
enter your body, which is covered with the scars of wounds from the
tusks of infuriated elephants. Why should he not have chosen to kill
you by craft? If a wicked person is wise enough not to do an injury
[32] himself, it will happen by association with him, hear a story
in proof of it."
Story of the Louse and the Flea. [33]
In the bed of a certain king there long lived undiscovered a louse,
that had crept in from somewhere or other, by name Mandavisarpiní. And
suddenly a flea, named Tittibha, entered that bed, wafted there by the
wind from some place or other. And when Mandavisarpiní saw him, she
said, "Why have you invaded my home? go elsewhere." Tittibha answered,
"I wish to drink the blood of a king, a luxury which I have never
tasted before, so permit me to dwell here." Then, to please him,
the louse said to him, "If this is the case, remain. But you must
not bite the king, my friend, at unseasonable times, you must bite
him gently when he is asleep." When Tittibha heard that, he consented
and remained. But at night he bit the king hard when he was in bed,
and then the king rose up, exclaiming, "I am bitten," then the wicked
flea fled quickly, and the king's servants made a search in the bed,
and finding the louse there, killed it.
"So Mandavisarpiní perished by associating with Tittibha. Accordingly
your association with Sanjívaka will not be for your advantage;
if you do not believe in what I say, you will soon yourself see him
approach, brandishing his head, confiding in his horns, which are
sharp as lances."
By these words the feelings of Pingalaka were changed towards the bull,
and so Damanaka induced him to form in his heart the determination
that the bull must be killed. And Damanaka, having ascertained the
state of the lion's feelings, immediately went off of his own accord
to Sanjívaka, and sat in his presence with a despondent air. The
bull said to him, "Friend, why are you in this state? Are you in good
health?" The jackal answered, "What can be healthy with a servant? Who
is permanently dear to a king? What petitioner is not despised? Who
is not subject to time?" When the jackal said this, the bull again
said to him--"Why do you seem so despondent to-day, my friend, tell
me?" Then Damanaka said--"Listen, I speak out of friendship. The
lion Pingalaka has to-day become hostile to you. So unstable is
his affection that, without regard for his friendship, he wishes to
kill you and eat you, and I see that his evilly-disposed courtiers
have instigated him to do it." The simple-minded bull, supposing, on
account of the confidence he had previously reposed in the jackal,
that this speech was true, and feeling despondent, said to him:
"Alas a mean master, with mean retainers, though he be won over by
faithful service, becomes estranged; in proof of it hear this story."
Story of the Lion, the Panther, the Crow and the Jackal. [34]
There lived once in a certain forest a lion, named Madotkata,
and he had three followers, a panther, a crow, and a jackal. That
lion once saw a camel, that had escaped from a caravan, entering
his wood, a creature he was not familiar with before, of ridiculous
appearance. That king of beasts said in astonishment, "What is this
creature?" And the crow, who knew when it behoved him to speak,
[35] said, "It is a camel." Then the lion, out of curiosity, had the
camel summoned, and giving him a promise of protection, he made him
his courtier, and placed him about his person.
One day the lion was wounded in a fight with an elephant, and
being out of health, made many fasts, though surrounded by those
attendants who were in good health. Then the lion, being exhausted,
roamed about in search of food, but not finding any, secretly asked
all his courtiers, except the camel, what was to be done. They said
to him:--"Your Highness, we must give advice which is seasonable in
our present calamity. What friendship can you have with a camel, and
why do you not eat him? He is a grass-eating animal, and therefore
meant to be devoured by us flesh-eaters. And why should not one be
sacrificed to supply food to many? If your Highness should object,
on the ground that you cannot slay one to whom you have granted
protection, we will contrive a plot by which we shall induce the
camel himself to offer you his own body." When they had said this,
the crow, by the permission of the lion, after arranging the plot,
went and said to that camel: "This master of ours is overpowered with
hunger, and says nothing to us, so we intend to make him well-disposed
to us by offering him our bodies, and you had better do the same, in
order that he may be well-disposed towards you." When the crow said
this to the camel, the simple-minded camel agreed to it, and came
to the lion with the crow. Then the crow said, "King, eat me, for
I am my own master." Then the lion said, "What is the use of eating
such a small creature as you?" Thereupon the jackal said--"Eat me,"
and the lion rejected him in the same way. Then the panther said "Eat
me," and yet the lion would not eat him; and at last the camel said
"Eat me." So the lion, and the crow, and his fellows entrapped him
by these deceitful offers, and taking him at his word, killed him,
divided him into portions, and ate him.
"In the same way some treacherous person has instigated Pingalaka
against me without cause. So now destiny must decide. For it is
better to be the servant of a vulture-king with swans for courtiers,
than to serve a swan as king, if his courtiers be vultures,
much less a king of a worse character, with such courtiers. [36]
"When the dishonest Damanaka heard Sanjívaka say that, he replied,
"Everything is accomplished by resolution, listen--I will tell you
a tale to prove this."
Story of the pair of Tittibhas.
There lived a certain cock tittibha on the shore of the sea with his
hen. And the hen, being about to lay eggs, said to the cock: "Come,
let us go away from this place, for if I lay eggs here, the sea may
carry them off with its waves." When the cock-bird heard this speech
of the hen's, he said to her--"The sea cannot contend with me." On
hearing that, the hen said--"Do not talk so; what comparison is there
between you and the sea? People must follow good advice, otherwise
they will be ruined."
Story of the Tortoise and the two Swans. [37]
For there was in a certain lake a tortoise, named Kambugríva, and
he had two swans for friends, Vikata and Sankata. Once on a time
the lake was dried up by drought, and they wanted to go to another
lake; so the tortoise said to them, "Take me also to the lake you
are desirous of going to." When the two swans heard this, they said
to their friend the tortoise--"The lake to which we wish to go is a
tremendous distance off; but, if you wish to go there too, you must
do what we tell you. You must take in your teeth a stick held by us,
and while travelling through the air, you must remain perfectly silent,
otherwise you will fall and be killed." The tortoise agreed, and took
the stick in his teeth, and the two swans flew up into the air, holding
the two ends of it. And gradually the two swans, carrying the tortoise,
drew near that lake, and were seen by some men living in a town below;
and the thoughtless tortoise heard them making a chattering, while
they were discussing with one another, what the strange thing could
be that the swans were carrying. So the tortoise asked the swans what
the chattering below was about, and in so doing let go the stick from
its mouth, and falling down to the earth, was there killed by the men.
"Thus you see that a person who lets go common sense will be ruined,
like the tortoise that let go the stick." When the hen-bird said this,
the cock-bird answered her, "This is true, my dear, but hear this
story also."
Story of the three Fish.
Of old time there were three fish in a lake near a river, one was
called Anágatavidhátri, a second Pratyutpannamati and the third
Yadbhavishya, [38] and they were companions. One day they heard some
fishermen, who passed that way, saying to one another, "Surely there
must be fish in this lake. Thereupon the prudent Anágatavidhátri,
fearing to be killed by the fishermen, entered the current of the
river and went to another place. But Pratyutpannamati remained where
he was, without fear, saying to himself, "I will take the expedient
course if any danger should arise." And Yadbhavishya remained there,
saying to himself, "What must be, must be." Then those fishermen came
and threw a net into that lake. But the cunning Pratyutpannamati,
the moment he felt himself hauled up in the net, made himself rigid,
and remained as if he were dead. The fishermen, who were killing the
fish, did not kill him, thinking that he had died of himself, so he
jumped into the current of the river, and went off somewhere else, as
fast as he could. But Yadbhavishya, like a foolish fish, bounded and
wriggled in the net, so the fishermen laid hold of him and killed him.
"So I too will adopt an expedient when the time arrives; I will not
go away through fear of the sea." Having said this to his wife, the
tittibha remained where he was, in his nest; and there the sea heard
his boastful speech. Now, after some days, the hen-bird laid eggs,
and the sea carried off the eggs with his waves, out of curiosity,
saying to himself; "I should like to know what this tittibha will do
to me." And the hen-bird, weeping, said to her husband; "The very
calamity which I prophesied to you, has come upon us." Then that
resolute tittibha said to his wife, "See, what I will do to that
wicked sea!" So he called together all the birds, and mentioned the
insult he had received, and went with them and called on the lord
Garuda for protection. And the birds said to him: "Though thou art our
protector, we have been insulted by the sea as if we were unprotected,
in that it has carried away some of our eggs." Then Garuda was angry,
and appealed to Vishnu, who dried up the sea with the weapon of fire,
and made it restore the eggs. [39]
"So you must be wise in calamity and not let go resolution. But now
a battle with Pingalaka is at hand for you. When he shall erect his
tail, and arise with his four feet together, then you may know that he
is about to strike you. And you must have your head ready tossed up,
and must gore him in the stomach, and lay your enemy low, with all
his entrails torn out."
After Damanaka had said this to the bull Sanjívaka, he went to
Karataka, and told him that he had succeeded in setting the two
at variance.
Then Sanjívaka slowly approached Pingalaka, being desirous of finding
out the mind of that king of beasts by his face and gestures. And
he saw that the lion was prepared to fight, being evenly balanced
on all four legs, and having erected his tail, and the lion saw that
the bull had tossed up his head in fear. Then the lion sprang on the
bull and struck him with his claws, the bull replied with his horns,