The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
of welcome, and friendly conversation, and after Naraváhanadatta had
had dinner, he returned home. There the wise Gomukha told this story
at night, in order to console him who was longing for the society
of Saktiyasas.
Story of the war between the crows and the owls. [83]
There was in a certain place a great and shady banyan-tree, which
seemed, with the voices of its birds, to summon travellers to
repose. There a king of the crows, named Meghavarna, had established
his home, and he had an enemy named Avamarda, king of the owls. The
king of the owls surprised the king of the crows there at night, and
after inflicting a defeat on him and killing many crows, departed. The
next morning the king of the crows, after the usual compliments,
said to his ministers Uddívin, Ádívin, Sandívin, Pradívin, [84] and
Chirajívin: "That powerful enemy, who has thus defeated us, may get
together a hundred thousand soldiers, and make another descent on
us. So let some preventive measure be devised for this case." When
Uddívin heard this, he said; "King, with a powerful enemy, one must
either retire to another country, or adopt conciliation." When Ádívin
heard this, he said, "The danger is not immediate; let us consider
the intentions of the adversary and our own power, and do the best we
can." Then Sandívin said, "King, death is preferable to submission to
the foe, or retiring to another country. We must go and fight with that
feeble enemy; a brave and enterprising king, who possesses allies,
conquers his foes." Then Pradívin said, "He is too powerful to be
conquered in battle, but we must make a truce with him, and kill him
when we get an opportunity." Then Chirajívin said, "What truce? Who
will be ambassador? There is war between the crows and the owls from
time immemorial; who will go to them? This must be accomplished by
policy; policy is said to be the very foundation of empires." When the
king of the crows heard that, he said to Chirajívin,--"You are old;
tell me if you know, what was originally the cause of the war between
the crows and the owls. You shall state your policy afterwards." When
Chirajívin heard this, he answered, "It is all due to an inconsiderate
utterance. Have you never heard the story of the donkey?"
Story of the ass in the panther's skin. [85]
A certain washerman had a thin donkey; so, in order to make it fat,
he used to cover it with the skin of a panther and let it loose to
feed in his neighbour's corn. While it was eating the corn, people
were afraid to drive it away, thinking that it was a panther. One
day a cultivator, who had a bow in his hand, saw it. He thought it
was a panther, and through fear bending down, and making himself
humpbacked, he proceeded to creep away, with his body covered with a
rug. When the donkey saw him going away in this style, he thought he
was another donkey, and being primed with corn, he uttered aloud his
own asinine bray. Then the cultivator came to the conclusion that it
was a donkey, and returning, killed with an arrow the foolish animal,
which had made an enemy with its own voice. "In the same way our feud
with the crows is due to an inconsiderate utterance."
How the crow dissuaded the birds from choosing the owl king. [86]
For once upon a time the birds were without a king. They all assembled
together, and bringing an umbrella and a chowrie, were proceeding
to anoint the owl king of the birds. In the meanwhile a crow,
flying in the air above, saw it, and said; "You fools, are there not
other birds, cuckoos and so on, that you must make this cruel-eyed
unpleasant-looking wicked bird king? Out on the inauspicious owl! You
must elect a heroic king whose name will ensure prosperity. Listen now,
I will tell you a tale.
Story of the elephants and the hares. [87]
There is a great lake abounding in water, called Chandrasaras. And on
its bank there lived a king of the hares, named Silímukha. Now, once on
a time, a leader of a herd of elephants, named Chaturdanta, came there
to drink water, because all the other reservoirs of water were dried
up in the drought that prevailed. Then many of the hares, who were the
subjects of that king, were trampled to death by Chaturdanta's herd,
while entering the lake. When that monarch of the herd had departed,
the hare-king Silímukha, being grieved, said to a hare named Vijaya
in the presence of the others; "Now that that lord of elephants has
tasted the water of this lake, he will come here again and again,
and utterly destroy us all, so think of some expedient in this
case. Go to him, and see if you have any artifice which will suit
the purpose or not. For you know business and expedients, and are an
ingenious orator. And in all cases in which you have been engaged
the result has been fortunate." When despatched with these words,
the hare was pleased, and went slowly on his way. And following up
the track of the herd, he overtook that elephant-king and saw him,
and being determined somehow or other to have an interview with
the mighty beast, the wise hare climbed up to the top of a rock,
and said to the elephant; "I am the ambassador of the moon, and
this is what the god says to you by my mouth; 'I dwell in a cool
lake named Chandrasaras; [88] there dwell hares whose king I am,
and I love them well, and thence I am known to men as the cool-rayed
and the hare-marked; [89] now thou hast defiled that lake and slain
those hares of mine. If thou do that again, thou shalt receive thy due
recompense from me.'" When the king of elephants heard this speech of
the crafty hare's, he said in his terror; "I will never do so again:
I must shew respect to the awful moon-god." The hare said,--"So come,
my friend, I pray, and we will shew him to you." After saying this,
the hare led the king of elephants to the lake, and shewed him the
reflection of the moon in the water. When the lord of the herd saw
that, he bowed before it timidly at a distance, oppressed with awe,
and never came there again. And Silímukha, the king of the hares,
was present, and witnessed the whole transaction, and after honouring
that hare, who went as an ambassador, he lived there in security.
When the crow had told this story, he went on to say to the birds,
"This is the right sort of king, whose name alone ensures none of his
subjects being injured. So why does this base owl, who cannot see in
the day, deserve a throne? And a base creature is never to be trusted,
hear this tale in proof of it."
Story of the bird, the hare, and the cat. [90]
Once on a time I lived in a certain tree, and below me in the same
tree a bird, named Kapinjala, had made a nest and lived. One day he
went away somewhere, and he did not return for many days. In the
meanwhile a hare came and took possession of his nest. After some
days Kapinjala returned, and an altercation arose between him and the
hare, as both laid claim to the nest, exclaiming; "It is mine, not
yours." Then they both set out in search of a qualified arbitrator. And
I, out of curiosity, followed them unobserved, to see what would turn
up. After they had gone a little way they saw on the bank of a lake
a cat, who pretended to have taken a vow of abstinence from injury
to all creatures, with his eyes half-closed in meditation. They said
to one another; "Why should we not ask this holy cat here to declare
what is just?"--Then they approached the cat and said; "Reverend sir,
hear our cause, for you are a holy ascetic." When the cat heard that,
he said to them in a low voice,--"I am weak from self-mortification,
so I cannot hear at a distance, pray, come near me. For a case wrongly
decided brings temporal and eternal death." With these words the
cat encouraged them to come just in front of him, and then the base
creature killed at one spring both the hare and Kapinjala.
"So, you see, one cannot confide in villains whose actions are
base. Accordingly you must not make this owl king, for he is a great
villain." When the crow said this to the birds, they admitted the force
of it, and gave up the idea of anointing the owl king, and dispersed
in all directions. And the owl said to the crow; "Remember; from this
day forth you and I are enemies. Now I take my leave of you." And
he went away in a rage. But the crow, though he thought that he had
spoken what was right, was for a moment despondent. Who is not grieved
when he has involved himself in a dangerous quarrel by a mere speech?
"So you see that our feud with the owls arose from an inconsiderate
utterance." Having said this to the king, Chirajívin continued, "The
owls are numerous and strong, and you cannot conquer them. Numbers
prevail in this world, hear an instance."
Story of the Bráhman, the goat, and the rogues. [91]
A Bráhman had bought a goat, and was returning from a village with
it on his shoulder, when he was seen on the way by many rogues, who
wished to deprive him of the goat. And one of them came up to him,
and pretending to be in a great state of excitement, said; "Bráhman,
how come you to have this dog on your shoulder? Put it down." When
the Bráhman heard that, he paid no attention to it, but went on his
way. Then two more came up and said the very same thing to him. Then
he began to doubt, and went along examining the goat carefully,
when three other rascals came up to him and said: "How comes it that
you carry a dog and a sacrificial thread at the same time? Surely
you must be a hunter, not a Bráhman, and this is the dog with the
help of which you kill game." When the Bráhman heard that, he said:
"Surely some demon has smitten my sight and bewildered me. Can all
these men be under the influence of an optical delusion?" Thereupon
the Bráhman flung down the goat, and after bathing, returned home,
and the rogues took the goat and made a satisfactory meal off it.
After Chirajívin had told this tale, he said to the king of the crows:
"So you see, king, numerous and powerful foes are hard to conquer. So
you had better adopt, in this war with powerful foes, the following
expedient, which I suggest. Pluck out some of my feathers, [92] and
leave me under this tree, and go to that hill there, until I return,
having accomplished my object. The king of the crows agreed, and
plucked out some of his feathers, as if in anger, and placed him
under the tree, and went off to the mountain with his followers:
and Chirajívin remained lying flat under the tree which was his home.
Then the king of the owls, Avamarda, came there at night with
his followers, and he did not see a single crow on the tree. At
that moment Chirajívin uttered a feeble caw below, and the king
of the owls, hearing it, came down, and saw him lying there. In his
astonishment he asked him who he was, and why he was in that state. And
Chirajívin answered, pretending that his voice was weak from pain;
"I am Chirajívin, the minister of that king of the crows. And he
wished to make an attack on you in accordance with the advice of his
ministers. Then I rebuked those other ministers, and said to him,
'If you ask me for advice, and if I am valued by you, in that case
you will not make war with the powerful king of the owls. But you will
endeavour to propitiate him, if you have any regard for policy.' When
the foolish king of the crows heard that, he exclaimed, 'This fellow
is a partisan of my enemies,' and in his wrath, he and his followers
pecked me, and reduced me to this state. And he flung me down under
the tree, and went off somewhere or other with his followers." When
Chirajívin had said this, he sighed, and turned his face to the
ground. And then the king of the owls asked his ministers what they
ought to do with Chirajívin. When his minister Díptanayana heard this,
he said, "Good people spare even a thief, though ordinarily he ought