The Katha Sarit Sagara or Ocean of the Streams of Story Part 38

A certain teacher had two pupils who were jealous of one another. And one of those pupils washed and anointed every day the right foot of his instructor, and the other did the same to the left foot. Now it happened that one day the pupil, whose business it was to anoint the right foot, had been sent to the village, so the teacher said to the second pupil, whose business it was to anoint the left foot,--"To-day you must wash and anoint my right foot also." When the foolish pupil received this order, he coolly said to his teacher; "I cannot anoint this foot that belongs to my rival." When he said this, the teacher insisted. Then that pupil, who was the very opposite of a good pupil, took hold of his teacher's foot in a pa.s.sion, and exerting great force, broke it. Then the teacher uttered a cry of pain, and the other pupils came in and beat that wicked pupil, but he was rescued from them by that teacher, who felt sorry for him.

The next day, the other pupil came back from the village, and when he saw the injury that had been done to his teacher's foot, he asked the history of it, and then he was inflamed with rage, and he said, "Why should I not break the foot that belongs to that enemy of mine?" So he laid hold of the teacher's second leg, and broke it. Then the others began to beat that wicked pupil, but the teacher, both of whose legs were broken, in compa.s.sion begged him off too. Then those two pupils departed, laughed to scorn by the whole country, but their teacher, who deserved so much credit for his patient temper, gradually got well.

Thus foolish attendants, by quarrelling with one another, ruin their master's interests, and do not reap any advantage for themselves. Hear the story of the two-headed serpent.

Story of the snake with two heads. [122]

A certain snake had two heads, one in the usual place and one in his tail. But the head, that he had in his tail, was blind, the head, that was in the usual place, was furnished with eyes. And there was a quarrel between them, each saying that it was the princ.i.p.al head. Now the serpent usually roamed about with his real head foremost. But once on a time the head in the tail caught hold of a piece of wood, and fastening firmly round it, prevented that snake from going on. The consequence was that the snake considered this head very powerful, as it had vanquished the head in front. And so the snake roamed about with his blind head foremost, and in a hole he fell into fire, owing to his not being able to see the way, and so he was burnt. [123]

Story of the fool who was nearly choked with rice.

"So those foolish people, many in number, who are quite at home in a small accomplishment, through their attachment to this unimportant accomplishment, are brought to ruin."

"Hear now about the fool who ate the grains of rice."

A certain foolish person came for the first time to his father-in-law's house, and there he saw some white grains of rice, which his mother-in-law had put down to be cooked, and he put a handful of them into his mouth, meaning to eat them. And his mother-in-law came in that very moment. Then the foolish man was so ashamed, that he could not swallow the grains of rice, nor bring them up. And his mother-in law, seeing that his throat was swollen and distended, and that he was speechless, was afraid that he was ill, and summoned her husband. And he, when he saw his state, quickly brought the physician, and the physician, fearing that there was an internal tumour, seized the head of that fool and opened his jaw. [124] Then the grains of rice came out, and all those present laughed.

"Thus a fool does an unseemly act, and does not know how to conceal it."

Story of the boys that milked the donkey. [125]

Certain foolish boys, having observed the process of milking in the case of cows, got a donkey, and having surrounded it, proceeded to milk it vigorously. One milked and another held the milk-pail, and there was great emulation among them, as to who should first drink the milk. And yet they did not obtain milk, though they laboured hard.

"The fact is, prince, a fool, who spends his labour on a chimera, makes himself ridiculous."

Story of the foolish boy that went to the village for nothing.

There was a certain foolish son of a Brahman, and his father said to him one evening, "My son, you must go to the village early to-morrow." Having heard this, he set out in the morning, without asking his father what he was to do, and went to the village without any object, and came back in the evening fatigued. He said to his father, "I have been to the village." "Yes, but you have not done any good by it," answered his father.

"So a fool, who acts without an object, becomes the laughing-stock of people generally; he suffers fatigue, but does not do any good." When the son of the king of Vatsa had heard from Gomukha, his chief minister, this series of tales, rich in instruction, and had declared that he was longing to obtain Saktiyasas, and had perceived that the night was far spent, he closed his eyes in sleep, and reposed surrounded by his ministers.

CHAPTER LXIV.

Then, the next evening, as Naravahanadatta was again in his private apartment, longing for union with his beloved, at his request Gomukha told the following series of tales to amuse him.

Story of the Brahman and the mungoose. [126]

There was in a certain village a Brahman, named Devasarman; and he had a wife of equally high birth, named Yajnadatta. And she became pregnant, and in time gave birth to a son, and the Brahman, though poor, thought he had obtained a treasure in him. And when she had given birth to the child, the Brahman's wife went to the river to bathe, but Devasarman remained in the house, taking care of his infant son. In the meanwhile a maid came from the womens' apartments of the palace to summon that Brahman, who lived on presents received for performing inauguratory ceremonies. Then he, eager for a fee, went off to the palace, leaving a mungoose, which he had brought up from its birth, to guard his child. After he had gone, a snake suddenly came near the child, and the mungoose, seeing it, killed it out of love for his master. Then the mungoose saw Devasarman returning at a distance, and delighted, ran out to meet him, all stained with the blood of the snake. And Devasarman, when he saw its appearance, felt certain that it had killed his young child, and, in his agitation killed it with a stone. But when he went into the house, and saw the snake killed by the mungoose, and his boy alive, he repented of what he had done. And when his wife returned and heard what had happened, she reproached him, saying, "Why did you inconsiderately kill the mungoose, which had done you a good turn?"

"Therefore a wise man, prince, should never do anything rashly. For a person who acts rashly is destroyed in both worlds. And one who does anything contrary to the prescribed method, obtains a result which is the opposite of that desired."

Story of the fool that was his own doctor.

For instance, there was a man suffering from flatulence. And once on a time the doctor gave him a medicine, to be used as a clyster, and said to him, "Go to your house, and bruise this, and wait till I come." The physician, after giving this order, delayed a little, and in the meanwhile the fool, having reduced the drug to powder, mixed it with water and drank it. That made him very ill, and when the doctor came, he had to give him an emetic, and with difficulty brought him round, when he was at the point of death. And he scolded his patient, saying to him, "A clyster is not meant to be drunk, but must be administered in the proper way. Why did you not wait for me?"

"So an action, useful in itself, if done contrary to rule, has bad effects. Therefore a wise man should do nothing contrary to rule. And the man, who acts without consideration, does what is wrong, and immediately incurs reproach."

Story of the fool who mistook hermits for monkeys.

For instance, there was in a certain place a foolish man. He was once going to a foreign country, accompanied by his son, and when the caravan encamped in the forest, the boy entered the wood to amuse himself. There he was scratched by monkeys, and with difficulty escaped with life, and when his father asked him what had happened, the silly boy, not knowing what monkeys were, said; "I was scratched in this wood by some hairy creatures that live on fruits." When the father heard it, he drew his sword in a rage, and went to that wood. And seeing some ascetics with long matted hair, picking fruits there, he ran towards them, saying to himself, "Those hairy rascals injured my son." But a certain traveller there prevented him from killing them, by saying; "I saw some monkeys scratch your son; do not kill the hermits." So by good luck he was saved from committing a crime, and returned to the caravan.

"So a wise man should never act without reflection. What is ever likely to go wrong with a man who reflects? But the thoughtless are always ruined and made the objects of public ridicule."

Story of the fool who found a purse.

For instance, a certain poor man, going on a journey, found a bag of gold, that had been dropped by the head of a caravan. The fool, the moment he found it, instead of going away, stood still where he was, and began to count the gold. In the meanwhile the merchant, who was on horseback, discovered his loss, and galloping back, he saw the bag of gold in the poor man's possession, and took it away from him. So he lost his wealth as soon as he got it, and went on his way sorrowful, with his face fixed on the ground.

"Fools lose wealth as soon as they get it."

Story of the fool who looked for the moon.

A certain foolish man, who wished to see the new moon, was told by a man who saw it, to look in the direction of his finger. He averted his eyes from the sky, and stood staring at his friend's finger, and so did not see the new moon, but saw the people laughing at him.

"Wisdom accomplishes the impossible, hear a story in proof of it."

Story of the woman who escaped from the monkey and the cowherd.

A certain woman set out alone to go to another village. And on the way a monkey suddenly came and tried to lay hold of her, but she avoided it by going to a tree and dodging round it. The foolish monkey threw its arms round the tree, and she laid hold of its arms with her hands, and pressed them against the tree.

The monkey, which was held tight, became furious, but at that moment the woman saw a cowherd coming that way, and said to him; "Sir, hold this ape by the arms a moment, until I can arrange my dress and hair, which are disordered." He said, "I will do so, if you promise to grant me your love," and she consented. And he held the monkey. Then she drew his dagger and killed the monkey, and said to the cowherd, "Come to a lonely spot," and so took him a long distance. At last they fell in with some travellers, so she left him and went with them to the village that she wished to reach, having avoided outrage by her wisdom.

"So you see that wisdom is in this world the princ.i.p.al support of men; the man who is poor in wealth lives, but the man who is poor in intellect does not live. Now hear, prince, this romantic wonderful tale."