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They are not for one, nor for two, Like a market stall spread open; Whoever thinks they are his, Would try to bind the wind with a net. 322. Like a river and a road, A tavern, an assembly hall, a water-stall; Such are the women of the world, No boundary is found for them. 323. They are like a blazing fire, Like the head of a black snake; Like cows grazing on much grass, They choose one excellent thing after another. 324. A blazing fire, an elephant, a black snake, A consecrated king, and all women; A man should certainly deal with these, Indeed, their true nature is hard to know. 325. Not one of exceeding beauty, not one dear to many, Not a clever woman should be associated with; Not another's wife, not for the sake of wealth, These five types of women should not be associated with. Then, indeed, sir, Ananda the king of vultures, to Kunala the bird, the beginning, middle, and end of the discourse... Having known, at that time, he spoke these verses: 326. Even if a man were to give This whole earth, full of wealth, To a woman he esteems; Having found an opportunity, she would despise even that, He should not fall under the sway of such unfaithful women. 327. Even an energetic, Unwavering, beloved, and charming Husband from youth; They abandon him in their homes and in their affairs. Therefore, I do not trust women. 328. Do not trust a person who desires and advises, Do not trust one who weeps in my presence; For they serve both the dear and the not-dear, Like a boat to this shore and to the other. 329. Do not trust an old, familiar branch, Do not trust an old friend who was a thief; Do not trust a king, thinking "he is my friend," Do not trust a woman, even a mother of ten. 330. Do not trust women who are pleasure-makers, Who are extremely virtuous, yet unrestrained; Even a wife deeply devoted with love, Do not trust, for women are like river fords. 331. They would kill, they would cut, they would cause to be cut, Even cutting the throat, they would drink the blood; Do not show affection to those with base desires, unrestrained, Who are like the fords of the Ganges. 332. For them, falsehood is like truth, And truth is like falsehood; Like cows seeking abundant grass, They choose one after another. 333. They entice with their gait, With their glances and their smiles; And also with their carelessly worn attire, And with their sweet speech. 334. These are hard-hearted thieves, Fierce and with flattering words; They know everything, That which is deception among humans. 335. Women in the world are insubstantial, No boundary exists for them; They are passionate and bold, Like fire that consumes all. 336. There is no one dear to women, Nor is there anyone not-dear; For they serve both the dear and the not-dear, Like a boat to this shore and to the other. 337. There is no one dear to women, Nor is there anyone not-dear is not found. For wealth they cling, like creepers to a tree. 338. Elephant trainers, horse trainers, cowherds, and even outcasts; corpse burners, flower scatterers, women follow those with wealth. 339. Even a man of good family, who has nothing, they abandon, as if he were a corpse; They follow, they pursue, for wealth, indeed, are women. 340. These four are never filled, listen to me as I speak them: The ocean, a brahmin, a king, and also a woman, and a lord of the twice-born. 341. Rivers go to the ocean, whatever are on earth; They do not fill the ocean, for its emptiness, it is not filled. 342. And a brahmin, studying the Vedas with the fifth (tradition); Even more he would wish to hear, for his emptiness, he is not filled. 343. And a king, all the earth, with its oceans, with its mountains; Having conquered and dwelt upon it, filled with endless jewels; He desires the other side of the ocean, for his emptiness, he is not filled. 344. For each and every woman, there might be eight husbands; Brave and strong, bringing all desired pleasures; She would desire a ninth, for her emptiness, she is not filled. 345. All women are like fire, consuming all, all women are like rivers, carrying all away; All women are like branches of thorns, all women go for the sake of wealth. 346. A man might grasp the wind with a net, he might drain the ocean with one hand; He might make a sound with his own hand, who would abandon all his being to women. 347. Of thieves, of many minds, in whom truth is very rare; The nature of women is hard to know, like the movement of a fish in water. 348. Fire, gentle... Great talkers, hard to satisfy, like rivers; Knowing them, one sinks, from afar one should avoid. 349. Enticing, great deceivers, destroyers of holy life; Knowing them, one sinks, from afar one should avoid. 350. Whomever they attend upon, whether by desire or by wealth; Like a fire, they quickly burn him down. Then, indeed, friends, the Kunāla bird, having understood the beginning, middle, and end of the story of the divine brahmin Nārada, at that time spoke these verses: 351. One may converse with a sharp sword in hand, a wise man even with a demon-possessed one; One may approach even a highly venomous snake, but alone, one should not speak with a woman. 352. Women are indeed disturbers of the world's mind, with dance, song, and speech as their weapons; They torment the unmindful, like a host of ogresses on an island tormenting merchants. 353. There is no discipline or restraint for them, devoted to intoxicants and meat, unrestrained; They devour a man's provisions, like a great whale devouring a sea-monster in the ocean. 354. Indulging in the pleasures of the five sense-desires, arrogant, inconstant, unrestrained; Women approach the heedless, like streams flowing into a salty river. 355. Whomever women entice, whether by desire, pleasure, or wealth; Even such a one, like a fire, they burn him with lust and hatred. 356. Knowing a man to be rich, wealthy, they approach with their wealth and their own persons; They entwine his lustful mind, like a creeper entwining a sāla tree in the forest. 357. They approach with various desires, with faces like painted images, adorned; Women smile and laugh, like Sambara, skilled in a hundred illusions. 358. Adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls, capable Those women in their husbands' families; Though guarded, they betray their husbands, like a demon dwelling in the heart. 359. Even a man of power, discerning, honored and revered by many; When under the sway of women, he speaks not, like the moon seized by Rāhu. 360. What an angry enemy, with malicious intent, might do to a captured foe; Greater misfortune than that befalls him, who, attached, falls under the sway of women. 361. Threatened with hair-pulling and nail-cutting, beaten with feet, hands, and sticks; Women, indeed, are of base nature; they delight like flies on a corpse. 362. Whether in families, or in streets, or again in royal cities and towns; A wise man, seeking happiness, should avoid them, as one would a snare set by Namuci. 363. He who abandons wholesome ascetic virtues, and practices ignoble deeds; Will be cast into hell by the devas, like a merchant with a gem destined for cutting. 364. He is censured here and hereafter, the fool, ruined by his own deeds; He goes uncertainly to destruction, like a bad donkey-cart off the path. 365. He goes to the hell of burning, and the iron forest of silk-cotton trees; Having dwelt in the animal realm, he does not escape the domain of the king of ghosts. 366. Divine pleasures and delights in Nandana, and the conduct of a universal monarch among humans; Women destroy for the heedless, and lead him to a woeful state. 367. Divine pleasures are not hard to obtain, nor the conduct of a universal monarch among humans; And celestial nymphs in golden mansions, for those who live without desire for women. 368. The state transcending the sense-sphere, and existence in the form-sphere, are not hard to obtain; For those who live without desire for women, for the attainment of the sphere of passionlessness. 369. The cessation of all suffering a blissful state, utterly unshaken, unconditioned; Not hard to find for the calmed, the pure, who walk without desire for heedlessness. 370. ‘‘I was Kuṇāla then, Udāyī was the cuckoo bird; Ānanda was the king of vultures, and Sāriputta was Nārada; The assembly was the Buddha's assembly, Thus remember this Jātaka.’’ The Fourth, the Kuṇāla Jātaka. 537. The Mahāsutasoma Jātaka (5) 371. ‘‘Why, O cook, such deeds, such exceedingly cruel deeds do you do? You kill women and men, deluded, for the sake of meat, or for the sake of wealth?’’ 372. ‘‘Not for myself, nor for the sake of wealth, nor for children, wife, friends, or relatives; But my master, the lord, the king, he eats such meat, good sir.’’ 373. ‘‘If you, employed by your master, do such exceedingly cruel deeds; Then early in the morning, having reached the inner palace, you should speak that before my king.’’ 374. ‘‘I shall do so, good sir, just as you, Kāla the elephant, say; Early in the morning, having reached the inner palace, I shall speak that before your king.’’ 375. Then at the end of the night, as the sun was rising; Kāla, taking the cook, approached the king; Having approached the king, he spoke these words. 376. ‘‘Is it true, O great king, that the cook is sent by you? He kills women and men, and you eat the meat.’’ 377. ‘‘Indeed it is so, Kāla, the cook is sent by me; As he performs my purpose, why do you blame this?’’ 378. ‘‘Ānanda, of all the fish, having eaten, greedy for taste; When his retinue was exhausted, he ate himself and died. 379. ‘‘Thus, heedless, attached to the respect for taste, a fool, if he does not understand the future; He destroys his children and abandons his relatives, and turning, he eats himself. 380. ‘‘Having heard this, let it depart from you reason] Desire, do not eat, O king, human flesh; Do not you, like a mere fish, make this realm empty, O lord of bipeds. 381.