English
This Seriva, together with another dealer in tin and brass ware, who was an avaricious man, crossed the river Tela- vaha, and entered the town called Andhapura. And, dividing the streets of the city between them, the Bodisat went round selling his goods in the street allotted to him, while the other took the street that fell to him. Now in that city there was a wealthy family reduced to abject poverty. All the sons and brothers in the family had died, and all its property had been lost. Only one girl and 55 56 BUDDHA (TO BE) AS DEALER IN TIN her grandmother were left ; and those two gained their living by serving others for hire. There was indeed in the house the vessel of gold out of which the head of the house used to eat in the days of its prosperity ; but it was covered with dirt, and had long lain neglected and unused among the pots and pans. And they did not even know that it was of gold. At that time the avaricious hawker, as he was going along, calling out, " Buy my water- pots ! Buy my water-pots ! " came to the door of their house. When the girl saw him, she said to her grandmother : " Mother ! do buy me an ornament." "But we are poor, dear. What shall we give in exchange for it ? " " This dish of ours is no use to us ; you can give that away and get one." The old woman called the hawker, and, after asking him to take a seat, gave him the dish, and said : " Will you take this, Sir5 and give something to your little sister for it ? " The hawker took the dish, and thought : " This must be gold ! " And turning it round, he scratched a line on its back with a needle, THE POWER OF HONESTY 57 and found that it was so. Then, hoping to get the dish without giving them anything, he said : " What is this worth ? It is not even worth a halfpenny ! " And throwing it on the ground, he got up from his seat and went away. Now, it was allowed to either hawker to enter the street which the other had left. And the Bodisat came into that street, and calling out, " Buy my water-pots," came up to the door of that very house. And the girl spoke to her grandmother as before. But the grandmother said : " My child, the dealer who came just now threw the dish on the floor, and went away ; what have I now got to give him in exchange ? " " That merchant, mother dear, was a surly man ; but this one looks pleasant, and has a kind voice : perchance he may take it." " Call him, then," said she. So she called him. And when he had come in and sat down, they gave him the dish. He saw that it was gold, and said : " Mother ! this dish is worth a hundred thousand. All the goods in my possession are not equal to it in value ! " 58 BUDDHA (TO BE) AS DEALER IN TIN " But, Sir, a hawker who came just now threw it on the ground, and went away, say- ing it was not worth a halfpenny. It must have been changed into gold by the power of your virtue, so we make you a present of it." The Bodisat gave them all the cash he had in hand (five hundred pieces), and all his stock-in-trade, worth five hundred more. He asked of them only to let him keep eight pennies, and the bag and the yoke that he used to carry his things with. And these he took and departed. And going quickly to the river-side, he gave those eight pennies to a boatman, and got into the boat. But that covetous hawker came back to the house, and said : " Bring out that dish, I'll give you something for it." Then she scolded him, and said : " You said our gold dish, worth a hundred thousand, was not worth a halfpenny. But a just dealer, who seems to be your master, gave us a thousand for it, and has taken it away." When he heard this he called out : " Through this fellow I have lost a golden THE POWER OF HONESTY 59 pot worth — Oh, worth a hundred thousand ! He has ruined me altogether ! " And bitter sorrow overcame him, and he was unable to retain his presence of mind, and he lost all self- command. And scattering the money he had, and all the goods, at the door of the house, he seized as a club the yoke by which he had carried them, and tore off his clothes, and pursued after the Bodisat. When he reached the river - side, he saw the Bodisat going away, and he cried out : " Hallo, Boatman ! stop the boat ! " But the Bodisat said : "Don't stop ! " and so prevented that. And as the other gazed and gazed at the departing Bodisat, he was torn with violent grief; his heart grew hot, and blood flowed from his mouth until his heart broke — like tank-mud in the heat of the sun. Thus harbouring hatred against the Bodisat, he brought about on that very spot his own destruction. This was the first time that Devadatta harboured hatred against the Bodisat. But the Bodisat gave gifts, and did other good acts, and passed away according to his deeds. THE FOLLY OF GREED THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS KING *. ILLUSTRATING THE FOLLY OF GREED Once upon a time Brahma - datta, the King of Benares, had a gardener named Sanjaya. Now, a swift antelope who had come to the garden took to flight as soon as it saw Sanjaya. But Sanjaya did not frighten it away ; and when it had come again and again it began to walk about in the garden. And day by day the gardener used to pluck the various fruits and flowers in the garden and take them away to the King. Now, one day the King asked him : "I say, friend gardener, is there anything strange in the garden so far as you've noticed ? " " I've noticed nothing, O King, save that an antelope is in the habit of coming and wandering about there. That I often see." " But could you catch it ? " 63 64 THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS KING " If I had a little honey I could bring it right inside the palace here ! " The King gave him the honey ; and he took it, went to the garden, smeared it on the grass at the spot the antelope frequented, and hid himself. When the deer came and had eaten the honey- smeared grass, it was bound with the lust of taste ; and from that time went nowhere else, but came exclusively to the garden. And as the gardener saw that it was allured by the honey-smeared grass, he in due course showed himself. For a few days the antelope took to flight on seeing him. But after seeing him again and again it acquired confidence, and gradually came to eat grass from the gardener's hand. And when the gardener saw that its confidence was gained, he strewed the path right up to the palace as thick with branches as if he were covering it with mats, hung a gourdful of honey over his shoulder, carried a bundle of grass at his waist, and then kept sprinkling honey- smeared grass in front of the antelope till he led him within the palace. As soon as the deer had got inside, they shut the door. The antelope, seeing men, THE FOLLY OF GREED 65 began to tremble and quake with the fear of death, and ran hither and thither about the hall. The King came down from his upper chamber, and, seeing the trembling creature, said : " Such is the nature of an antelope, that it will not go for a week afterwards to a place where it has seen men, nor its life long to a place where it has been frightened. Yet this one, with just such a disposition, and accustomed only to the jungle, has now, bound by the lust of taste, come to just such a place. Verily, there is nothing worse in the world than this lust of taste ! " And when in other words he had shown the danger of greed, he let the antelope go back to the forest. THE STRENGTH OF FRIENDSHIP AMONG ANIMALS THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS MINISTER I ILLUSTRATING THE STRENGTH OF FRIENDSHIP AMONG ANIMALS Long ago, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the Bodisat became his Minister. At that time a dog used to go to the state elephant's stable, and feed on the lumps of rice which fell where the elephant fed. Being attracted there by the food, he soon became great friends with the elephant, and used to eat close by him. At last neither of them was happy without the other ; and the dog used to amuse himself by catching hold of the elephant's trunk, and swinging to and fro. But one day there came a peasant who gave the elephant-keeper money for the dog? and took it back with him to his village. 69 70 THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS MINISTER From that time the elephant, missing the dog, would neither eat nor drink nor bathe.