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And they let the King know about it. He sent the Bodisat, saying : " Do you go, Pandit, and find out what's the cause of the elephant's behaviour." So he went to the stable, and seeing how sad the elephant looked, said to himself: " There seems to be nothing bodily the matter with him. He must be so over- whelmed with grief by missing some one, I should think, who had become near and dear to him." And he asked the elephant- keepers : " Is there any one with whom he is particularly intimate ? " " Certainly, Sir ! There was a dog of whom he was very fond indeed." " Where is it now ? " " Some man or other took it away." " Do you know where the man lives ? " "No, Sir!" Then the Bodisat went and told the King. " There's nothing the matter with the elephant, your majesty ; but he was great friends with a dog, and I fancy it's through missing it that he refuses his food." FRIENDSHIP AMONG ANIMALS 71 When the King heard what he said, he asked what was now to be done. " Have a proclamation made, O King, to this effect : * A man is said to have taken away a dog of whom our state elephant was fond. In whose house soever that dog shall be found, he shall be fined so much ! ' " The King did so ; and, as soon as he heard of it, the man turned the dog loose. The dog hastened back, and went close up to the elephant. The elephant took him up in his trunk and placed him on his forehead, and wept and cried, and took him down again, and watched him as he fed. And then he took his own food. Then the King paid great honour to the Bodisat for knowing the motives even of animals. THE VALUE OF KINDNESS THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS BULL : ILLUSTRATING THE VALUE OF KINDNESS Long ago the Bodisat came to life as a Bull. Now, when he was yet a young calf, a certain Brahmin, after attending upon some devotees who were wont to give oxen to priests, received the bull. And he called it Nandi Visala, and grew very fond of it, treat- ing it like a son, and feeding it on gruel and rice. When the Bodisat grew up, he said to him- self: "This Brahmin has brought me up with great care ; and there's no other ox in all the continent of India can drag the weight I can. What if 1 were to let the Brahmin know about my strength, and so in my turn provide sustenance for him ! " And he said one day to the Brahmin : " Do 75 76 THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS BULL you go now, Brahmin, to some Squire rich in cattle, and offer to bet him a thousand that your ox will move a hundred laden carts." The Brahmin went to a rich farmer, and started a conversation thus : " Whose bullocks hereabout do you think the strongest ? " " Such and such a man's," said the farmer, and then added : " But, of course, there are none in the whole country-side to touch my own ! " " I have one ox," said the Brahmin, " who is good to move a hundred carts, loads and all ! " " Tush ! " said the Squire. " Where in the world is such an ox ? " " Just in my house ! " said the Brahmin. " Then make a bet about it ! " " All right ! I bet you a thousand he can." So the bet was made. And he rilled a hundred carts (small waggons made for two bullocks) with sand and gravel and stones, ranged them all in a row, and tied them all firmly together, cross-bar to axle-tree. Then he bathed Nandi Yisala, gave him THE VALUE OF KINDNESS 77 a measure of scented rice, hung a garland round his neck, and yoked him by himself to the front cart. Then he took his seat on the pole, raised his goad aloft, and called out : " Gee up ! you brute ! ! Drag 'em along, you wretch ! ! " The Bodisat said to himself : " He addresses me as a wretch. I am no wretch ! " And, keeping his four legs as firm as so many posts, he stood perfectly still. Then the Squire that moment claimed his bet, and made the Brahmin hand over the thousand pieces. And the Brahmin, minus his thousand, took out his ox, went home to his house, and lay down overwhelmed with grief. Presently Nandi Visfila, who was roaming about the place, came up and saw the Brahmin grieving there, and said to him : " What, Brahmin ! Are you asleep ? " " Sleep ! How can I sleep after losing the thousand pieces ? " " Brahmin ! I've lived so long in your house, and have I ever broken any pots, or rubbed up against the walls. " Never, my dear ! " 78 THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS BULL " Then why did you call me a wretch ? It's your fault. It's not my fault. Go now and bet him two thousand ; and never call me a wretch again — I, who am no wretch at all ! " When the Brahmin heard what he said, he made the bet two thousand, tied the carts together as before, decked out Nandi Visiila, and yoked him to the foremost cart. He managed this in the following way : he tied the pole and the cross-piece fast together, yoked Nandi Visala on one side ; on the other he fixed a smooth piece of timber from the point of the yoke to the axle-end, and wrapping it round with the fastenings of the cross-piece, tied it fast, so that when this was done the yoke could not move this way and that way, and it was possible for one ox to drag forwards the double bullock-cart. Then the Brahmin seated himself on the pole, stroked Nandi Visfila on the back, and called out : " Gee up ! my beauty ! ! Drag it along, my beauty ! ! " And the Bodisat, with one mighty effort, dragged forwards the hundred heavily-laden carts, and brought the hindmost one up THE VALUE OF KINDNESS 79 to the place where the foremost one had stood. Then the cattle-owner acknowledged him- self beaten, and handed over to the Brahmin the two thousand ; the bystanders, too, pre- sented the Bodisat with a large sum, and the whole became the property of the Brahmin. Thus, by means of the Bodisat, great was the wealth he acquired. GRATITUDE AND FILIAL AFFECTION THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS BULL : ILLUSTRATING GRATITUDE AND FILIAL AFFECTION Long ago . . . the Bodisat returned to life as a Bull. Now, when it was still a young calf, its owners stopped a while in an old woman's house, and gave him to her when they settled their account for their lodging. And she brought him up, treating him like a son, and feeding him on gruel and rice. He soon became known as " The old woman's Blackie." When he grew up, he roamed about, as black as colly rium, with the village cattle, and was very good-tempered and quiet. The village children used to catch hold of his horns, or ears, or dewlaps, and hang on to him ; or amuse themselves by pulling his tail, or riding about on his back. One day he said to himself: " My mother 83 84 THE BUDDHA (TO BE) AS BULL is wretchedly poor. She's taken so much pains, too, in bringing me up, and has treated me like a son. What if I were to work for hire, and so relieve her distress ! " And from that day he was always on the look-out for a job. Now, one day a young caravan owner arrived at a neighbouring ford with five hundred bullock-waggons. And his bullocks were not only unable to drag the carts across, but even when he yoked the five hundred pair in a row they could not move one cart by itself. The Bodisat was grazing with the village cattle close to the ford. The young caravan owner was a famous judge of cattle, and began looking about to see whether there were among them any thoroughbred bull able to drag over the carts. Seeing the Bodisat, he thought he would do, and asked the herdsmen : " Who may be the owners, my men, of this fellow ? I should like to yoke him to the cart, and am willing to give a reward for having the carts dragged over." " Catch him and yoke him then," said they. " He has no owner hereabouts." But when he began to put a string through GRATITUDE AND FILIAL AFFECTION 85 his nose and drag him along, he could not get him to come. For the Bodisat, it is said, wouldn't go till he was promised a reward. The young caravan owner, seeing what his object was, said to him : " Sir ! if you'll drag over these five hundred carts for me, I'll pay you wages at the rate of two pence for each cart — a thousand pieces in all." Then the Bodisat went along of his own accord, and the men yoked him to the cart. And with a mighty effort he dragged it up and landed it safe on the high ground. And in the same manner he dragged up all the carts.