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The monkeys requested per- mission of their king to go and seize the fruit ; but his majesty forbade them, when he learnt that the village was inhabited. They, however, ascended the tree in the middle of the night, and were busy at work, when one of the villagers having occasion to rise, saw what they were about, and gave the alarm. The tree was soon surrounded by people, armed with sticks, who were resolved to wait until the dawn, and then kill the monkeys. In- formation was conveyed to the king that his tribe were in this predicament ; so he immediately went to the village, and set fire to the house of an old woman. The people, of course, ran to extinguish the flames, and thus the monkeys escaped. 8. The Asadrisa Jdtaka. In this birth, Bddhisat was the son of Brahmadatta, king of Benares, and was called Asadrisa. He had a younger brother, Brahmadatta. On arriving at a proper age, he received all necessary instructions from a learned preceptor ; and the king at his death commanded that the kingdom should be given to Asa- drisa, and the viziership to his brother. The nobles were willing that the royal command should be obeyed ; but as Bddhisat positively refused the kingdom, it was given to his younger brother, and he became vizier, or inferior king. A certain noble afterwards insinuated to the king, that Asadrisa was plotting against his life ; on hearing which he became enraged, and com- manded that the traitor should be apprehended. But Bddhisat received warning of the danger in which he was placed, and fled V. CMiTAMA b6dhisat: his virtues, etc. 117 to the citj of king S^manya. On arriving at tlie gate of tlie city, he sent to inform the king that a famous archer had arrived in his dominions. The king gave orders that he should be admitted into the royal presence, and asked what wages he would require ; and when he was answered that a thousand masurans would be a reasonable salary, he gave his promise that this sum should be allowed. The king's former archers were naturally envious that a mere stranger should receive an allowance so much superior to their own. One day, the king having entered the royal garden, commanded that a couch should be placed, and a cloth spread, at the foot of a mango tree. When seated, he espied a mango fruit at the very uppermost part of the tree ; and as it was impossible that any one could get to it by climbing, he intimated that the archers should be called, who were to bring it down by an arrow. The archers of course gave way to the man of the thousand masurans ; and the king repeated his command to Asa- drisa, who requested that the royal couch might be removed from under the tree. The archers perceiving that Bddhisat had neither bow nor arrow in his hand, resolved among themselves, that if he were to request their assistance, they would refuse him the use of their weapons. Bddhisat then laid aside his usual garment, arrayed himself in a splendid robe, girt his sword by bis side, and his quiver upon his shoulder ; and putting together a bow that was made of separate pieces, jointed, with a coral necklace as the bow-string, he approached the king, and enquired whether the fruit was to be felled by the arrow as it went or as it returned. The king replied that it would be the greater wonder if the fruit were brought down by the returning arrow. Bddhisat gave notice that as the arrow would proceed right into the firmament, it would be necessary to wait for its return with a little patience. An arrow was then shot, which cleft a small portion from the mango, then went to the other world, and was seized by the dewas. Another arrow was shot, and after some time, there was a noise in the air, — thrum, thrum, thrum ; at which the people were afraid. Bddhisat told them it was the sound of the arrow ; and they were then more fearful, as each one thought it might fall upon his own body. The arrow, as it returned, divided the mango from the tree ; and Bddhisat going to the place, caught the fruit in one hand and the arrow in the other. At the sight of this, the people a thousand times shouted in triumph, a thou-* 118 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. sand times clapped their hands, and a thousand times waved their kerchiefs round their heads and danced ; and the king gave Asadrisa countless treasures. At this time seven kings, having heard that Asadrisa was dead, surrounded the city of Benares, and gave the king his choice, either to fight or to deliver up his kingdom. Brahma- datta sighed for the assistance of his elder brother, and having received information of his place of retreat, sent a noble to invite him to return. Asadrisa at once took leave of S&minya, and on arriving near Benares, he ascended a scaffold, from which he shot an arrow, with an epistle attached to the follow- ing efEect : " This is the first arrow from the hand of Asadrisa ; if the second should be sent, you will all be slain.*' The arrow fell upon a dish from which the seven kings were eating rice,* and as they thought within themselves that the threat would certainly be accomplished, they fied to their own cities. Thus Bddhisat conquered the seven kings, without the shedding of a single drop of blood. Brahmadatta now ofPered to resign the kingdom, but Bddhisat again refused it, and going to the forest of Him^la, by strict asceticism, he gained supernatural power, and afberwards passed away to the highest of the celestial regions. 9. The Wessanbara Jdtakcu In the Jambudwipa of a former age, the principal city of Siwi was called Jayaturd, in which reigned the king Sanda, or Sanja ; and his principal consort was Phusati, who was previously one of the queens of the dewa Sekra, and during four asankyas and a kaplaksha had exercised the wish to become the mother of a Budha. In due time they had a son, who was called Wessant- ara, from the street in which his mother was passing at the time of his birth. This son was the B6dhisat who in the next birth but one became Q6tama Budha. From the moment he was bom, for he could speak thus early, he gave proof that his disposition was most charitable. When arrived at the proper age, he r& * The natiye authors, when mentioning a meal or feast, alwa^ describe it as the eating of rice, this grain being the principal article of food in India. In the same way. fish being one of the most favourite kinds of food in use among the Greeks, the word oy^tov became applied to all things that were eaten with bread. Our own word " meal," as used in the sense of a repast, may have been derived from the period when that article was in common use among our ancestors. V. GKiTAMA BcJDHISAT : HIS VIRTUES, ETC. 119 oeiyed in marriage Madrid^wi, the beautiful daughter of the kiiig of Gh6tiya ; and Sanda delivered to them the kingdom. They had a son, J4liya, and a daughter, £[rishniljind, and lived together in the greatest happiness and prosperity. The country of Ch6tiya and the city of Jayaturd became as one. At this time there was a famine in Eldlinga, from the want of rain ; but the king thereof haying heard that Wessantara had a white elephant that had the power to cause rain, sent eight of his brahmans to request it. When the messengers arrived at Jaya- tura, it was the p<5ya day, when the prince, mounted on his white elephant, went to the public alms-hall to distribute the royal bounty. The brahmans were seen by the prince, who asked them why they had come : and when they told him their errand, he expressed his regret that they had not asked his eyes or his flesh, as he would have been equally ready to give them, and at once delivered to them the elephant, though its trappings alone were worth twenty-four lacs of treasure, saying at the same time, ** May I by this become Budha !" When the citizens saw that the elephant from which they derived so much assist- ance was taken away, they went to the prince's father, and with many tears informed him of what had occurred. On hearing their complaints, Sanda promised to inflict upon the prince any punishment they might mention; but their anger being now somewhat appeased, they said that they desired no other punish- ment but that he should be banished without delay from the kingdom to the rock Wankagiri. When the citizens were gone, the king sent the noble Elatt4 to his son, to inform him of their demand, and to tell him that on the morrow he must leave the city.