Book III (Crows and Owls) — How the Rabbit Fooled the Elephant

In a part of a forest lived an elephant-king named Four-Tusk, who had a numerous retinue of elephants. His time was spent in protecting the herd.

Now once there came a twelve-year drought, so that tanks, ponds, swamps, and lakes went dry. Then all the elephants said to the lord of the herd: “O King, our little ones are so tortured by thirst that some are like to die, and some are dead. Pray devise a method of removing thirst.” So he sent in eight directions elephants fleet as the wind to search for water.

Now those who went east found beside a path near a hermitage a lake named Lake of the Moon. It was beautiful with swans, herons, ospreys, ducks, sheldrakes, cranes, and water-creatures. It was embowered in flowering sprays of branches drooping under the weight of various blossoms. Both banks were embellished with trees. It had beaches made lovely by sheets of foam born of the splashing of transparent waves that danced in the breeze and broke on the shore. Its water was perfumed by the

ichor-juice that oozed from elephant-temples washed clean of bees; for these flew up when the lordly creatures plunged. It was ever screened from the heat of the sun by hundreds of parasols in the shape of the countless leaves of trees on its banks. It gave forth deep-toned music from uncounted waves that turned aside on meeting the plump legs, hips, and bosoms of mountain maidens diving. It was brimming with crystal water, and beautified with thickets of water-lilies in full bloom. Why describe it? It was a segment of paradise.

When they saw this, they hastened back to report to the elephant-king.

So Four-Tusk, on hearing their report, traveled with them by easy stages to the Lake of the Moon. And finding a gentle slope all around the lake, the elephants plunged in, thereby crushing the heads, necks, fore-paws and hind-paws of thousands of rabbits who long before had made their home on the banks. Now after drinking and bathing, the elephant-king with his followers departed to his own portion of the jungle.

Then the rabbits who were left alive held an emergency convention. “What are we to do now?” said they. “Those fellows—curse their tracks!— will come here every day. Let some plan be framed at once to prevent their return.”

Thereupon a rabbit named Victory, perceiving their terror and their utter woe at the crushing of sons, wives, and relatives, said compassionately:

“Have no fear. They shall not return. I promise it. For my guardian angel has granted me this grace.”

And hearing this, the rabbit-king, whose name was Block-Snout, said to Victory: “Dear friend, this is beyond peradventure. For

Good Victory knows every fact

The textbooks teach; knows how to act In every place and time. Where he

Is sent, there comes prosperity.

And again:

Speak for pleasure, speak with measure, Speak with grammar’s richest treasure, Not too much, and with reflection— Deeds will follow words’ direction.

The elephants, sir, making acquaintance with your ripe wisdom, will become aware of my majesty, wisdom, and energy, though I am not present. For the proverb says:

I learn if foreign kings be fools or no By their dispatches or their nuncio.

And there is a saying:

The envoy binds; he loosens what is bound; Through him success in war, if found, is found.

And if you go, it is as if I went myself. Because, you

Speak what lies in your commission, Speak with careful composition, Grammar and good ethics seeking, “Tis as if myself were speaking.

And again:

This is, in brief, the envoy’s care: An argument to fit the facts

And sound results, so far as speech May be translated into acts.

“Depart then, dear friend. And may the office of envoy prove a second guardian angel to you.”

So Victory departed and espied the elephant-king in the act of returning to the lake. He was surrounded by thousands of lordly elephants, whose ears, like flowering branches, were swaying in a dignified dance. His body was dappled with masses of pollen from his couch made of twigs from the tips of branches of flowering cassia trees; so that he seemed a laden cloud with many clinging lightning-flashes. His trumpeting was as deep toned and awe inspiring as the clash of countless thunderbolts from which in the rainy season piercing flashes gleam. He had the glossy beauty of leaves in a bed of pure blue lotuses. His twisting trunk had the charm of a perfect snake. His presence was that of an elephant of heaven. His two tusks, shapely, smooth, and full, had the color of honey. Around his entire visage rose a charming hum from swarms of bees drawn by the fragrant perfume of the ichor-juice that issued from his temples.

And Victory reflected: “It is impossible for folk like me to come too near. Because, as the proverb puts it:

An elephant will kill you if

He touch; a serpent if he sniff King’s laughter has a deadly sting; A rascal kills by honoring.

I must by all odds seek impregnable terrain before introducing myself.”

After these reflections, he climbed upon a tall and jagged rock-pile before saying: “Is it well with you, lord of the two-tusked breed?” And the elephant-king, hearing this, peered narrowly about, and said: “Who are you, sir?” “I am an envoy,” said the rabbit. “In whose service?” asked the elephant, and the envoy answered: “In the service of the blesséd Moon.” “State your business,” said the elephant-king, and the rabbit stated it thus.

“You are aware, sir, that no injury may be done an envoy in the discharge of his function. For all kings, without exception, use envoys as their mouth- pieces. Indeed, there is a proverb:

Though swords be out and kinsmen fall in strife, The king still spares the harsh-tongued envoy’s life.

“Therefore by command of the Moon I say to you: ‘Why, O mortal, why have you used violence upon others, with no true reckoning of your own power or your foe’s? For the Scripture says:

All those who madly march to deeds, Not reckoning who are masters, Themselves or powerful enemies, Are asking for disasters.

““Now you have sinfully violated the Lake of the Moon, known afar by my sacred name. And there you have slain rabbits who are under my special protection, who are of the race of that rabbit-king cherished in my bosom. This is iniquitous. Nay, one would think you the only creature in the world who does not know the rabbit in the moon. But what is gained by much speaking? Desist from such actions, or great disaster will befall you at my hands. But if from this hour you desist, great distinction will be yours; for your body will be nourished by my moonlight, and with your companions you shall pursue your happy, carefree fancies in this forest. In the alternative case, my light shall be withheld, your body will be scorched by summer heat, and you with your companions will perish.’”

On hearing this, the elephant-king felt his heart stagger, and after long reflection he said: “It is true, sir. I have sinned against the blesséd Moon. Who am I that I should longer contend with him? Pray point out to me, and quickly, the way that I must travel to win the blesséd Moon’s forgiveness.”

The rabbit said: “Come, sir, alone. I will point it out.” So he went by night to the Lake of the Moon, and showed him the moon reflected in the water. There was the brilliant, quivering disk, of lustrous loveliness, surrounded by planets, the Seven Sages and hosts of stars, all dancing in the reflection of heaven’s broad expanse. And its circle was complete, with the full complement of digits.

Seeing this, the elephant said: “I purify myself and worship the deity,” and he dropped upon the water a trunk that two men’s arms might have

encircled. Thereby he disturbed the water, the moon’s disk danced to and fro as if mounted on a whirling wheel, and he saw a thousand moons.

Then Victory started back in great agitation, and said to the elephant- king: “Woe, woe to you, O King! You have doubly enraged the Moon.” The elephant said: “For what reason is the blesséd Moon angry with me?”

“Because,” said Victory, “you have touched this water.” So the elephant- king, with drooping ears, bowed his head to the very earth in deep obeisance, in order to win forgiveness from the blesséd Moon. And he spoke again to Victory: “My worthy sir, in all other manners, also, beseech for me the forgiveness the blessed Moon. I shall never return here.” And with these words he went to his own place.

“And that is why I say:

The feigning of a great commission, ... and the rest of it.

“But worse remains behind. The owl is a seedy rascal, with a wicked soul. He could never protect subjects. Or rather, to say nothing of protection, you may anticipate actual danger from him. You know the stanza:

A seedy umpire is not very

Pleasing to either adversary:

Rabbit and partridge teach you that— They died, confiding in the cat.”

“How was that? Tell us about it,” said the birds, and the crow told the story of

THE CAT’S JUDGMENT

At one time I was myself living in a certain tree. And beneath the same tree dwelt another bird, a partridge. So by virtue of our near neighborhood there sprang up between us a firm friendship. Every day after taking our

meals and airings we spent the evening hours in a round of amusements, such as repeating witty sayings, telling tales from the old story-books, solving puzzles and conundrums, or exchanging presents.

One day the partridge went foraging with other birds to a spot where the rice was ripe and abundant, and he did not return at nightfall. Of course, I missed him greatly and I thought: “Alas! Why does not my friend the partridge come home tonight? I am much afraid he is caught in some trap, or has even been killed.” And many days passed while I grieved in this way.

Now one evening a rabbit named Speedy made himself at home in the partridge’s old nest in the hole. Nor did I say him nay, for I despaired of seeing the partridge again.

However, one fine day the partridge, who had grown extremely plump from eating rice, remembered his old home and returned. This, indeed, is not to be wondered at.

No mortal has such joy, although In heaven’s fields he roam,

As in his city, in his land,

And in his humble home.

Now when he saw the rabbit in the hole, he said reproachfully: “Come now, rabbit, you have done a shabby thing in occupying my apartment. Please begone, and lose no time about it.”

“You fool!” said the rabbit, “don’t you know that a dwelling is yours only while you occupy it?” “Very well, then,” said the partridge, “suppose we ask the neighbors. For, to give you a legal quotation,

For ownership of cisterns, tanks, Wells, groves, and houses, too, The neighbors’ testimony goes— Such is the legal view.

And again:

When house or field or well or grove Or land is in dispute,

A neighbor’s testimony is

Decisive of the suit.”

Then the rabbit said: “You fool! Are you ignorant of the consecrated tradition which says:

Suppose beside your neighbor you For ten long years abide,

What weight have learned arguments? Eyewitnesses decide.

Fool! Fool! Did you never hear the dictum of the sage Narada?

The title to possession is

A ten years’ habitation

With men. But with the birds and beasts Mere present occupation.

“Hence, even supposing this apartment to be yours, still it was unoccupied when I moved in, and now it is mine.”

“Well, well!” replied the partridge, “if you appeal to consecrated tradition, come with me, and we will consult the specialists. It shall be yours or mine according to their decision.” “Very well,” said the other, and together they started off to have their suit decided. I, too, was at their heels, out of curiosity. “I will just see what comes of all this,” I said to myself.

Now they had not traveled far when the rabbit asked the partridge: “My good fellow, who is to pass judgment on our disagreement?” And the partridge answered: “On a sand-bank by the sacred Ganges—where there is sweet music from the dancing waves that intercross and break when the water is swept by nimble breezes—there dwells a tomcat whose name is Curd-Ear. He abides unshaken in his vow of penance and self-denial, and character has begotten compassion.”

But when the rabbit spied the cat, his soul staggered with terror, and he said: “No, no! He is a seedy rascal. You must have heard the proverb:

Oh, never trust a rogue for all

His pharisaic puzzling:

At holy shrines some saints are found Quite capable of guzzling.”

Upon hearing this, Curd-Ear, whose manner of life had been assumed for the purpose of making an easy livelihood, desired to win their confidence. He therefore gazed straight at the sun, stood on his hind-legs, lifted his fore- paws, blinked his eyes, and in order to deceive them by pious sentiments, delivered the following moral discourse. “Alas! Alas! All is vanity. This fragile life passes in a moment. Union with the beloved is an empty dream. Family endearments are a conjurer’s trick. But for the moral law, there would be no escape. Oh, listen to Scripture!

Each transitory day, O man,

To moral living give;

Else, like the blacksmith’s bellows, you Suck air, but do not live.

And furthermore:

Non-moral learning is a curse,

A dog’s tail, nothing less,

That does not save from flies and fleas, Nor cover nakedness.

And yet again:

A rotten ear among the wheat, Among the birds a bat,

Is he who spurns the moral law; The merest living gnat.

The flowers and fruit are better than the tree; Better than curds is butter said to be;

Better than oil-cake, oil that trickles free; Better than mortal man, morality.

The praise of constant steadfastness Some wise professors sing;

But moral earnestness is swift, Though many fetters cling.

Forget your prosings manifold;

The moral law is briefly told:

To help your neighbor—this is good; To injure him is devilhood.”

Having listened to this moral discourse, the rabbit said: “Friend partridge, here on the river-bank is the saint who expounds the moral law. Let us ask him.”

But the partridge said: “After all, he is our natural enemy. Let us ask him from a distance.” So together they began to question him: “O holy moralist, a dispute has arisen between us. Pray give judgment in accordance with the moral law. And whichever of us is found to speak falsely, him you may eat.”

“Dear friends,” said the cat, “I implore you not to speak thus. My soul abhors every act of cruelty, that street-sign pointing to hell. Surely, you know the Scripture:

The holy first commandment runs— Not harsh, but kindly be—

And therefore lavish mercy on Mosquito, louse, and flea.

Why speak of hurting innocence? For he, with purpose fell

Who injures even noxious beasts, Is plunged in ghastly hell.

“Nay, even those who slay living creatures in the act of sacrifice are befuddled, and their hermeneutic theology is at fault. And if you object to me the passage, ‘One should sacrifice with goats,’ in that passage the word ‘goats’ signifies grain that has aged seven years. ‘Go, oats’—such is the true exegesis. And then, consider the passage:

If he who cuts down trees or cattle, Or makes a bloody slime in battle, Should thereby win to heaven—well, Who (let me ask you) goes to hell?

“No, no. I shall eat nobody. However, I am somewhat old and do not readily distinguish your voices from a distance. So how am I to determine winner and loser? In view of this, pray draw near and make me acquainted with the case. Then I can pronounce a judgment that discriminates the essence of the matter, and thus causes no impediment in my march to the other world. You know the stanza:

If any man, from pride or greed, Timidity or wrath,

Judge falsely, he has set his foot On hell’s down-sloping path.

And again:

Who wrongs a sheep, slays kinsmen five; Who wrongs a cow, slays ten;

A hundred die for maidens wronged;

A thousand die for men.

“Therefore confide in me and speak clearly at the edge of my ear.”

Why spin it out? That seedy rogue won their trust so fully that both drew near him. Then, of course, he seized them simultaneously, one with his paw,

the other with the saw of his teeth. And when they were dead, he ate them both.

“And that is why I say:

A seedy umpire is not very ... and the rest of it.

“Just so, you, too, being blind at night, if you take as overlord this seedy fellow who is blind in the daytime, will go the way of the rabbit and the partridge. Reflect on this, then do what seems proper.”

And all the birds, after listening to the crow’s remarks, said: “He speaks well,” and they flew to their homes, planning to reassemble for consultation on the question of a king. Only the owl remained with his consort, for he was blind in the daytime. There he sat in his chair of state, awaiting the anointing. And he called out: “Ho, there! Who takes my orders? Why is the ceremony delayed?”

Thereupon his consort said: “My dear sir, the crow has found means to hold up the ceremony. And the birds have gone flying away. Only that crow, for some reason or other, remains here all alone. Rise at once, and I will conduct you home.”

Then the owl was deeply disappointed, and he said: “You monster! Why have you wronged me by preventing the regal anointing? From this day there is enmity between us. For the proverb says:

When arrows pierce or axes wound A tree, it grows together sound; From cruel, ugly speech you feel

A wound that time will never heal.”

Thereupon he went home with his consort, while the crow reflected: “Dear me! I have burdened myself with a needless enmity by speaking so. I should have remembered:

All spoken words, if harsh and heedless And inappropriate and needless,

Are self-condemnatory slips

That turn to poison on the lips.

And again:

However wise and strong you be, Beware the needless enemy:

You would not swallow poison down Because a doctor lives in town.

No man of sense vituperates Another, while the public waits; For even truth should be concealed, If causing sorrow when revealed.

And finally:

Reflect with many a chosen friend; Reflect alone, and to the end;

Then act. You are intelligent,

And fame’s and wealth’s recipient.”

After these reflections, the crow also left the spot. “For this cause, my son, we have an inherited feud with the owls.”

“Father,” said Cloudy, “what should we do under the circumstances?” And Live-Strong answered: “Even in these circumstances there is an effective procedure other than the six expedients. This I will adopt, and will myself lead the way to conquer the enemy. I will deceive them and put them in a fatal situation. For the saying goes:

The strong, deft, clever rascals note, Who robbed the Brahman of his goat.”

“How was that?” asked Cloudy. And Live-Strong told the story of

THE BRAHMAN’S GOAT

In a certain town lived a Brahman named Friendly who had undertaken the labor of maintaining the sacred fire. One day in the month of February, when a gentle breeze was blowing, when the sky was veiled in clouds and a drizzling rain was falling, he went to another village to beg a victim for the sacrifice, and said to a certain man: “O sacrificer, I wish to make an offering on the approaching day of the new moon. Pray give me a victim.” And the man gave him a plump goat, as prescribed in Scripture. This he put through its paces, found it sound, placed it on his shoulder, and started in haste for his own city.

Now on the road he was met by three rogues whose throats were pinched with hunger. These, spying the plump creature on his shoulder, whispered together: “Come now! If we could eat that creature, we should have the laugh on this sleety weather. Let us fool him, get the goat, and ward off the cold.”

So the first of them changed his dress, issued from a by-path to meet the Brahman, and thus addressed that man of pious life: “O pious Brahman, why are you doing a thing so unconventional and so ridiculous? You are carrying an unclean animal, a dog, on your shoulder. Are you ignorant of the verse:

The dog and the rooster, The hangman, the ass,

The camel, defile you: Don’t touch them, but pass.”

At that the Brahman was mastered by anger, and he said: “Are you blind, man, that you impute doghood to a goat?” “O Brahman,” said the rogue, “do not be angry. Go whither you will.”

But when he had traveled a little farther, the second rogue met him and said: “Alas, holy sir, alas! Even if this dead calf was a pet, still you should not put it on your shoulder. For the proverb says:

Touch not unwisely man or beast That lifeless lie;

Else, gifts of milk and lunar fast Must purify.”

Then the Brahman spoke in anger: “Are you blind, man? You call a goat a calf.” And the rogue said: “Holy sir, do not be angry. I spoke in ignorance. Do as you will.”

But when he had walked only a little farther through the forest, the third rogue, changing his dress, met him and said: “Sir, this is most improper. You are carrying a donkey on your shoulder. Yet the proverb tells you:

If you should touch an ass—be it

In ignorance or not—

You needs must wash your clothes and bathe, To cleanse the sinful spot.

Pray drop this thing, before another sees you.” So the Brahman concluded that it was a goblin in quadruped form, threw it on the ground, and made for home, terrified. Meanwhile, the three rogues met, caught the goat, and carried out their plan.

“And that is why I say:

The strong, deft, clever rascals note, ... and the rest of it.

“Moreover, there is sound sense in this:

Is any man uncheated by New servants’ diligence,

The praise of guests, the maiden’s tears, And roguish eloquence?

Furthermore, one should avoid a quarrel with a crowd, though the individuals be weak. As the verse puts it:

Beware the populace enraged;

A crowd’s a fearsome thing:

The ants devoured the giant snake For all his quivering.”

“How was that?” asked Cloudy. And Live-Strong told the story of