Prince Wicked And The Grateful Animals [More Jataka Tales]
ONCE upon a time a king had a son named Prince Wicked. He was fierce and cruel, and he spoke to nobody without abuse, or blows. Like grit in the eye, was Prince Wicked to every one, both in the palace and out of it.
His people said to
one another, "If he acts this way while he is a prince, how will he act
when he is king?"
One day when the
prince was swimming in the river, suddenly a great storm came on, and it grew
very dark.
In the darkness the
servants who were with the prince swam from him, saying to themselves,
"Let us leave him alone in the river, and he may drown."
When they reached
the shore, some of the servants who had not gone into the river said,
"Where is Prince Wicked?"
"Isn't he
here?" they asked. "Perhaps he came out of the river in the darkness
and went home." Then the servants all went back to the palace.
The king asked
where his son was, and again the servants said: "Isn't he here, O King? A
great storm came on soon after we went into the water. It grew very dark. When
we came out of the water the prince was not with us."
At once the king
had the gates thrown open. He and all his men searched up and down the banks of
the river for the missing prince. But no trace of him could be found.
In the darkness the
prince had been swept down the river. He was crying for fear he would drown
when he came across a log. He climbed upon the log, and floated farther down
the river.
When the great
storm arose, the water rushed into the homes of a Rat and a Snake who lived on
the river bank. The Rat and the Snake swam out into the river and found the
same log the prince had found. The Snake climbed upon one end of the log, and
the Rat climbed upon the other.
On the river's bank
a cottonwood-tree grew, and a young Parrot lived in its branches. The storm
pulled up this tree, and it fell into the river. The heavy rain beat down the
Parrot when it tried to fly, and it could not go far. Looking down it saw the
log and flew down to rest. Now there were four on the log floating down stream
together.
Just around the
bend in the river a certain poor man had built himself a hut. As he walked to
and fro late at night listening to the storm, he heard the loud cries of the
prince. The poor man said to himself: "I must get that man out of the
water. I must save his life." So he shouted: "I will save you! I will
save you!" as he swam out in the river.
Soon he reached the
log, and pushing it by one end, he soon pushed it into the bank. The prince
jumped up and down, he was so glad to be safe and sound on dry land.
Then the poor man
saw the Snake, the Rat, and the Parrot, and carried them to his hut. He built a
fire, putting the animals near it so they could get dry. He took care of them first,
because they were the weaker, and afterwards he looked after the comfort of the
prince.
Then the poor man
brought food and set it before them, looking after the animals first and the
prince afterwards. This made the young prince angry, and he said to himself:
"This poor man does not treat me like a prince. He takes care of the
animals before taking care of me." Then the prince began to hate the poor
man.
A few days later,
when the prince, and the Snake, the Rat, and the Parrot were rested, and the storm
was all over, the Snake said good-by to the poor man with these words:
"Father, you have been very kind to me. I know where there is some buried
gold. If ever you want gold, you have only to come to my home and call,
'Snake!' and I will show you the buried gold. It shall all be yours."
Next the Rat said
good-by to the poor man. "If ever you want money," said the Rat,
"come to my home, and call out, 'Rat!' and I will show you where a great
deal of money is buried near my home. It shall all be yours."
Then the Parrot
came, saying: "Father, silver and gold have I none, but if you ever want
choice rice, come to where I live and call, 'Parrot!' and I will call all my
family and friends together, and we will gather the choicest rice in the fields
for you."
Last came the
prince. In his heart he hated the poor man who had saved his life. But he
pretended to be as thankful as the animals had been, saying, "Come to me
when I am king, and I will give you great riches." So saying, he went
away.
Not long after this
the prince's father died, and Prince Wicked was made king. He was then very
rich.
By and by the poor
man said to himself: "Each of the four whose lives I saved made a promise
to me. I will see if they will keep their promises."
First of all he
went to the Snake, and standing near his hole, the poor man called out,
"Snake!"
At once the Snake
darted forth, and with every mark of respect he said: "Father, in this
place there is much gold. Dig it up and take it all."
"Very
well," said the poor man. "When I need it, I will not forget."
After visiting for
a while, the poor man said good-by to the Snake, and went to where the Rat
lived, calling out, "Rat!"
The Rat came at
once, and did as the Snake had done, showing the poor man where the money was
buried.
"When I need
it, I will come for it," said the poor man.
Going next to the
Parrot, he called out, "Parrot!" and the bird flew down from the
tree-top as soon as he heard the call.
"O
Father," said the Parrot, "shall I call together all my family and
friends to gather choice rice for you?"
The poor man,
seeing that the Parrot was willing and ready to keep his promise, said: "I
do not need rice now. If ever I do, I will not forget your offer."
Last of all, the
poor man went into the city where the king lived. The king, seated on his great
white elephant, was riding through the city. The king saw the poor man, and
said to himself: "That poor man has come to ask me for the great riches I
promised to give him. I must have his head cut off before he can tell the
people how he saved my life when I was the prince."
So the king called
his servants to him and said: "You see that poor man over there? Seize him
and bind him, beat him at every corner of the street as you march him out of
the city, and then chop off his head."
The servants had to
obey their king. So they seized and bound the poor man. They beat him at every
corner of the street. The poor man did not cry out, but he said, over and over
again, "It is better to save poor, weak animals than to save a prince."
At last some wise
men among the crowds along the street asked the poor man what prince he had
saved. Then the poor man told the whole story, ending with the words, "By
saving your king, I brought all this pain upon myself."
The wise men and
all the rest of the crowd cried out: "This poor man saved the life of our
king, and now the king has ordered him to be killed. How can we be sure that he
will not have any, or all, of us killed? Let us kill him." And in their
anger they rushed from every side upon the king as he rode on his elephant, and
with arrows and stones they killed him then and there.
Then they made the
poor man king, and set him to rule over them.
The poor man ruled
his people well. One day he decided once more to try the Snake, the Rat, and
the Parrot. So, followed by many servants, the king went to where the Snake
lived.
At the call of
"Snake!" out came the Snake from his hole saying, "Here, O King,
is your treasure; take it."
"I will,"
said the king. "And I want you to come with me."
Then the king had
his servants dig up the gold.
Going to where the
Rat lived, the king called, "Rat!" Out came the Rat, and bowing low
to the king, the Rat said, "Take all the money buried here and have your
servants carry it away."
"I will,"
said the king, and he asked the Rat to go with him and the Snake.
Then the king went
to where the Parrot lived, and called, "Parrot!" The Parrot flew down
to the king's feet and said, "O King, shall I and my family and my friends
gather choice rice for you?"
"Not now, not
until rice is needed," said the king. "Will you come with us?"
The Parrot was glad to join them.
So with the gold, and the money, and with the Snake, the Rat, and the Parrot as well, the king went back to the city.
The king had the gold and the money hidden away in the palace. He had a tube of gold made for the Snake to live in. He had a glass box made for the Rat's home, and a cage of gold for the Parrot. Each had the food he liked best of all to eat every day, and so these four lived happily all their lives.
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