Once upon a time when Brahmadatta reigned in Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life as a young singila bird. When he grew to be a big bird, he settled in the Himalayas and built him a nest. When the rain fell without intermission, a monkey sat near the Bodhisatta and his teeth chattering by severe cold. The Bodhisatta, seeing him thus distressed asked, “You are like a human in form; why not build a hut to hide from cold?”

The monkey, on hearing this, replied, “Even though I am like human, Wisdom and boon refused to me.”

The Bodhisatta, on hearing this, repeated:

He that inconstancy betrays, a light and fickle mind,

Unstable proved in all his ways, no happiness may find

Monkey, in virtue to excel, do thou thy utmost strive,

And safe from wintry blast to dwell, go, hut of leaves contrive.

The monkey thought, “This creature, though dwelling in a place that is sheltered from the rain, despises me. I will not allow him to rest quietly in this nest.” Accordingly, in his eagerness to catch the Bodhisatta, he made a spring upon him. But the Bodhisatta flew away. And the monkey, after smashing up and destroying his nest, fell down and died.

The Master, having ended his lesson, identified the Birth: – “At that time the youth that fired the hut was the monkey, and I myself was the singila bird.”