Once upon a time, in the reign of Brahmadatta, king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in Kasi as a householder’s son and coming of age he married and settled down. Now his wife was a wicked woman, and she intrigued with the village headman. The Bodhisatta came to understand this, and thought how to put her to test.

At that time all the grain had been carried away during the floods; and afterwards there was a famine. But it was the time when the corn had just sprouted, and all the villagers came together, and sought help of their headman, saying, “Two months from now, when we have harvested the grain, we will pay you in kind” so they got an old ox from him, and ate it.

One day, the headman watched his chance, and when the Bodhisatta was gone abroad he visited the house. Just as the two were happy together, the Bodhisatta came back home. The wife saw him at the entrance. “It is he!” She knew him, and she told the headman. He trembled in terror.

The woman said, “Don’t be afraid; I have a plan. You know we got meat from you to eat; make as though you were asking money for the meat; I will climb up into the granary, and stand at the door of it, crying, ‘No rice here!’ while you must stand in the middle of the room, and insist, again and again, ‘I have children at home; give me the price of the meat!”

So saying, she climbed up to the granary, and sat in the door of it. The other stood in the midst of the house, and cried, “Give me the price of the meat!” while she replied, sitting at the granary door, “There is no rice in the granary; I will give it when the harvest is home; leave me now!”

The Goodman entered the house, and saw what they were about. He thought, “This must be that wicked woman’s plan.” He told the headman: “Sir! Headman! When we had some of your old ox to eat, we promised to give you rice for it in two months time. Not half a month has passed; then why do you try to make us pay now? That’s not the reason you are here; you must have come for something else. I don’t like your ways. That wicked and sinful woman knows that there is no rice in the garner, but she has climbed up, and there she sits, crying ‘No rice here!” and you cry ‘Give!’ I don’t like your doings, either of you!”

He seized the headman by the lock of hair on the top of his head, dragged him out into the courtyard, threw him down. The headman cried, “I’m the Headman!” The Bodhisatta thrashed him till the headman was faint. Then he took him by the neck and cast him out of the house. He seized the wicked woman by the hair of her head, pulled her away from the garner, knocked her down, and threatened her “If you ever do this kind of thing again, I’ll make you remember it!”

From that day forward the headman durst not even look at that house, and the woman did not dare to transgress even in thought.