Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was a Lion who lived in a mountain cave in the Himalayas. Nearby lived a multitude of Boars by lakeside; and beside the same lake lived a company of anchorites in huts made of leaves and the branches of trees.

One day it so happened that the Lion had brought down a beast; after eating he went down to drink water at this lake. Just as he came out, a sturdy Boar happened to be drinking water.

The Lion thought, “He will make a meal for me some other day.” But fearing that if the Boar saw him, he might never come there again, the Lion slunk away to the side. Seeing this the Boar thought, “This is because he has seen me, and is afraid! He dare not come near me, and he runs out of fear! Today I will fight with the Lion.” So he raised his head, and made challenged the Lion:

“You are a fourfoot so am i: thus, friend, we’re both alike, you see;

Turn, Lion, turn; are you afraid? Why do you run away from me?”

The Lion heared this and said, “Friend Boar! to day there will be no fight between you and me. But this week-end, let us fight it out in this very spot.” And with these words, Lion went.

The Boar was highly delighted in thinking how he was to fight a lion; and he told all his kith and kin about it. But the tale only terrified them. They said to the Boar, “Lion will definitely kill you and afterwards us. Do not be so violent!”

These words made the Boar fear on his part. “What am I to do, then?” he asked. Then the other Boars advised him to roll about in the anchorites’ dunghill for the next seven days, and let the muck dry on his body; then on the seventh day he should moisten himself with dew drops, and be first at the fighting place; he must find how the wind blows, and get to the windward; and the Lion, being a cleanly creature, would spare his life when he had a whiff of him.

So accordingly he did; and on the day appointed, there he was. No sooner had the Lion scented him, and smelt the filth, says he, “Friend Boar! a pretty trick this! Were you not all smeared with filth, I should have had your life this very day. But as it is, I cannot touch you even with my foot. Therefore I spare your life.”

Then the Lion turned away, and procured his day’s food; and after a drink at the lake, he went back again to his cave on the mountain.

And the Boar told his kith and kin how he had beaten the Lion! But they were terrified for fear the Lion should come again another day and kill them. So they ran away to some other place.