Monthly Archives: January 2014
28. The Ass With The Lionskin
Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in a farmer’s family, and when he grew up he got a livelihood by tillage.
At the same time there was a Merchant who used to go about hawking goods, which a donkey carried for him. Wherever he went, he used to take his bundle off the ass, and throw a lion-skin over him, and then turn him loose in the rice and barley fields. When the watchmen saw this creature, they imagined him to be a lion, and so dare not come near him.
27. The Ascetic With Pride
Once upon a time there was a great forest which separated the kingdom of Magadha from the two kingdoms that marched with it. The Bodhisatta was born in Magadha, as one of a great brahmin family. When he grew up, he renounced his desires, and departed and went into that forest, where he made him an hermitage, in a clump made of bamboos, lived a Wood-pigeon with his mate; in a certain ant-hill lived a Snake; in one thicket a Jackal had his lair, in another a Bear. These four creatures used to visit the sage from time to time, and listened to his discourse.
26. The Ascetic And The Deer
Once upon a time in the reign of Brahmadatta, king of Benares, the Bodhisatta was born in the form of Sakka. At that time a man, who lived in the kingdom of Kasi, came into the Himalaya region, and adopting the life of an ascetic lived on wild fruits. One day he found in the forest a young deer that had lost its dam. He took it home to his hermitage, and fed and grew it. The young deer grew up a handsome and comely beast, and the ascetic took care of it and treated it as his own child.
25. The Ascetic And The Dead Elephant
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was Sakka. A wealthy Brahmin, living in Benares, left the world, and became an ascetic in the Himalaya, living by picking up roots and fruits in the forest. One day, searching for wild fruits, he saw an elephant-calf, and took it to his hermitage; he made as if it were his own son, calling it Somadatta, and tended it with food of grass and leaves.
