110. The Bodhisatta – The Monkey King
There was a thick forest. A lake was there in the forest. A water-ogre lived in it. It used to devour everyone who went down into the water.
In those days the Bodhisatta had come to life as the king of the monkeys. He was as big as the fawn of a read deer. He lived in that forest as the head of eighty thousand monkeys; he shielded them from harm. He counselled his subjects:- “My friends, in this forest there are trees that are poisonous and lakes that are haunted by ogres. Mind to ask me first before you either eat any fruit which you have not eaten before, or drink of any water where you have not drunk before .”
109. The Bodhisatta – The Monkey At The Palace
Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta reigned over Benares, the Bodhisatta came into the world as a Monkey, in the region of Himalayas. A woodranger caught him, brought him home and gave him to the king. For a long time he lived with the king, serving him faithfully, and he learnt a great deal about the manners of the world of men. The king was pleased at his faithfulness. He called the woodranger, and asked him to set the monkey free in the very place where he had been caught; and he did so.
108. The Bodhisatta – The Lion and The Tiger
Once upon a time at the foot of a mountain a lion and a tiger were living together in one and same cave as friends. The Bodhisatta too was living at the foot of the same hill, as a hermit.
Now one day, a dispute arose between the two friends about the cold. The tiger said it was cold in the dark half of the month, while the lion maintained that it was cold in the light half. As the two of them together could not settle the issue, they put it to the Bodhisatta. He said: “In light or dark half, whenever the wind blows it’s cold. For cold is caused by wind. And, therefore, I decide you both are right.”
Thus, the Bodhisatta made peace between those friends.
107. The Bodhisatta – The Goat and The Brahmin
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, a Brahmin, who was versed in the Three Vedas and world-famed as a teacher, being minded to offer a Feast for the Dead, had a goat fetched and said to his pupils: “My sons, take this goat down to the river and bathe it; then hang a garland round its neck, give it some grain to eat, groom it a bit and bring it back.”
They took the goat to the river, where they bathed and groomed and set it on the bank. The goat, becoming conscious of the deeds of its past lives, was overjoyed at the thought that on this very day it would be freed form all its misery, and laughed aloud. Then at the thought that the Brahmin by slaying it would bear the misery which it had borne, the goat felt a great compassion for the Brahmin, and wept with a loud voice.
