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At this time the world-honoured one also uttered this Gâtha—

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In every way and on every occasion encourage a resolute heart.
Irresolution and vacillation bring with them sorrow;
But when once the mind has been made up for good,
The wise man hereby soon acquires perfect knowledge."

Then Buddha said, "That merchant prince was myself in a former birth, and by the same resolution which I then displayed, have I now acquired the Highest Intelligence and the seven species of Supreme Wisdom" (Bôdyangas).

The Story of the Two Parrots.

§ 3. THEN the Bhikshus again addressed Buddha and said, "It is wonderful indeed and incomprehensible, O Tathagata, that one man should be able by himself to overcome the combined temptations of Mâra and all his associates (as you have done);" and, having thus spoken, they remained silent. Then the world-honoured replied "It was not on this occasion only, but in days gone by on many occasions, did I overcome by myself the efforts of Mâra to destroy me. I remember in years gone by, ages ago, there were two macaws,-brothers one to the other, the name of one was Malligiri (hair-wreath-mountain), the other called Sutagiri (or Sudagiri). Suddenly, whilst these two parrots were seated together on the top of a tree, there swooped down a great falcon, and caught up the little one and flew away with it into the air. Then the one brother said to the other

"One man alone may cause much grief;

One man alone may cause great joy;

Then bite and tear as best you can the falcon's flesh,
As soon as he perceives the pain he will release his hold.
Your body indeed is little, and my strength is light,
But only persevere, nor give up what you undertake.'
The little parrot, having heard these words of his brother,
Put forth his utmost strength and force,

Wishing to make his efforts felt as much as possible,
He bit the falcon's body in the most tender part.

No sooner did the falcon feel the pain and anguish,

Than he quickly let the parrot slip from him,
And on account of what his body felt,

He flew around and round, seeking to escape,
From the cunning parrot,

Who fled away thro' space;

Then the falcon, seeing the parrot thus fly off,

Departed, seeking some other means of getting nourishment.
Now, as to this parrot that attacked the falcon,

It was myself who by myself alone

Thus conquered and escaped that enemy.

How much more now by my accumulated merit

Should I not conquer and defeat the power of Mâra?
So learn this lesson well! ye Bhikshus here assembled !"

The Story of the Cunning Tortoise.

§ 4. AGAIN the world-honoured one proceeded to narrate the following Jâtaka: "I remember in years and ages past there was a certain river called Paryata; on the banks of this river there lived a man who gained his livelihood by making flower-wreaths; moreover, he had a garden bordering along the side of the river. Now, at this time there was a certain tortoise which was in the habit of coming up out of the water, and, going to the middle of this man's flower garden, he used to eat what he could find here and there, and by so doing he trampled down and destroyed the flowers; and then he departed. The gardener seeing this, and observing the tracks of the tortoise in every direction, perceiving how his flowers were destroyed, immediately formed a device to catch the tortoise. Accordingly, he made a wicker cage, and soon entrapped him. Then when he was about to kill and eat him, the tortoise thought thus with himself—'What can I do to escape from this danger? What device or cunning plan can I adopt? How can I take this gardener in?' Having thought thus, he immediately addressed his captor in these verses—

"I have but just come from the river, and am covered with mud, You should put aside your flowers and proceed to wash me, Lest my body, covered with impure mire,

Should perhaps pollute your basket and its flowers.'

"Then the gardener thought thus—“This is good advice. I never thought of that. I will go and wash his body in the stream, and get rid of the dirt.' Immediately then he went and dipped the body of the tortoise in the river, thinking to wash him, and putting him on the top of a stone for this purpose, he flung water over him, when suddenly the tortoise, exerting his whole strength, jumped off the stone, and escaped into the river. Then the gardener, seeing the tortoise paddling away into deep water, thought thus with himself- Wonderful indeed! that this tortoise should have been able thus to impose upon me! but now I will repay him in his own coin, and deceive him also, with a view to get him on land again;' on this the flower-seller spake this Gâtha to the tortoise

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'My dear tortoise! listen whilst I tell you my idea.

You no doubt have plenty of relations and dear friends,

I will make you a beautiful wreath and hang it round your neck, That when you return home there may be much joy at the sight of you.'

"Then the tortoise thought thus-"This flower-seller is telling me a great falsehood-he wants to delude me. His mother is ill abed, and his sister, so-and-so, is busy making garlands to get money enough to support them all; and yet he tells me that he will make a garland and give it me for nothing. It is all false; he only wants to catch me and eat me.' So the tortoise replied to the flower-seller in these words

"Your family are busy in brewing wine to have a feast, They are getting all sorts of tasty food to eat, no doubt; Go home, then, and give your orders, my friend;

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Let the tortoise be boiled, with forced-meat balls in plenty.' Then Buddha added, "I was the tortoise at that time, the flower. seller was Mâra Pisuna, he wished to entrap me with delusive speech, but was not able."

The Story of the Foolish Dragon.

§ 5. AGAIN Buddha related this Jâtaka-"I remember in years gone by, ages ago, there was a certain dragon (kau-a dragon with horns), living in the great sea, whose wife being pregnant, suddenly

took an extraordinary desire to have a monkey's heart to eat, and because of this longing her body became sorely afflicted so that she had no rest or ease for a moment. Then the male fish, seeing his wife thus afflicted and her natural beautiful colour fading away, and all her appearance changed, asked her and said, 'My dear! what is it troubling you so, what food is it you desire, seeing that you eat nothing that I provide; why is this?' Then the female dragon was silent, and answered not a word. Again her husband asked the same question, and pressed her for a reply; on which she said, 'If you could give me what I want, then I would tell you at once, but if you are unable to do so, why should I trouble you about it?' To this he replied, 'Only tell me what you want, and if it is possible by the use of any device or craft to get it, trust me, you shall have your desire.' To this she answered, “I am longing for a monkey's heart to eat; can you get me this, do you think, or not?' Then the husband answered, 'What you want is a thing very difficult to get; for, in fact, I live here in the great sea and monkeys live in the mountain forests, on the tops of the trees; how, then, can I get at them?' To which the wife replied, "This only I know, that if I cannot procure what I long for, my time will come prematurely, and I fear I shall die.' Then the husband said, 'My dear! be patient. I will go and try to accomplish it, and I cannot tell you how delighted I shall be if I succeed!'

"Forthwith the dragon went to the shore, and going up on the bank he saw, not very far off, a large tree called the Udambara. Now, it so happened that at that time there was a great monkey living on the tree top and partaking of the fruit and eating it. Then the dragon, having espied the monkey thus feasting on the top of the tree, gradually approached till he came under it, and then, looking up, he spoke in gentle words and said, as he saluted the monkey, 'All hail! all hail, thou shining one (básad ?), what art thou doing up there? art thou not afraid to move, lest in seeking thy food thou shouldst tumble down and come to an untimely end?' To whom the monkey replied, 'No, dear sir! I have no such fear as that.' Then the dragon went on to say, 'What, then, do you find to eat up there?'-to which the monkey answered, 'I am living here in this Udambara tree, and feeding on its fruit (seeds).' Then the Dragon said, 'I am filled with inexpressible joy in seeing you thus, and I beg your leave to form a

close friendship with you; let us from this time be allies; but, why, let me ask, do you live in this place, feeding on the scanty fruit of this solitary tree. What pleasure can you find here? Come down, I pray you, and let me conduct you. I will carry you over the great sea to yonder shore, where there are vast forests of every kind of tree with flowers and fruit. There is the Amra tree, and the Djambu tree, and the Lakaja (likusa, or, lakasa, a breadfruit tree), and the Banava (phanava ?), and the Tinduka tree, and many others besides.' Then the monkey said, 'But tell me, pray, how am I to reach that place, the water is deep and wide, and very dangerous, how can I possibly float myself across it?' Then the dragon said to the monkey, 'I will take you on my back and carry you over. You have only to come down from the tree, and get on the top of my back and all is done!'

"Then the monkey, because he had no fixed mind, and had little knowledge or experience of the world, came down from the top of the tree, and got on the back of the dragon. Then the dragon thought thus with himself—'Well done! I have managed this business exceedingly well!' and immediately he proceeded to make his journey homewards. Then he plunged into the water, and began to dive downwards towards his dwelling-place; on which the monkey cried out, 'My dear friend, where are you going, diving down in this way all of a sudden ?' 'Never you mind!' On which the tell me what you are going to do?' a wife very sad and ill, and she has taken a strong fancy to have your heart to eat, and that's the reason I am taking you to her Then the monkey thought thus with himself -'Alas! alas! this is a very unlucky job for me! I have brought this ruin on myself; alas! I must think of some crafty expedient to get myself out of this difficulty, if I can.'

in such a hurry.

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On which the dragon replied, monkey said again, 'Oh, pray Then the dragon said, 'I have

Thinking thus with himself, he addressed the dragon and said, Illustrious and dear friend! I am extremely sorry, but as a matter of fact my heart at this moment is on the top of the Udambara tree, where you first saw me, and I didn't think of bringing it with me when I left. Why did you not tell me the truth at the time that I might have brought it with me? But now, my dear friend, if you will just return for a moment, I will go and fetch my heart, and then go back with you to your wife.' The dragon, having heard the monkey's speech, immediately com

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