The Collected Works of Edwin Arnold: Buddhism & Hinduism Writings, Poetical Works & Plays. Edwin Arnold

ground, upon which a temple was in course of erection, under the management of a man of the Káyeth caste, named Subhadatta. A carpenter upon the works had partly sawed through a long beam of wood, and wedged it open, and was gone away, leaving the wedge fixed. Shortly afterwards a large herd of monkeys came frolicking that way, and one of their number, directed doubtless by the Angel of death, got astride the beam, and grasped the wedge, with his tail and lower parts dangling down between the pieces of the wood. Not content with this, in the mischief natural to monkeys, he began to tug at the wedge; till at last it yielded to a great effort and came out; when the wood closed upon him, and jammed him all fast. So perished the monkey, miserably crushed; and I say again—

      'Let meddlers mark it, and be edified.'

      'But surely,' argued Damanaka, 'servants are bound to watch the movements of their masters!'

      'Let the prime minister do it, then,' answered Karataka; 'it is his business to overlook things, and subordinates shouldn't interfere in the department of their chief. You might get ass's thanks for it—

      'The Ass that hee-hawed, when the dog should do it,

       For his lord's welfare, like an ass did rue it.'

      Damanaka asked how that happened, and Karataka related:—

The Story of the Washerman's Jackass

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      "There was a certain Washerman at Benares, whose name was Carpúrapataka, and he had an Ass and a Dog in his courtyard; the first tethered, and the last roaming loose. Once on a time, when he had been spending his morning in the society of his wife, whom he had just married, and had fallen to sleep in her arms, a robber entered the house, and began to carry off his goods. The Ass observed the occupation of the thief, and was much concerned.

      'Good Dog,' said he, 'this is thy matter: why dost thou not bark aloud, and rouse the master?'

      'Gossip Ass,' replied the Dog, 'leave me alone to guard the premises. I can do it, if I choose; but the truth is, this master of ours thinks himself so safe lately that he clean forgets me, and I don't find my allowance of food nearly regular enough. Masters will do so; and a little fright will put him in mind of his defenders again.'

      'Thou scurvy cur!' exclaimed the Ass—

      'At the work-time, asking wages—is it like a faithful herd?'

      'Thou extreme Ass!' replied the Dog.

      'When the work's done, grudging wages—is that acting like a lord?'

      'Mean-spirited beast,' retorted the Ass, 'who neglectest thy master's business! Well, then, I at least will endeavor to arouse him; it is no less than religion,

      'Serve the Sun with sweat of body; starve thy maw to feed the flame;

       Stead thy lord with all thy service; to thy death go, quit of blame.'

      So saying, he put forth his very best braying. The Washerman sprang up at the noise, and missing the thief, turned in a rage upon the Ass for disturbing him, and beat it with a cudgel to such an extent that the blows resolved the poor animal into the five elements of death. 'So that,' continued Karataka, 'is why I say, Let the prime minister look to him. The hunting for prey is our duty—let us stick to it, then. And this,' he said, with a meditative look, 'need not trouble us to-day; for we have a capital dish of the royal leavings.'

      'What!' said Damanaka, rough with rage, 'dost thou serve the King for the sake of thy belly? Why take any such trouble to preserve an existence like thine?—

      'Many prayers for him are uttered whereon many a life relies;

       'Tis but one poor fool the fewer when the gulping Raven dies.'

      For assisting friends, and defeating enemies also, the service of kings is desirable. To enter upon it for a mere living makes the thing low indeed. There must be dogs and elephants; but servants need not be like hungry curs, while their masters are noble. What say the books?

      'Give thy Dog the merest mouthful, and he crouches at thy feet,

       Wags his tail, and fawns, and grovels, in his eagerness to eat;

       Bid the Elephant be feeding, and the best of fodder bring;

       Gravely—after much entreaty—condescends that mighty king.'

      'Well, well!' said Karataka; 'the books are nothing to us, who are not councillors.'

      'But we may come to be,' replied Damanaka; 'men rise, not by chance or nature, but by exertions—

      'By their own deeds men go downward, by them men mount upward all,

       Like the diggers of a well, and like the builders of a wall.'

      Advancement is slow—but that is in the nature of things—

      'Rushes down the hill the crag, which upward 'twas so hard to roll:

       So to virtue slowly rises—so to vice quick sinks the soul.'

      'Very good,' observed Karataka; 'but what is all this talk about?'

      'Why! don't you see our Royal Master there, and how he came home without drinking? I know he has been horribly frightened,' said Damanaka.

      'How do you know it?' asked the other.

      'By my perception—at a glance!' replied Damanaka; 'and I mean to make out of this occasion that which shall put his Majesty at my disposal,'

      'Now,' exclaimed Karataka, 'it is thou who art ignorant about service—

      'Who speaks unasked, or comes unbid,

       Or counts on favor—will be chid.'

      'I ignorant about service!' said Damanaka; 'no, no, my friend, I know the secret of it—

      'Wise, modest, constant, ever close at hand,

       Not weighing but obeying all command,

       Such servant by a Monarch's throne may stand.'

      'In any case, the King often rates thee,' remarked Karataka, 'for coming to the presence unsummoned.'

      'A dependent,' replied Damanaka, 'should nevertheless present himself; he must make himself known to the great man, at any risk—

      'Pitiful, that fearing failure, therefore no beginning makes,

       Who forswears his daily dinner for the chance of stomach-aches?'

      and besides, to be near is at last to be needful;—is it not said—

      'Nearest to the King is dearest, be thy merit low or high;

       Women, creeping plants, and princes, twine round that which groweth nigh.'

      'Well,' inquired Karataka, 'what wilt thou say, being come to him?'

      'First,' replied Damanaka, 'I will discover if his Majesty is well affected to me.'

      'How do you compass that?' asked the other.

      'Oh, easily! by a look, a word,' answered Damanaka; 'and that ascertained, I will proceed to speak what will put him at my disposal.'

      'I can't see how you can venture to speak,' objected the other, 'without an opportunity—

      'If Vrihaspati, the Grave,

       Spoke a sentence out of season,

       Even Vrihaspati would have

       Strong rebuke for such unreason.'

      'Pray don't imagine I shall speak unseasonably,' interrupted Damanaka; 'if that is all you fear, I will start at once.'

      'Go, then,' said Karataka; 'and may you be as lucky as you hope.'

      "Thereupon