Hindu Literature | Page 6

of Day, whose
diadem is the light, had withdrawn himself, the two went together to
the residence of the Deer. In that same spot, on a branch of Champak,
dwelt the Crow Sharp-sense, an old friend of the Deer. Seeing them
approach together, the Crow said,
'Who is this number two, friend Deer?'

'It is a Jackal,' answered the Deer, 'that desires our acquaintance.'
'You should not become friendly to a stranger without reason,' said
Sharp-sense. 'Don't you know?'
"To folks by no one known house-room deny:-- The Vulture housed the
Cat, and thence did die."
'No! how was that?' said both.
'In this wise,' answered the Crow.
THE STORY OF THE VULTURE, THE CAT, AND THE BIRDS
"On the banks of the Ganges there is a cliff called Vulture-Crag, and
thereupon grew a great fig-tree. It was hollow, and within its shelter
lived an old Vulture, named Grey-pate, whose hard fortune it was to
have lost both eyes and talons. The birds that roosted in the tree made
subscriptions from their own store, out of sheer pity for the poor fellow,
and by that means he managed to live. One day, when the old birds
were gone, Long-ear, the Cat, came there to get a meal of the nestlings;
and they, alarmed at perceiving him, set up a chirruping that roused
Grey-pate.
'Who comes there?' croaked Grey-pate.
"Now Long-ear, on espying the Vulture, thought himself undone; but as
flight was impossible, he resolved to trust his destiny and approach.
'My lord,' said he, 'I have the honor to salute thee.'
'Who is it?' said the Vulture.
'I am a Cat,'
'Be off, Cat, or I shall slay thee,' said the Vulture.
'I am ready to die if I deserve death,' answered the Cat; 'but let what I
have to say be heard,'

'Wherefore, then, comest thou?' said the Vulture.
'I live,' began Long-ear, 'on the Ganges, bathing, and eating no flesh,
practising the moon-penance,[8] like a Bramacharya. The birds that
resort thither constantly praise your worship to me as one wholly given
to the study of morality, and worthy of all trust; and so I came here to
learn law from thee, Sir, who art so deep gone in learning and in years.
Dost thou, then, so read the law of strangers as to be ready to slay a
guest? What say the books about the householder?--
'Bar thy door not to the stranger, be he friend or be he foe, For the tree
will shade the woodman while his axe doth lay it low,'
And if means fail, what there is should be given with kind words, as--
'Greeting fair, and room to rest in; fire, and water from the well--
Simple gifts--are given freely in the house where good men dwell,'--
and without respect of person--
'Young, or bent with many winters; rich, or poor, whate'er thy guest,
Honor him for thine own honor--better is he than the best,'
Else comes the rebuke--
'Pity them that ask thy pity: who art thou to stint thy hoard, When the
holy moon shines equal on the leper and the lord!'
And that other, too,
'When thy gate is roughly fastened, and the asker turns away, Thence
he bears thy good deeds with him, and his sins on thee doth lay
For verily,
'In the house the husband ruleth, men the Brahmans "master" call; Agni
is the Twice-born Master--but the guest is lord of all,'
"To these weighty words Grey-pate answered,

'Yes! but cats like meat, and there are young birds here, and therefore I
said, go,'
'Sir,' said the Cat (and as he spoke he touched the ground, and then his
two ears, and called on Krishna to witness to his words), 'I that have
overcome passion, and practised the moon-penance, know the
Scriptures; and howsoever they contend, in this primal duty of
abstaining from injury they are unanimous. Which of them sayeth not--
'He who does and thinks no wrong-- He who suffers, being strong-- He
whose harmlessness men know-- Unto Swerga such doth go.'
"And so, winning the old Vulture's confidence, Long-ear, the Cat,
entered the hollow tree and lived there. And day after day he stole away
some of the nestlings, and brought them down to the hollow to devour.
Meantime the parent birds, whose little ones were being eaten, made an
inquiry after them in all quarters; and the Cat, discovering this fact,
slipped out from the hollow, and made his escape. Afterwards, when
the birds came to look closely, they found the bones of their young
ones in the hollow of the tree where Grey-pate lived; and the birds at
once concluded that their nestlings had been killed and eaten by the old
Vulture, whom they accordingly executed. That is my story, and why I
warned you