Hindu Literature | Page 3

a meeting of learned men. Then said he--
"Hear now, O my Pundits! Is there one among you so wise that he will undertake to give the second birth of Wisdom to these my sons, by teaching them the Books of Policy; for they have never yet read the Sacred Writings, and are altogether going in the wrong road; and ye know that
"Silly glass, in splendid settings, something of the gold may gain; And in company of wise ones, fools to wisdom may attain."
Then uprose a great Sage, by name Vishnu-Sarman, learned in the principles of Policy as is the angel of the planet Jupiter himself, and he said--
"My Lord King, I will undertake to teach these princes Policy, seeing they are born of a great house; for--
"Labors spent on the unworthy, of reward the laborer balk; Like the parrot, teach the heron twenty times, he will not talk."
"But in this royal family the offspring are royal-minded, and in six moons I will engage to make your Majesty's sons comprehend Policy."
The Raja replied, with condescension:--
"On the eastern mountains lying, common things shine in the sun, And by learned minds enlightened, lower minds may show as one."
"And you, worshipful sir, are competent to teach my children the rules of Policy."
So saying, with much graciousness, he gave the Princes into the charge of Vishnu-Sarman; and that sage, by way of introduction, spake to the Princes, as they sat at ease on the balcony of the palace, in this wise:--
"Hear now, my Princes! for the delectation of your Highnesses, I purpose to tell the tale of the Crow, the Tortoise, the Deer, and the Mouse."
"Pray, sir," said the King's sons, "let us hear it."
Vishnu-Sarman answered--
"It begins with the Winning of Friends; and this is the first verse of it:--
"Sans way or wealth, wise friends their purpose gain-- The Mouse, Crow, Deer, and Tortoise make this plain."
[2] The Vedas are the holy books of India. They are four in number: The Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, and Atharva-Veda.

THE WINNING OF FRIENDS
Sans way or wealth, wise friends their purpose gain-- The Mouse, Crow, Deer, and Tortoise make this plain."
"However was that?" asked the Princes.
Vishnu-Sarman replied:--
"On the banks of the Godavery there stood a large silk-cotton-tree, and thither at night, from all quarters and regions, the birds came to roost. Now once, when the night was just spent, and his Radiance the Moon, Lover of the white lotus, was about to retire behind the western hills, a Crow who perched there, 'Light o' Leap' by name, upon awakening, saw to his great wonder a fowler approaching--a second God of Death. The sight set him reflecting, as he flew off uneasily to follow up the man's movements, and he began to think what mischief this ill-omened apparition foretold.
"For a thousand thoughts of sorrow, and a hundred things of dread, By the wise unheeded, trouble day by day the foolish head."
And yet in this life it must be that
"Of the day's impending dangers, Sickness, Death, and Misery, One will be; the wise man waking, ponders which that one will be."
Presently the fowler fixed a net, scattered grains of rice about, and withdrew to hide. At this moment "Speckle-neck," King of the Pigeons, chanced to be passing through the sky with his Court, and caught sight of the rice-grains. Thereupon the King of the Pigeons asked of his rice-loving followers, 'How can there possibly be rice-grains lying here in an unfrequented forest? We will see into it, of course, but We like not the look of it--love of rice may ruin us, as the Traveller was ruined.
"All out of longing for a golden bangle, The Tiger, in the mud, the man did mangle."
"How did that happen?" asked the Pigeons.
THE STORY OF THE TIGER AND THE TRAVELLER
"Thus," replied Speckle-neck: "I was pecking about one day in the Deccan forest, and saw an old tiger sitting newly bathed on the bank of a pool, like a Brahman, and with holy kuskus-grass[3] in his paws.
'Ho! ho! ye travellers,' he kept calling out, 'take this golden bangle!'
Presently a covetous fellow passed by and heard him.
'Ah!' thought he, 'this is a bit of luck--but I must not risk my neck for it either.
"Good things come not out of bad things; wisely leave a longed-for ill. Nectar being mixed with poison serves no purpose but to kill."
'But all gain is got by risk, so I will see into it at least;' then he called out, 'Where is thy bangle?'
The Tiger stretched forth his paw and exhibited it.
'Hem!' said the Traveller, 'can I trust such a fierce brute as thou art?'
'Listen,' replied the Tiger, 'once, in the days of my cub-hood, I know I was very wicked. I killed cows, Brahmans, and men without number--and I lost my wife and children for it--and haven't kith or kin left. But