In vain did the traveller entreat, the snake ever replying, "I do but
treat thee after the manner of men." This the man denied. "But," said
he, "let us call witnesses: if thou prove thy assertion, I will yield
to thy will." The snake, looking round, saw a cow grazing at a
distance, and said, "Come, we will ask this cow the rights of the
question." When they came up to the cow, the snake, opening its
mouth, said, "O cow, what is the recompense for benefits received?"
The cow said, "If thou ask me after the manner of men, the return of
good is always evil. For instance, I was for a long time in the
service of a farmer; yearly I brought forth a calf; I supplied his
house with milk and ghee; his sustenance, and the life of his
children, depended upon me. When I became old, and no longer produced
young, he ceased to shelter me, and thrust me forth to die in a
jungle. After finding forage, and roaming at my ease, I grew fat, and
my old master, seeing my plump condition, yesterday brought with him a
butcher, to whom he has sold me, and to-day is appointed for my
slaughter."
The snake said, "Thou hast heard the cow; prepare to die quickly." The
man cried, "It is not lawful to decide a case on the evidence of one
witness, let us then call another." The snake looked about and saw a
tree, leafless and bare, flinging up its wild branches to the sky.
"Let us," said it, "appeal to this tree." They proceeded together to
the tree; and the snake, opening its mouth, said, "O tree, what is the
recompense for good?"
The tree said, "Amongst men, for benefits are returned evil and
injury. I will give you a proof of what I assert. I am a tree which,
though growing on one leg in this sad waste, was once flourishing and
green, performing service to every one. When any of the human race,
overcome with heat and travel, came this way, they rested beneath my
shade, and slept beneath my branches; when the weight of repose
abandoned their eyelids, they cast up their eyes to me, and said to
each other, 'Yon twig would do well for an arrow; that branch would
serve for a plough; and from the trunk of this tree what beautiful
planks might be made!' If they had an axe or a saw, they selected my
branches, and carried them away. Thus they to whom I gave ease and
rest rewarded me only with pain and affliction.
Whilst my care overshadows him in perplexity,
He meditates only how best to root me up."
"Well," said the snake, "here are two witnesses; therefore, form thy
resolution, for I must wound thee." The man said, "True; but the love
of life is powerful, and while strength remains, it is difficult to
root the love of it from the heart. Call but one more witness, and
then I pledge myself to submit to his decree." Now it so wonderfully
happened that a fox, who had been standing by, had heard all the
argument, and now came forward. The snake on seeing it exclaimed,
"Behold this fox, let us ask it." But before the man could speak the
fox cried out, "Dost thou not know that the recompense for good is
always evil? But what good hast thou done in behalf of this snake, to
render thee worthy of punishment?" The man related his story. The fox
replied, "Thou seemest an intelligent person, why then dost thou tell
me an untruth?
How can it be proper for him that is wise to speak falsely?
How can it become an intelligent man to state an untruth?"
The snake said, "The man speaks truly, for behold the bag in which he
rescued me." The fox, putting on the garb of astonishment, said, "How
can I believe this thing? How could a large snake such as thou be
contained in so small a space?" The snake said, "If thou doubt me, I
will again enter the bag to prove it." The fox said, "Truly if I saw
thee there, I could believe it, and afterwards settle the dispute
between thee and this man." On this the traveller opened the bag, and
the snake, annoyed at the disbelief of the fox, entered it; which
observing, the fox cried out, "O young man, when thou hast caught
thine enemy, show him no quarter.
When an enemy is vanquished, and in thy power,
It is the maxim of the wise to show him no mercy."
The traveller took the hint of the fox, fastened the mouth of the bag,
and, dashing it against a stone, destroyed the snake, and thus saved
mankind from the evil effects of its wicked propensities.