Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit
Translated by
S. M. Mitra
Adapted by
Mrs. Arthur Bell
1919
Contents
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
1. The Magic Pitcher
2. The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl
3. A Royal Thief-Catcher
4. The Magic Shoes and Staff
5. The Jewelled Arrow
6. The Beetle and the Silken Thread
7. A Crow and His Three Friends
8. A Clever Thief
9. The Hermit’s Daughter
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
Thanks to Mr. S. M. Mitra, the well-known Hindu psychologist and
politician, who has done so much to draw more closely together the land
of his birth and that of his adoption, I am able to bring within reach
of English children a number of typical Hindu Tales, translated by him
from the Sanskrit, some of them culled from the ancient classics of
India, others from widely separated sources. The latter have hitherto
been quite inaccessible to western students, as they are not yet
embodied in literature, but have been transmitted orally from
generation to generation for many centuries.
These tales are not only of a kind to enchain the attention of
children. They also illustrate well the close affinity between the two
chief branches of the great Aryan race, and are of considerable ethical
value, reflecting, as they do, the philosophy of self-realisation which
lies at the root of Hindu culture. They have been used from time
immemorial by the best teachers of India as a means of building up the
personalities of the young and maintaining the efficiency of the adult.
They serve in fact as text-books of the unique system of Mind-Training
which has been in use in India from remote Vedic times, the root
principle of which is as simple as it is effective.
Hindu children become familiar at their mothers’ knees with these
stories, and are trained to answer questions on them, subtly chosen to
suit their ages and call into action their mental faculties. Appealing
to them as an amusing game, in which they vie with each other in trying
to solve the problems presented for their consideration, the boys and
girls, who are educated together till they are ten or twelve years old,
early learn to concentrate their attention; whilst the simultaneous
development of all their powers is encouraged and they are,
imperceptibly to themselves led to control their thoughts and emotions
from within, instead of having to obey orders which they do not
understand from without. They realize indeed, whilst still in the
nursery, the ideal suggested by the sage Vidura in the Mahabharata:
“Seek to know thyself by means of thyself, keeping thy mind, intellect
and senses, under control; for self is thy friend as it is also thy
foe.”
Nancy Bell.
Southbourne-on-Sea, 1918.
I.
The Magic Pitcher.
CHAPTER I
Long, long ago there lived far away in India a woodcutter called Subha
Datta and his family, who were all very happy together. The father went
every day to the forest near his home to get supplies of wood, which he
sold to his neighbours, earning by that means quite enough to give his
wife and children all that they needed. Sometimes he took his three
boys with him, and now and then, as a special treat, his two little
girls were allowed to trot along beside him. The boys longed to be
allowed to chop wood for themselves, and their father told them that as
soon as they were old enough he would give each of them a little axe of
his own. The girls, he said, must be content with breaking off small
twigs from the branches he cut down, for he did not wish them to chop
their own fingers off. This will show you what a kind father he was,
and you will be very sorry for him when you hear about his troubles.
All went well with Subha Datta for a long time. Each of the boys had
his own little axe at last, and each of the girls had a little pair of
scissors to cut off twigs; and very proud they all were when they
brought some wood home to their mother to use in the house. One day,
however, their father told them they could none of them come with him,
for he meant to go a very long way into the forest, to see if he could
find better wood there than nearer home. Vainly the boys entreated him
to take them with him. “Not to-day,” he said, “you would be too tired
to go all the way, and would lose yourselves coming back alone. You
must help your mother to-day and play with your sisters.” They had to
be content, for although Hindu children are as fond of asking questions
as English boys and girls, they are very obedient to their parents and
do all they are told without making any fuss about it.
Of course, they expected their father would come back the day he
started for the depths of the forest, although they knew he would be
late. What then was their surprise when darkness came and there was no
sign of him! Again and again their mother went to the door to look for
him, expecting every moment to see him coming along the beaten path
which led to their door. Again and again she mistook the cry of some
night-bird for his voice calling to her. She was obliged at last to go
to bed with a heavy heart, fearing some wild beast had killed him and
that she would never see him again.
1. What do you think had become of Subha Datta?
2. What would you have done when he did not come back?
CHAPTER II
When Subha Datta started for the forest, he fully intended to come back
the same evening; but as he was busy cutting down a tree, he suddenly
had a feeling that he was no longer alone. He looked up, and there,
quite close to him, in a little clearing where the trees had been cut
down by some other woodcutter, he saw four beautiful young girls
looking like fairies in their thin summer dresses and with their long
hair flowing down their backs, dancing round and round, holding each
other’s hands. Subha Datta was so astonished at the sight that he let
his axe fall, and the noise startled the dancers, who all four stood
still and stared at him.
The woodcutter could not say a word, but just gazed and gazed at them,
till one of them said to him: “Who are you, and what are you doing in
the very depths of the forest where we have never before seen a man?”
“I am only a poor woodcutter,” he replied, “come to get some wood to
sell, so as to give my wife and children something to eat and some
clothes to wear.”
“That is a very stupid thing to do,” said one of the girls. “You can’t
get much money that way. If you will only stop with us we will have
your wife and children looked after for you much better than you can do
it yourself.”
3. What would you have said if you had been the woodcutter?
4. Do you think the fairies really meant that they could do as they
offered?
CHAPTER III
Subha Datta, though he certainly did love his wife and children, was so
tempted at the idea of stopping in the forest with the beautiful girls
that, after hesitating a little while, he said, “Yes, I will stop with
you, if you are quite sure all will be well with my dear ones.”
“You need not be afraid about that,” said another of the girls. “We are
fairies, you see, and we can do all sorts of wonderful things. It isn’t
even necessary for us to go where your dear ones are. We shall just
wish them everything they want, and they will get it. And the first
thing to be done is to give you some food. You must work for us in
return, of course.”
Subha Datta at once replied, “I will do anything you wish.”
“Well, begin by sweeping away all the dead leaves from the clearing,
and then we will all sit down and eat together.”
Subha Datta was very glad that what he was asked to do was so easy. He
began by cutting a branch from a tree, and with it he swept the floor
of what was to be the dining-room. Then he looked about for the food,
but he could see nothing but a great big pitcher standing in the shade
of a tree, the branches of which hung over the clearing. So he said to
one of the fairies, “Will you show me where the food is, and exactly
where you would like me to set it out?”
At these questions all the fairies began to laugh, and the sound of
their laughter was like the tinkling of a number of bells.
5. What was there to laugh at in the questions of Subha Datta?
6. What is your idea of a fairy?
CHAPTER IV
When the fairies saw how astonished Subha Datta was at the way they
laughed, it made them laugh still more, and they seized each other’s
hands again and whirled round and round, laughing all the time.
Poor Subha Datta, who was very tired and hungry, began to get unhappy
and to wish he had gone straight home after all. He stooped down to
pick up his axe, and was just about to turn away with it, when the
fairies stopped their mad whirl and cried to him to stop. So he waited,
and one of them said:
“_We_ don’t have to bother about fetching this and fetching that. You
see that big pitcher. Well, we get all our food and everything else we
want out of it. We just have to wish as we put our hands in, and there
it is. It’s a magic pitcher—the only one there is in the whole wide
world. You get the food you would like to have first, and then we’ll
tell you what _we_ want.”
Subha Datta could hardly believe his ears when he heard that. Down he
threw his axe, and hastened to put his hand in the pitcher, wishing for
the food he was used to. He loved curried rice and milk, lentils, fruit
and vegetables, and very soon he had a beautiful meal spread out for
himself on the ground. Then the fairies called out, one after the
other, what they wanted for food, things the woodcutter had never heard
of or seen, which made him quite discontented with what he had chosen
for himself.
7. What would you have wished for if you had had a magic pitcher?
8. Would it be a good thing, do you think, to be able to get food
without working for it or paying for it?
CHAPTER V
The next few days passed away like a dream, and at first Subha Datta
thought he had never been so happy in his life. The fairies often went
off together leaving him alone, only coming back to the clearing when
they wanted something out of the pitcher. The woodcutter got all kinds
of things he fancied for himself, but presently he began to wish he had
his wife and children with him to share his wonderful meals. He began
to miss them terribly, and he missed his work too. It was no good
cutting trees down and chopping up wood when all the food was ready
cooked. Sometimes he thought he would slip off home when the fairies
were away, but when he looked at the pitcher he could not bear the
thought of leaving it.
9. What sort of man do you think Subha Datta was from what this story
tells you about him?
10. What do you think was the chief cause of his becoming discontented
after he had been in the service of the fairies for a few days?
CHAPTER VI
Soon Subha Datta could not sleep well for thinking of the wife and
children he had deserted. Suppose they were hungry when he had plenty
to eat! It even came into his head that he might steal the pitcher and
take it home with him when the fairies were away. But he had not after
all the courage to do this; for even when the beautiful girls were not
in sight, he had a feeling that they would know if he tried to go off
with the pitcher, and that they would be able to punish him in some
terrible way. One night he had a dream that troubled him very much. He
saw his wife sitting crying bitterly in the little home he used to
love, holding the youngest child on her knee whilst the other three
stood beside her looking at her very, very sadly. He started up from
the ground on which he lay, determined to go home at once; but at a
little distance off he saw the fairies dancing in the moonlight, and
somehow he felt again he could not leave them and the pitcher. The next
day, however, he was so miserable that the fairies noticed it, and one
of them said to him: “Whatever is the matter? We don’t care to keep
unhappy people here. If you can’t enjoy life as we do, you had better
go home.”
Then Subha Datta was very much frightened lest they should really send
him away; so he told them about his dream and that he was afraid his
dear ones were starving for want of the money he used to earn for them.
“Don’t worry about them,” was the reply: “we will let your wife know
what keeps you away. We will whisper in her ear when she is asleep, and
she will be so glad to think of your happiness that she will forget her
own troubles.”
11. Do you think what the fairies said to the woodcutter was likely to
comfort him about his wife and children?
12. If you had been in Subha Datta’s place what would you have said to
the fairies when they made this promise?
CHAPTER VII
Subha Datta was very much cheered by the sympathy of the fairies, so
much so that he decided to stop with them for a little longer at least.
Now and then he felt restless, but on the whole the time passed
pleasantly, and the pitcher was a daily delight to him.
Meanwhile his poor wife was at her wits’ end how to feed her dear
children. If it had not been that the two boys were brave, plucky
little chaps, she really would have been in despair. When their father
did not come back and all their efforts to find him were in vain, these
boys set to work to help their mother. They could not cut down trees,
but they could climb them and chop off small branches with their axes;
and this they did, making up bundles of faggots and selling them to
their neighbours. These neighbours were touched by the courage they
showed, and not only paid them well for the wood but often gave them
milk and rice and other little things to help them. In time they
actually got used to being without Subha Datta, and the little girls
nearly forgot all about him. Little did they dream of the change that
was soon to come into their lives.
13. Was it a good or a bad thing for the boys that their father did not
come back?
14. If you think it was a good thing, will you explain why? and if it
was a bad thing, why you think it was?
CHAPTER VIII
A month passed peacefully away in the depths of the forest, Subha Datta
waiting on the fairies and becoming every day more selfish and bent on
enjoying himself. Then he had another dream, in which he saw his wife
and children in the old home with plenty of food, and evidently so
happy without him that he felt quite determined to go and show them he
was still alive. When he woke he said to the fairies, “I will not stop
with you any longer. I have had a good time here, but I am tired of
this life away from my own people.”
The fairies saw he was really in earnest this time, so they consented
to let him go; but they were kind-hearted people and felt they ought to
pay him in some way for all he had done for them. They consulted
together, and then one of them told him they wished to make him a
present before he went away, and they would give him whatever he asked
for.
15. What do you think it was that made Subha Datta determine to go home
when he found his wife and children could do without him?
16. What would you have chosen if the fairies had told you you could
have anything you liked?
CHAPTER IX
Directly the woodcutter heard he could have anything he asked for, he
cried, “I will have the magic pitcher.”
You can just imagine what a shock this was to the fairies! You know, of
course, that fairies always keep their word. If they could not persuade
Subha Datta to choose something else, they would have to give him their
beloved, their precious pitcher and would have to seek their food for
themselves. They all tried all they could to persuade the woodcutter to
choose something else. They took him to their own secret
treasure-house, in an old, old tree with a hollow trunk, even the
entrance to which no mortal had ever been allowed to see. They
blindfolded him before they started, so that he could never reveal the
way, and one of them led him by the hand, telling him where the steps
going down from the tree began. When at last the bandage was taken from
his eyes, he found himself in a lofty hall with an opening in the roof
through which the light came. Piled up on the floor were sparkling
stones worth a great deal of gold and silver money, and on the walls
hung beautiful robes. Subha Datta was quite dazed with all he saw, but
he was only an ignorant woodcutter and did not realize the value of the
jewels and clothes. So when the fairies, said to him, “Choose anything
you like here and let us keep our pitcher,” he shook his head and said:
“No! no! no! The pitcher! I will have the pitcher!” One fairy after
another picked up the rubies and diamonds and other precious stones and
held them in the light, that the woodcutter might see how lovely they
were; and when he still only shook his head, they got down the robes
and tried to make him put one of them on. “No! the pitcher! the
pitcher!” he said, and at last they had to give it up. They bound his
eyes again and led him back to the clearing and the pitcher.
17. Would you have been tempted to give up the pitcher when you saw the
jewels and the robes?
18. What made Subha Datta so determined to have the pitcher?
CHAPTER X
Even when they were all back again in the clearing the fairies did not
quite give up hope of keeping their pitcher. This time they gave other
reasons why Subha Datta should not have it. “It will break very
easily,” they told him, “and then it will be no good to you or any one
else. But if you take some of the money, you can buy anything you like
with it. If you take some of the jewels you can sell them for lots of
money.”
“No! no! no!” cried the woodcutter. “The pitcher! the pitcher! I will
have the pitcher!”
“Very well then, take, the pitcher,” they sadly answered, “and never
let us see your face again!”
So Subha Datta took the pitcher, carrying it very, very carefully, lest
he should drop it and break it before he got home. He did not think at
all of what a cruel thing it was to take it away from the fairies, and
leave them either to starve or to seek for food for themselves. The
poor fairies watched him till he was out of sight, and then they began
to weep and wring their hands. “He might at least have waited whilst we
got some food out for a few days,” one of them said. “He was too
selfish to think of that,” said another. “Come, let us forget all about
him and go and look for some fruit.”
So they all left off crying and went away hand in hand. Fairies do not
want very much to eat. They can live on fruit and dew, and they never
let anything make them sad for long at a time. They go out of this
story now, but you need not be unhappy about them, because you may be
very sure that they got no real harm from their generosity to Subha
Datta in letting him take the pitcher.
19. Do you think the woodcutter was wrong to ask for the pitcher?
20. What would have been the best thing for Subha Datta to ask for, if
he had decided to let the fairies keep their pitcher?
CHAPTER XI
You can just imagine what a surprise it was to Subha Datta’s wife and
children when they saw him coming along the path leading to his home.
He did not bring the pitcher with him, but had hidden it in a hollow
tree in the wood near his cottage, for he did not mean any one to know
that he had it. He told his wife that he had lost his way in the
forest, and had been afraid he would never see her or his children
again, but he said nothing about the fairies. When his wife asked him
how he had got food, he told her a long story about the fruits he had
found, and she believed all he said, and determined to make up to him
now for all she thought he had suffered. When she called the little
girls to come and help her get a nice meal for their father, Subha
Datta said: “Oh, don’t bother about that! I’ve brought something back
with me. I’ll go and fetch it, but no one is to come with me.”
Subha Datta’s wife was sorely disappointed at this, because she loved
her husband so much that it was a joy to her to work for him. The
children too wanted, of course, to go with their father, but he ordered
them to stop where they were. He seized a big basket which was fall of
fuel for the fire, tumbled all the wood in it on the floor, and went
off alone to the pitcher. Very soon he was back again with his basket
full of all sorts of good things, the very names of which his wife and
children had no idea of. “There!” he cried; “what do you think of that?
Am I not a clever father to have found all that in the forest? Those
are the ‘fruits’ I meant when I told Mother about them.”
21. What would you have thought about this wonderful supply of food, if
you had been one of the woodcutter’s children?
22. Was it a good thing for those children to have all this food
without working for it? If not, why was it not a good thing?
CHAPTER XII
Life was now, of course, completely changed for the family in the
forest. Subha Datta no longer went to cut wood to be sold, and the boys
also left off doing so. Every day their father fetched food for them
all, and the greatest desire of each one of the family was to find out
where it came from. They never could do so, for Subha Datta managed to
make them afraid to follow him when he went forth with his basket. The
secret he kept from the wife to whom he used to tell everything soon
began to spoil the happiness of the home. The children who had no
longer anything to do quarrelled with each other. Their mother got
sadder and sadder, and at last decided to tell Subha Datta that, unless
he would let her know where the food came from, she would go away from
him and take her little girls with her. She really did mean to do this,
but something soon happened to change everything again. Of course, the
neighbours in the wood, who had bought the fuel from the boys and
helped them by giving them fruit and rice, heard of the return of their
father and of the wonderful change in their lot. Now the whole family
had plenty to eat every day, though none of them knew where it all came
from. Subha Datta was very fond of showing off what he could do, and
sometimes asked his old friends amongst the woodcutters to come and
have a meal with him. When they arrived they would find all sorts of
good things spread out on the ground and different kinds of wines in
beautiful bottles.
This went on for some months, Subha Datta getting prouder and prouder
of all that he could do, and it seemed likely that his secret would
never be discovered. Everybody tried to find it out, and many followed
him secretly when he set forth into the woods; but he was very clever
at dodging them, hiding his treasure constantly in a new place in the
dead of the night. If he had only been content with getting food out of
his pitcher and drinking pure water, all would most likely have been
well with him. But that was just what he could not do. Till he had his
pitcher he had never drunk anything but water, but now he often took
too much wine. It was this which led to the misfortune of losing his
beloved pitcher. He began to boast of his cleverness, telling his
friends there was nothing they wanted that he could not get for them;
and one day when he had given them a very grand feast, in which were
several rare kinds of food they had asked for, he drank too much
wine—so much that he no longer knew what he was saying.
This was the chance his guests wanted. They began teasing him, telling
him they believed he was really a wicked robber, who had stolen the
food or the money to buy it. He got angry, and at last was actually
silly enough to tell them all to come with him, and he would show them
he was no robber. When his wife heard this, she was half pleased to
think that now at last the secret would come out of where the food came
from, and half afraid that something terrible would happen. The
children too were greatly excited, and went with the rest of the party,
who followed their father to the last hiding-place of the precious
pitcher.
When they all got very near the place, however, some idea began to come
into Subha Datta’s head that he was doing a very foolish thing. He
stopped suddenly, turned round facing the crowd that followed him, and
said he would not go a step further till they all went back to the
cottage. His wife begged him to let her at least go with him, and the
children all clamoured not to be sent back, but it was no good. Back
they all had to go, the woodcutter watching till they were out of
sight.
23. Would Subha Datta have been wise if he had told has wife about the
pitcher?
24. Do you think it would have been a good or a bad thing for the
secret to be found out?
CHAPTER XIII
When the woodcutter was quite sure that every one was gone and nobody
could see where he had hidden the pitcher, he took it from the hole in
which it lay and carried it carefully to his home. You can imagine how
everybody rushed out to meet him when he came in sight, and crowded
round him, so that there was danger of the pitcher being thrown to the
ground and broken. Subha Datta however managed to get into the cottage
without any accident, and then he began to take things out of the
pitcher and fling them on the ground, shouting, “Am I a robber? Am I a
robber? Who dared to call me a robber?” Then, getting more and more
excited, he picked up the pitcher, and holding it on his shoulder began
to dance wildly about. His wife called out to him, “Oh, take care, take
care! You will drop it!” But he paid no attention to her. Suddenly,
however, he began to feel giddy and fell to the ground, dropping the
pitcher as he did so. It was broken to pieces, and a great cry of
sorrow went up from all who saw the accident. The woodcutter himself
was broken-hearted, for he knew that he had done the mischief himself,
and that if only he had resisted the temptation to drink the wine he
would still have his treasure.
He was going to pick up the pieces to see if they could be stuck
together, but to his very great surprise he could not touch them. He
heard a silvery laugh, and what sounded like children clapping their
hands, and he thought he also heard the words, “Our pitcher is ours
again!” Could it all have been a dream? No: for there on the ground
were the fruits and cakes that had been in the pitcher, and there were
his wife, his children and his friends, all looking sadly and angrily
at him. One by one the friends went away, leaving Subha Datta alone
with his family.
25. If you had been Subha Datta’s wife, what would you have done when
this misfortune came to her husband?
26. What would you have done if you had been the woodcutter?
CHAPTER XIV
This is the end of the story of the Magic Pitcher, but it was the
beginning of a new chapter in the lives of Subha Datta and his family.
They never forgot the wonder-working pitcher, and the children were
never tired of hearing the story of how their father came to get it.
They often wandered about in the forest, hoping that they too would
meet with some wonderful adventure, but they never saw the fairies or
found a magic pitcher. By slow degrees the woodcutter returned to his
old ways, but he had learnt one lesson. He never again kept a secret
from his wife; because he felt sure that, if he had told her the truth
about the pitcher when he first came home, she would have helped him to
save the precious treasure.
27. What lesson can be learnt from this story?
28. Do you think it is easier for a boy or a girl to keep a secret?
29. Why is it wrong to let out a secret you have been told?
30. What do you think was the chief fault in the character of Subha
Datta?
II.
The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl.
CHAPTER I
This is the story of four creatures, none of whom loved each other, who
lived in the same banyan tree in a forest in India. Banyan trees are
very beautiful and very useful, and get their name from the fact that
“banians,” as merchants are called in India, often gather together in
their shade to sell their goods. Banyan trees grow to a very great
height, spreading their branches out so widely that many people can
stand beneath them. From those branches roots spring forth, which, when
they reach the ground, pierce it, and look like, columns holding up a
roof. If you have never seen a banyan tree, you can easily find a
picture of one in some dictionary; and when you have done so, you will
understand that a great many creatures can live in one without seeing
much of each other.
In an especially fine banyan tree, outside the walls of a town called
Vidisa, a cat, an owl, a lizard and a mouse, had all taken up their
abode. The cat lived in a big hole in the trunk some little distance
from the ground, where she could sleep very cosily, curled up out of
sight with her head resting on her forepaws, feeling perfectly safe
from harm; for no other creature, she thought, could possibly discover
her hiding-place. The owl roosted in a mass of foliage at the top of
the tree, near the nest in which his wife had brought up their
children, before those children flew away to seek mates for themselves.
He too felt pretty secure as long as he remained up there; but he had
seen the cat prowling about below him more than once, and was very sure
that, if she should happen to catch sight of him when he was off his
guard seeking his prey and obliged to give all his attention to what he
was doing, she might spring out upon him and kill him. Cats do not
generally attack such big birds as owls, but they will sometimes kill a
mother sitting in her nest, as well as the little ones, if the father
is too far off to protect them.
The lizard loved to lie and bask in the sunshine, catching the flies on
which he lived, lying so still that they did not notice him, and
darting out his long tongue suddenly to suck them into his mouth. Yet
he hid from the owl and the cat, because he knew full well that, tough
though he was, they would gobble him up if they happened to be hungry.
He made his home amongst the roots on the south side of the tree where
it was hottest, but the mouse had his hole on the other side amongst
damp moss and dead leaves. The mouse was in constant fear of the cat
and the owl. He knew that both of them could see in the dark, and he
would have no chance of escape if they once caught sight of him.
1. Which of these four creatures do you think was most to be pitied?
2. Do you think that animals ever hate or love each as human creatures
do?
CHAPTER II
The lizard and the mouse could only get food in daylight; but the
lizard did not have to go far for the flies on which he lived, whilst
the mouse had a very dangerous journey to take to his favourite feeding
place. This was a barley field a short distance from the banyan tree,
where he loved to nibble the full ears, running up the stalks to get at
them. The mouse was the only one of the four creatures in the banyan
tree who did not feed on others; for, like the rest of his family, he
was a vegetarian, that is to say, he ate nothing but vegetables and
fruit.
Now the cat knew full well how fond the mouse was of the barley-field,
and she used to keep watch amongst the tall stems, creeping stealthily
about with her tail in the air and her green eyes glistening, expecting
any moment to see the poor little mouse darting hastily along. The cat
never dreamt that any danger could come to her, and she trod down the
barley, making quite a clear path through it. She was quite wrong in
thinking herself so safe, for that path got her into very serious
trouble.
It so happened that a hunter, whose great delight was to kill wild
creatures, and who was very clever in finding them, noticing every
little thing which could shew him where they had passed by, came one
day into the barley-field. He spied the path directly and cried, “Ha!
ha! Some wild animal has been here; not a very big one; let’s have a
look for the footprints!” So he stooped down to the ground, and very
soon saw the marks of pussy’s feet. “A cat, I do believe,” he said to
himself, “spoiling the barley she doesn’t want to eat herself. I’ll
soon pay her out.” The hunter waited until the evening lest the
creature should see what he was going to do, and then in the twilight
he set snares all over the barley-field. A snare, you know, is a string
with a slip-knot at the end of it; and if an animal puts his head or
one of his paws into this slip-knot and goes on without noticing it,
the string is pulled tight and the poor creature cannot get free.
3. Was it right or wrong of the hunter to set the snare?
4. Do you think the cat was wrong to lie in wait for the mouse?
CHAPTER III
Exactly what the hunter expected happened. The cat came as usual to
watch for the mouse, and caught sight of him running across the end of
the path. Puss dashed after him; and just as she thought she really had
got him this time, she found herself caught by the neck, for she had
put her head into one of the snares. She was nearly strangled and could
scarcely even mew. The mouse was so close that he heard the feeble mew,
and in a terrible fright, thinking the cat was after him, he peeped
through the stems of the barley to make sure which way to run to get
away from her. What was his delight when he saw his enemy in such
trouble and quite unable to do him any harm!
Now it so happened that the owl and the lizard were also in the
barley-field, not very far away from the cat, and they too saw the
distress their hated enemy was in. They also caught sight of the little
mouse peeping through the barley; and the owl thought to himself, “I’ll
have you, my little friend, now puss cannot do me any harm,” whilst the
lizard darted away into the sunshine, feeling glad that the cat and the
owl were neither of them now likely to trouble their heads about him.
The owl flew quietly to a tree hard by to watch what would happen,
feeling so sure of having the mouse for his dinner that he was in no
hurry to catch him.
5. What would you have done if you had been the mouse, when you saw the
cat in the snare?
6. Was the owl wise or foolish to wait before he caught the mouse?
CHAPTER IV
The mouse, small and helpless though he was, was a wise little
creature. He saw the owl fly up into the tree, and knew quite well that
if he did not take care he would serve as dinner to that great strong
bird. He knew too that, if he went within reach of the claws of the
cat, he would suffer for it. “How I do wish,” he thought to himself, “I
could make friends with the cat, now she is in distress, and get her to
promise not to hurt me if ever she gets free. As long as I am near the
cat, the owl will not dare to come after me.” As he thought and
thought, his eyes got brighter and brighter, and at last he decided
what he would do. He had, you see, kept his presence of mind; that is
to say, he did not let his fright of the cat or the owl prevent him
from thinking clearly. He now ventured forth from amongst the barley,
and coming near enough to the cat for her to see him quite clearly, but
not near enough for her to reach him with her claws, or far enough away
for the owl to get him without danger from those terrible claws, he
said to the cat in a queer little squeaky voice: “Dear Puss, I do not
like to see you in such a fix. It is true we have never been exactly
friends, but I have always looked up to you as a strong and noble
enemy. If you will promise never to do me any harm, I will do my best
to help you. I have very sharp teeth, and I might perhaps be able to
nibble through the string round your beautiful neck and set you free.
What do you think about it?”
7. Do you think there was any chance of a cat and a mouse becoming real
friends?
8. Can you give two or three instances you know of presence of mind in
danger?
CHAPTER V
When the cat heard what the mouse said, she could hardly believe her
ears. She was of course ready to promise anything to anyone who would
help her, so she said at once:
“You dear little mouse, to wish to help me. If only you will nibble
through that string which is killing me, I promise that I will always
love you, always be your friend, and however hungry I may be, I will
starve rather than hurt your tender little body.”
On hearing this, the mouse, without hesitating a moment, climbed up on
to the cat’s back, and cuddled down in the soft fur near her neck,
feeling very safe and warm there. The owl would certainly not attack
him there, he thought, and the cat could not possibly hurt him. It was
one thing to pounce down on a defenceless little creature running on
the ground amongst the barley, quite another to try and snatch him from
the very neck of a cat.
The cat of course expected the mouse to begin to nibble through the
string at once, and became very uneasy when she felt the little
creature nestle down as if to go to sleep, instead of helping her. Poor
Pussy could not turn her head so as to see the mouse without drawing
the string tighter, and she did not dare to speak angrily lest she
should offend him. “My dear little friend,” she said, “do you not think
it is high time to keep your promise and set me free?”
Hearing this, the mouse pretended to bite the string, but took care not
to do so really; and the cat waited and waited, getting more miserable
every minute. All through the long night the same thing went on: the
mouse taking a little nap now and then, the cat getting weaker and
weaker. “Oh,” she thought to herself, “if only I could get free, the
first thing I would do would be to gobble up that horrid little mouse.”
The moon rose, the stars came out, the wind murmured amongst the
branches of the banyan tree, making the unfortunate cat long to be safe
in her cosy home in the trunk. The cries of the wild animals which
prowl about at night seeking their food were heard, and the cat feared
one of them might find her and kill her. A mother tiger perhaps would
snatch her, and take her to her hungry cubs, hidden away in the deep
forest, or a bird of prey might swoop down on her and grip her in his
terrible claws. Again and again she entreated the mouse to be quick,
promising that, if only he would set her at liberty, she would never,
never, never forget it or do any harm to her beloved friend.
9. What do you suppose the mouse was thinking all this time?
10. If you had been the mouse, would you have trusted to what the cat
said in her misery?
CHAPTER VI
It was not until the moon had set and the light of the dawn had put out
that of the stars that the mouse, made any real effort to help the cat.
By this time the hunter who had set the snare came to see if he had
caught the cat; and the poor cat, seeing him in the distance, became so
wild with terror that she nearly killed herself in the struggle to get
away. “Keep still! keep still,” cried the mouse, “and I will really
save you.” Then with a few quick bites with his sharp teeth he cut
through the string, and the next moment the cat was hidden amongst the
barley, and the mouse was running off in the opposite direction,
determined to keep well out of sight of the creature he had kept in
such misery for so many hours. Full well he knew that all the cat’s
promises would be forgotten, and that she would eat him up if she could
catch him. The owl too flew away, and the lizard went off to hunt flies
in the sunshine, and there was not a sign of any of the four
inhabitants of the banyan tree when the hunter reached the snare. He
was very much surprised and puzzled to find the string hanging loose in
two pieces, and no sign of there having been anything caught in it,
except two white hairs lying on the ground close to the trap. He had a
good look round, and then went home without having found out anything.
When the hunter was quite out of sight, the cat came forth from the
barley, and hastened back to her beloved home in the banyan tree. On
her way there she spied the mouse also hurrying along in the same
direction, and at first she felt inclined to hunt him and eat him then
and there. On second thoughts however she decided to try and keep
friends with him, because he might help her again if she got caught a
second time. So she took no notice of the mouse until the next day,
when she climbed down the tree and went to the roots in which she knew
the mouse was hidden. There she began to purr as loud as she could, to
show the mouse she was in a good humour, and called out, “Dear good
little mouse, come out of your hole and let me tell you how very, very
grateful I am to you for saving my life. There is nothing in the world
I will not do for you, if you will only be friends with me.”
The mouse only squeaked in answer to this speech, and took very good
care not to show himself, till he was quite sure the cat was gone
beyond reach of him. He stayed quietly in his hole, and only ventured
forth after he had heard the cat climb up into the tree again. “It is
all very well,” thought the mouse, “to pretend to make friends with an
enemy when that enemy is helpless, but I should indeed be a silly mouse
to trust a cat when she is free to kill me.”
The cat made a good many other efforts to be friends with the mouse,
but they were all unsuccessful. In the end the owl caught the mouse,
and the cat killed the lizard. The owl and the cat both lived for the
rest of their lives in the banyan tree, and died in the end at a good
old age.
11. Do you think it is ever possible to make a real friend of an enemy?
12. What do you think the mouse deserved most praise for in his
behaviour?
13. Which of the four animals in this story do you like best and which
do you dislike most?
14. Can an animal be blamed for acting according to its nature? For
instance, can you call it cruel for a cat or an owl to kill and eat a
mouse?
15. Is it always right to forgive an injury?
16. Can you give an example from history of the forgiveness of an
injury?
III.
A Royal Thief-Catcher.
CHAPTER I
In one of the smaller cities of India called Sravasti the people
gathered together on a very hot day to stare at and talk about a
stranger, who had come in to the town, looking very weary and walking
with great difficulty because his feet were sore with tramping for a
long distance on the rough roads. He was a Brahman, that is to say, a
man who devoted his whole life to prayer, and had promised to give up
everything for the sake of pleasing the god in whom he believed, and to
care nothing for comfort, for riches, or for good food.
This Brahman carried nothing with him but a staff to help him along,
and a bowl in which to receive the offerings of those who thought it
their duty to help him and hoped by doing so to win favour in the sight
of God. He was naked, except for a cloth worn about his loins, and his
long hair was all matted together for want of combing and brushing. He
made his way very slowly and painfully through the crowds, till he came
to a shady corner, and there he sank down exhausted, holding out his
bowl for the gifts of the people. Very soon his bowl would have been
full of all sorts of good things, but he made it clear that he would
accept nothing to eat except rice still in the husk, and nothing to
drink but pure water. He was however willing to take money; and when
the people who wished to help him found that out, they brought him a
good many silver and gold pieces. Some who had no money to spare gave
him jewels and other things which could be sold for money.
1. Can you explain why the Brahman would only accept such food as rice
in the husk and water?
2. Do you think it was right or wrong of the Brahman to take money and
jewels?
CHAPTER II
As time went on, the Brahman became very well known in Sravasti. His
fame indeed spread far beyond the town, and people came from far away
to consult him about all sorts of things, and he gave them good advice,
for he was a very wise man. Those who wanted him to tell them what to
do paid him for his advice, and as some of them had plenty of money and
were glad to help him, he soon became quite rich. He might have done a
great deal of good with all this money by helping the poor and
suffering, but unfortunately he never thought of doing so. Instead of
that, he got to love the money for its own sake. At night, when all
those who had come to see him had gone to rest, and there was no fear
of his being found out, he used to steal away into the forest, and
there he dug a deep hole at the root of a great tree, to which he took
all his money and jewels.
In India everybody has a siesta, that is to say, a sleep in the middle
of the day, because the heat is so great it is difficult to keep well
and strong without this extra rest. So, although it is quite light at
the time, the streets are deserted, except for the dogs who prowl
about, trying to find something to eat. Now the Brahman loved his money
and other treasures so much, that he used very often to do without this
siesta and go to the forest to enjoy the pleasure of looking at them.
When he got to the tree, he would bend down, clear away the earth and
leaves with which he had hidden his secret hole, take out the money and
let it slip through his fingers, and hold up the jewels to the light,
to watch how they gleamed and glistened. He was never so happy as when
he was alone with his riches, and it was all he could do to tear
himself away from them when the time came to go back to his shady
corner. In fact he was becoming a selfish miser instead of the holy man
the people of Sravasti thought he was. By the time the siesta was over
he was always back again in his place beneath the tree, holding out his
bowl and looking as poor and thin as ever, so that nobody had the least
idea of the truth.
3. Why was it wrong for the Brahman to hide away his money and jewels?
4. Can anyone be a miser about other things as well as money and
jewels? If so, what other things?
CHAPTER III
For many months the Brahman led this double life; until one day, when
he went as usual to his hiding-place, he saw at once that some one had
been there before him. Eagerly he knelt down, full of fear of exactly
what had actually happened. All his care in concealing the hole had
been wasted, for it was quite empty. The poor man could not at first
believe his own eyes. He rubbed them hard, thinking that there was
something the matter with them. Then he felt round and round the hole,
hoping that after all he was mistaken; and when at last he was obliged
to believe the terrible truth that there really was not a sign of his
money and jewels, he became almost mad with misery. He began to run
from tree to tree, peering into their roots, and when there was nothing
to be seen, he rushed back again to his empty hole, to look into it
once more. Then he wept and tore at his hair, stamped about and cried
aloud to all the gods he believed in, making all kinds of promises, of
what he would do if only they would give him back his treasures. No
answer came, and he began to wonder who could have done such a terrible
thing. It must, he felt sure, have been one of the people of Sravasti;
and he now remembered he had noticed that a good many of them had
looked into his bowl with longing eyes, when they saw the money and
precious stones in it. “What horrible, wicked people they are,” he said
to himself. “I hate them. I should like to hurt them as they have hurt
me.” As he thought in this way he got more and more angry, until he
became quite worn out with giving way to his rage.
5. What would you have done if you had been the Brahman when he lost
his treasure?
6. Is it wrong to be angry when any one has done you an injury?
CHAPTER IV
After roaming about in the forest for a long time, the Brahman went
back to the house in Sravasti where some kind people had lent him a
room, glad and proud to have such a holy man, as they thought he was,
living under their roof. He felt sure they had had nothing to do with
the loss of his treasure, because they had given him many proofs of
their goodness and honesty. Soon he was pouring out all his grief to
them, and they did all they could to comfort him, telling him that he
would very soon have plenty more money and jewels. They let him see
however that they thought it was mean of him to hide away his riches,
instead of using them to help the poor and suffering; and this added
very much to his rage. At last he lost all self-control and cried, “It
is not worth while for me to live any longer. I will go to some holy
place of pilgrimage by the banks of the river, and there I will starve
myself to death.”
A place of pilgrimage, you know, is one where some great event,
generally connected with religion, has taken place, to which pilgrims
go to pray in the hope of winning some special favour from God. The
word pilgrim means a wanderer, but it has come in course of time to
signify any traveller who comes from a distance to some such place.
Benares in India is a very famous place of pilgrimage, because it is on
the River Ganges, which the Hindus worship and love, believing that its
waters can wash away their sins. Hundreds and thousands of Hindus go
there every year to bathe in it, and many who know that they have not
long to live wait on its banks to die, so that after their bodies have
been burnt, as is the custom with the Hindus, their ashes may be thrown
into the sacred stream.
7. Can you name two other places of pilgrimage, one held sacred by
Christians and one by Hindus?
8. Will you explain exactly why the two places you have thought of are
considered holy?
CHAPTER V
The news of the Brahman’s loss spread very quickly through Sravasti;
and as is so often the case, every one who told the story made it a
little different, so that it became very difficult to know what the
truth really was. There was great distress in the town, because the
people thought the Brahman would go away, and they did not want him to
do that. They were proud of having a man they thought so holy, living
amongst them, and ashamed that he should have been robbed whilst he was
with them. When they heard that he meant to starve himself to death,
they were dreadfully shocked, and determined to do all they possibly
could to prevent it. One after another of the chief men of Sravasti
came to see him, and entreated him not to be in such a hurry to be sure
that his treasure would never be found. They said they would all do
everything they possibly could to get it back for him. Some of them
thought it was very wrong of him to make such a fuss about it, and
blamed him for being a miser. They told him it was foolish to care so
much for what he could not take with him when he died, and one
specially wise old man gave him a long lecture on the wickedness of
taking away the life which had been given to him by God to prepare for
that in the other world. “Put the idea of starving yourself out of your
head,” he said, “and whilst we are seeking your treasure, go on as you
did before you lost it. Next time you have any money and jewels, turn
them to good account instead of hoarding them up.”
9. Do you think the Brahman was of any real use to the people of
Sravasti?
10. In what qualities do you think the Brahman was wanting when he made
up his mind to starve himself to death?
CHAPTER VI
In spite of all that any one could say to him, the Brahman was quite
determined that he would not live any longer. He set off to the place
of pilgrimage he had chosen, taking no notice of any one he met, but
just marching steadily on. At first a number of people followed him,
but by degrees they left off doing so, and soon he was quite alone.
Presently however he could not help noticing a man approaching from the
direction in which he was going. Very tall, very handsome, very
dignified, this man was one whom no one could fail to admire, even if
he had been only an ordinary person. But he was the king of the whole
country, whose name was Prasnajit; and a little distance behind him
were a number of his attendants, waiting to obey his orders. Everybody,
even the Brahman, loved the king, because he took such a very great
interest in his people and was always trying to do them good. He had
heard all about the loss of the money, and was very much vexed that
such a thing should have happened in his land. He had also heard that
the Brahman meant to kill himself, and this distressed him more than
anything else, because he thought it a very wicked and terrible thing
to do.
The king stood so exactly in the path of the Brahman that it was
impossible to pass him by without taking any notice of him, and the
unhappy man stood still, hanging down his head and looking very
miserable. Without waiting for a moment, Prasnajit said to the Brahman:
“Do not grieve any more. I will find your treasure for you, and give it
back to you; or if I fail to do so I will pay you as much as it was
worth out of my own purse: for I cannot bear to think of your killing
yourself. Now tell me very carefully where you hid your gold and
jewels, and everything about the place, to help me to make sure of it.”
The Brahman was greatly delighted to hear this, because he knew full
well that the king would keep his word, and that, even if his own
treasure was never found, he would have plenty of money given to him by
the king. He at once told Prasnajit exactly where he had put his store,
and offered to take him there. The king agreed to go with him at once,
and he and the Brahman went straight away to the big hole in the
forest, the attendants following them a little way behind.
11. If you had been the king, how would you have set about finding the
treasure?
12. Was it a good or a bad thing for the Brahman to have secured the
help of the king?
CHAPTER VII
After the king had seen the big empty hole, and noticed exactly where
it was, and the nearest way to it from the town, he returned to his
palace, first telling the Brahman to go back to the house he lived in,
and wait there till he received a message from him. He promised to see
that he wanted for nothing, and sent one of his attendants to a rich
merchant of Sravasti, who had already done a good deal for the Brahman,
to order him to supply the holy man with all he needed. Very glad that
after all he was not going to die, the Brahman obeyed willingly, and
for the next few days he was taken care of by the merchant, who
supplied him with plenty of food.
As soon as Prasnajit was back in his palace, he pretended that he was
taken suddenly ill. His head ached badly, he said, and he could not
make out what was the matter with him. He ordered a proclamation to be
sent all round the town, telling all the doctors to come to the palace
to see him. All the doctors in the place at once hastened to obey, each
of them hoping that he would be the one to cure the king and win a
great reward. So many were they that the big reception room was full of
them, and they all glared at each other so angrily that the attendants
kept careful watch lest they should begin to fight. One at a time they
were taken to the king’s private room, but very much to their surprise
and disappointment he seemed quite well and in no need of help from
them. Instead of talking about his own illness, he asked each doctor
who his patients were in the town, and what medicines he was giving to
them. Of course Prasnajit’s questions were carefully answered; but the
king said nothing more, just waving his hand to shew that the interview
was at an end. Then the attendants led the visitor out. At last however
a doctor came, who said something which led the king to keep him longer
than he had kept any of the others. This doctor was a very famous
healer who had saved the lives of many of Prasnajit’s subjects. He told
the king that a merchant named Matri-Datta was very ill, suffering
greatly, but that he hoped to cure him by giving him the juice of a
certain plant called nagaballa. At the time this story was written,
doctors in India did not give their patients medicine, or write
prescriptions for them to take to chemists to be made up, because there
were no chemists in those days, such as there are in all the towns of
Europe, who keep the materials in stock for making medicines. A doctor
just said to his patient, “you must take the juice of this or that
plant”; and the suffering person had to go into the fields or woods to
find the plant or else to send a servant to do so.
When the king heard that the doctor had ordered Matri-Datta to take the
juice of the nagaballa plant, he cried “No more doctors need come to
see me!” and after sending away the one who had told him what he wanted
to know, he gave orders that Matri-Datta should be sent for at once.
13. Can you guess why the king sent for the doctors?
14. Do you think Matri-Datta had anything to do with stealing the
Brahman’s treasure?
CHAPTER VIII
Ill and suffering though he was, Matri-Datta did not dare disobey the
king: so he came at once. As soon as he appeared, Prasnajit asked him
how he was, and said he was sorry to have to make him leave his home
when he was ill, but the matter on which he wished to see him was of
very great importance. Then he suddenly added: “When your doctor
ordered you to take the juice of the nagaballa plant whom did you send
to find it?”
To this Matri-Datta replied trembling with fear: “My servant, O king,
sought it in the forest; and having found it, brought it to me.”
“Go back and send that servant to me immediately,” was the reply; and
the merchant hurried away, wondering very much why the king wanted to
see the man, and hoping that he himself would not get into disgrace on
account of anything he had done to make Prasnajit angry.
15. Have you any idea why the king wanted the servant sent to him?
16. From what the story tells you so far, do you think Prasnajit was a
good ruler of his kingdom?
CHAPTER IX
When Matri-Datta told his servant that he was to go to the palace to
see the king, the man was dreadfully frightened, and begged his master
not to make him go. This made Matri-Datta pretty sure that he had done
something wrong and was afraid of being found out. “Go at once,” he
said, “and whatever you do, speak the truth to the king. That will be
your only chance if you have offended him.” Again and again the servant
entreated Matri-Datta not to insist, and when he found it was no good,
he asked him at least to come with him to the palace and plead for him
with Prasnajit. The merchant knew then for certain that something was
seriously wrong, and he consented to go to the palace with his servant,
partly out of curiosity and partly out of fear for himself. When the
two got to the palace, the attendants at once led the servant to the
presence of the king, but they would not let the master go with him.
Directly the servant entered the room and saw the king sitting on his
throne, he fell upon his face at the foot of the steps, crying, “Mercy!
mercy!” He was right to be afraid, for Prasnajit said to him in a loud
voice: “Where are the gold and the jewels you took from the hole in the
roots of a tree when you went to find the nagaballa plant for your
master?” The servant, who really had taken the money and jewels, was so
terrified when he found that the king knew the truth, that he had not a
word to say at first, but just remained lying on the ground, trembling
all over. Prasnajit too was silent, and the attendants waiting for
orders behind the throne looked on, wondering what would happen now.
17. Have you guessed what the nagaballa plant had to do with finding
out who had stolen the money and jewels?
18. If you had been the king, what punishment would you have ordered
for the thief?
CHAPTER X
When the silence had lasted about ten minutes, the thief raised his
head from the ground and looked at the king, who still said not a word.
Something in his face however made the wicked servant hope that he
would not be punished by death in spite of the great wrong he had done.
The king looked very stern, it is true, but not enraged against him. So
the servant rose to his feet, and clasping his hands together as he
held them up to Prasnajit, said in a trembling voice: “I will fetch the
treasure, I will fetch the treasure.” “Go then at once,” said the king,
“and bring it here”: and as he said it, there was a beautiful
expression in his eyes, which made the thief more sorry for what he had
done than he would have been if Prasnajit had said, “Off with his
head!” or had ordered him to be beaten.
19. What do you think is the best way to make wicked people good?
20. What is the most powerful reason a man or woman or a child can have
for trying to be good?
CHAPTER XI
As soon as the king said, “Go at once,” the servant started to his feet
and hastened away, as eager now to restore what he had stolen as he had
been to hide it. He had put it in another hole in the very depths of
the forest; and it was a long time before he got back to the palace
with it, for it was very heavy. He had thought the king would send some
guards with him, to see that he did not run away, and that they would
have helped him to carry the sack full of gold and jewels; but nobody
followed him. It was hard work to drag the heavy load all the way
alone; but at last, quite late in the evening, he was back at the
palace gates. The soldiers standing there let him pass without a word,
and soon he was once more in the room in which the king had received
him. Prasnajit still sat on his throne, and the attendants still waited
behind him, when the thief, so tired he could hardly stand, once more
lay prostrate at the bottom of the steps leading up to the throne, with
the sack beside him. How his heart did beat as he waited for what the
king would say! It seemed a very long time before Prasnajit spoke,
though it was only two or three minutes; and when he did, this is what
he said, “Go back to your home now, and be a thief no more.”
Very, very thankfully the man obeyed, scarcely able to believe that he
was free to go and that he was not to be terribly punished. Never again
in the rest of his life did he take what did not belong to him, and he
was never tired of telling his children and his friends of the goodness
of the king who had forgiven him.
21. Do you think it would have been better for the thief to have been
punished?
22. What lesson did the thief learn from what had happened to him?
CHAPTER XII
The Brahman, who had spent the time of waiting in prayers that his
treasure should be given back to him, and was still determined that, if
it were not, he would starve himself to death, was full of delight when
he heard that it had been found. He hastened to the palace and was
taken before the king, who said to him: “There is your treasure. Take
it away, and make a better use of it than before. If you lose it again,
I shall not try to recover it for you.”
The Brahman, glad as he was to have his money and jewels restored, did
not like to be told by the king to make a better use of them. Besides
this he wanted to have the thief punished; and he began talking about
that, instead of thanking Prasnajit and promising to follow his advice.
The king looked at him much as he had looked at the thief and said:
“The matter is ended so far as I have anything to do with it: go in
peace.”
The Brahman, who was accustomed to be honoured by every one from the
king on his throne to the beggars in the street, was astonished at the
way in which Prasnajit spoke to him. He would have said more, but the
king made a sign to his attendants, two of whom dragged the sack to the
entrance of the palace and left it there, so that there was nothing for
the Brahman to do but to take it away with him. Every one who has read
this wonderful story would, of courses like to know what became of him
after that, but nothing more is told about him.
23. Do you think that the Brahman learnt anything from his loss and
recovery of his treasure?
24. Was the Brahman more wicked than, the thief or the thief than the
Brahman?
25. Do you think the Brahman continued to be a miser for the rest of
his life?
26. What were the chief characteristics of the king—that is to say,
what sort of man do you think he was?
27. Which of the people who are spoken of in this story do you like and
admire most, and which do you dislike most?
IV.
The Magic Shoes and Staff.
CHAPTER I
Far, far away in a town of India called Chinchini, where in days long
gone by the ancient gods in whom the people believed are said sometimes
to have appeared to those who called upon them for help, there lived
three brothers of noble birth, who had never known what it was to want
for food, or clothes, or a house to live in. Each was married to a wife
he loved, and for many years they were all as happy as the day was
long. Presently however a great misfortune in which they all shared
befell their native country. There was no rain for many, many weeks;
and this is a very serious thing in a hot country like India, because,
when it does not rain for a long time, the ground becomes so parched
and hard that nothing can grow in it. The sun is very much stronger in
India than it is in England; and it sent forth its burning rays, drying
up all the water in the tanks and changing what had been a beautiful
country, covered with green crops good for food, into a dreary desert,
where neither men nor animals could get anything to eat. The result of
this was that there was a terrible famine, in which hundreds of people
and animals died, little children being the first to suffer.
Now the three brothers, who had none of them any children, got
frightened at the state of things, and thought to themselves, “If we do
not escape from this dreadful land, we shall die.” They said to each
other: “Let us flee away from here, and go somewhere where we are sure
of being able to get plenty to eat and drink. We will not take our
wives with us; they would only make things worse for us; let us leave
them to look after themselves.”
1. What do you think of the behaviour of the three brothers? Was there
any excuse for their leaving their wives behind them?
2. Do you think the wives themselves can have been to blame in any way
in the matter?