“For the sake of one unknown hast thou slain one known of old,
considering the man useless. Therefore is it difficult to put trust in
thee. Me also mightest thou kill.”
He went off with her things, but she crawled naked into the thick
grass. There came by an old jackal carrying a piece of flesh. [132]
Just at that spot a fish, driven on to the shore from the stream of the
river Karada, was lying on the dry land. The jackal dropped the piece
of flesh and made a dash at the fish. But the fish sprang back again
into the stream, and the flesh was carried off by a vulture, so that
the jackal, deprived of both, was left standing there mournfully, with
drooping ears. Seeing that, Suśroṇī uttered the following śloka—
“The vulture has carried off the piece of flesh, the fish has slipped
into the water. Wherefore grieves not the jackal, of both those things
bereft?”
The jackal looked around on every side, and, seeing no one, uttered the
following śloka—
“She who dances not before the robber, who herself has no joy in song,
who now abides in the grass, who is she, who chides and scoffs at me?”
She replied, “I am Suśroṇī, uncle.” The jackal reflected with vexation
that this yoginī was mocking him, and said—
“Thy husband hast thou killed. Thy paramour has fled. Wherefore
grievest thou not, yoginī, that thou art bereft of both?”
Suśroṇī replied, “When I have returned home I will take unto me an
excellent husband. When I have obtained a husband, I shall not
dishonour the house.”
The jackal answered, “When the Ganges flows upwards, when the raven has
the colour of curdled milk, then shalt thou be virtuous. When the snake
and the ichneumon dwell in the same hole, and put up with each other,
then shalt thou be virtuous. When a man, making clothes out of the hair
of a tortoise, shall be able to provide himself thereby with a winter
garment, then shalt thou be virtuous. When one shall have made a ladder
out of the feet of flies, and climbed up it into heaven, then shalt
thou be virtuous. When a bridge shall have been made out of the stalk
of the jessamine, and an elephant shall have walked across it, then
shalt thou be virtuous. When fire shall burst forth in the middle of
the sea, and men shall enter therein, then shalt thou be virtuous. O
Suśroṇī! now that I have scoffed at thee enough, I ask thee what reward
wilt thou give me if I restore thee to thy former position?” [133]
She replied, “Uncle, if thou wilt do that, I will give thee a piece of
meat every day.”
“I will do it, see if I do not. Go into the water, immerse thyself in
it up to thy neck, and remain there with thy face turned towards the
east. I will go and petition the king.”
So the jackal drew near to the royal palace, and made his request to
the king, saying that it would be meet and fitting to send for Suśroṇī
at once, seeing that she was piously and righteously performing
penance. King Brahmadatta understood the language of the jackal, and he
ordered his ministers to send for Suśroṇī at once. The ministers made
their appearance with clothes and ornaments, and the king restored her
to her former position. Every day she gave the jackal a piece of meat.
This she did for some long time. But at length she gave up doing so.
Then the jackal came close to the royal palace, and threatened that if
she failed to bring the gift, it would lay hold of her, and set her
back again in the place she occupied before. She was alarmed, and
continued to give it a piece of meat every day.