A very long time ago, it once rained unseasonably seven days long, and
an ichneumon took refuge in a mouse-hole. Into the same hole came,
after wandering to and fro, a snake, alarmed by the rain. Now the
ichneumon was preparing to kill the mouse, but the snake said, “O
honoured ones, as we have all suffered from the agony of intolerable
woe, therefore we ought to remain here without exposing each other to
danger and free from disturbance.” The snake was named Nandasena, the
ichneumon Nanda, and the mouse Gaṇgādatta.
Nandasena and Nanda said to Gaṇgādatta, “Go stealthily, and try to find
some food for us.” As the mouse was honest and well-disposed, it
zealously began to look for food for those two, but could not find any.
Nanda said to Nandasena, “If Gaṇgādatta comes back without food, I
shall eat Gaṇgādatta.” But Nandasena thought, “Even during the anguish
of intolerable woe did this ichneumon intend to kill that mouse; there
is no need to say, then, what will happen if the mouse returns without
bringing food. I had better give it notice beforehand.”
So the snake informed the mouse, saying, “Nanda has spoken thus: ‘If
Gaṇgādatta comes back without bringing food, I will eat Gaṇgādatta.’”
Gaṇgādatta, who, after seeking for food, had found none, thought,
“Without doubt he will devour me,” and said to Nandasena, “As one who
is weakened and oppressed by hunger becomes merciless, therefore say to
the ungrateful creature that Gaṇgādatta will return no more.”