There lived an ivory carver in Madhyadeśa who, after he had carved a
few grains of rice made of ivory, travelled with them to the Yavana
land, and there took up his abode in the house of a painter. In the
absence of the husband, he said to the wife, “Wife of my friend, cook
this rice and serve it up to me.”
The woman began to cook the rice, but her store of wood came to an end,
and yet the rice remained uncooked. When the painter came home, he
asked, “Good wife, what is the meaning of that?”
She told him the whole story. The man looked at the rice, perceived
that the separate grains were carved out of ivory, and said to his
wife, while setting her right:
“Good wife, the water is salt. He must bring us fresh water; the rice
will then get cooked.”
The wife said to the ivory carver, “Fetch us fresh water.” Now the
painter had painted a picture of a pond hard by, with a dead dog’s body
beside it. The ivory carver took a water jug, and went towards the
place where he imagined there was a pond. When he saw the dead dog he
held his nose, and then he tried to get the water. But he only smashed
his jug, and came to the conclusion that he had been fooled.