_The Specialist in Food, the Specialist in Women, and the Specialist in
Cotton. Which is the cleverest?_
So the king went back under the sissoo tree, caught the goblin just as
before, put him on his shoulder, and started toward the monk. And as he
walked along, the goblin on his shoulder spoke and said: "O King,
listen once more to the following story to beguile your weariness."
In the Anga country there is a great region called Forest. There lived
a great Brahman, pious and wealthy, whose name was Vishnu-swami. To his
worthy wife three sons were born, one after another. When they had
grown to be young men, specialists in matters of luxury, they were sent
one day by their father to find a turtle for a sacrifice which he had
begun.
So the brothers went to the ocean and there they found a turtle. Then
the eldest said to the two younger: "One of you take this turtle for
Father's sacrifice. I cannot carry a slimy thing that smells raw."
But when the eldest said this, the two younger said: "Sir, if you feel
disgust, why shouldn't we?"
When the eldest heard this, he said: "You take the turtle, otherwise
Father's sacrifice will be ruined on your account. Then you and Father
too will surely go to hell."
When they heard him, the two younger brothers laughed and said: "Sir,
you seem to know our common duty, but not your own."
Then the eldest said: "What? Are you not aware that I am a connoisseur
in food? For I am a specialists in foods. How can I touch this
loathsome thing?"
When he heard these words, the second brother said: "But I am even more
of a connoisseur. I am a specialist in women. So how can I touch it?"
After this speech, the eldest said to the youngest: "Do you then, being
younger than we, carry the turtle."
Then the youngest frowned and said to them: "Fools! I am a great
specialist in cotton."
So the three brothers quarrelled, and arrogantly leaving the turtle
behind them, they went to have the matter decided at Pinnacle, the
capital of a king called Conqueror. When they came there, and had been
announced and introduced by the door-keeper, they told their story to
the king. And when the king had heard all, he said: "Stay here. I will
examine you one after another." So they agreed and all stayed there.
Then the king invited them in at his own dinner hour, seated them on
magnificent seats, and set before them sweet dishes of six flavours,
fit for a king. While all the rest ate, one of the Brahmans, the
specialist in food, disgustedly shook his head and refused to eat. And
when the king himself asked him why he would not eat food that was
sweet and savoury, he respectfully replied: "Your Majesty, in this food
there is the odour of smoke from a burning corpse. Therefore, I do not
wish to eat it, however sweet it may be."
Then at the king's command all the rest smelt of it and declared it the
best of winter rice, and perfectly sweet. But the food-critic held his
nose and would not touch it. Now when the king reflected and made a
careful investigation, he learned from the commissioners that the dish
was made of rice grown near a village crematory. Then he was greatly
astonished and pleased, and said: "Brahman, you are certainly a judge
of food. Pray take something else."
After dinner the king dismissed them to their rooms, and sent for the
most beautiful woman of his court. And at night he sent this lovely
creature, all adorned, to the second brother, the specialist in women.
She came with a servant of the king to his chamber, and when she
entered, she seemed to illuminate the room. But the judge of women
almost fainted, and stopping his nose with his left hand, he said to
his servants: "Take her away! If not, I shall die. A goaty smell issues
from her."
So the servants, in distress and astonishment, conducted her to the
king and told him what had happened. Then the king sent for the
specialist in women, and said: "Brahman, she has anointed herself with
sandal, camphor, and aloes, so that a delightful perfume pervades her
neighbourhood. How could this woman have a goaty smell?" But in spite
of this the specialist in women would not yield. And when the king
endeavoured to learn the truth, he heard from her own lips that in her
infancy she had been separated from her mother and had been brought up
on goat's milk. Then the king was greatly astonished and loudly praised
the critical judgment of the specialist in women.
Quickly he had a couch prepared for the third brother, the specialist
in cotton. So the critic of cotton went to sleep on a bed with seven
quilts over the frame and covered with a pure, soft coverlet. When only
a half of the first watch of the night was gone, he suddenly started
from the bed, shouting and writhing with pain, his hand pressed to his
side. And the king's men who were stationed there saw the curly red
outline of a hair deeply imprinted on his side.
They went at once and informed the king, who said to them: "See whether
there is anything under the quilts or not." So they went and searched
under each quilt, and under the last they found one hair, which they
immediately took and showed to the king. And the king summoned the
specialist in cotton, and finding the mark exactly corresponding to the
hair, was filled with extreme astonishment. And he spent that night
wondering how the hair could sink into his body through seven quilts.
Now when the king arose in the morning, he was delighted with their
marvellous critical judgment and sensitiveness, so that he gave each of
the three specialists a hundred thousand gold-pieces. And they were
contented and stayed there, forgetting all about the turtle, and thus
incurring a crime through the failure of their father's sacrifice.
When he had told this remarkable story, the goblin on the king's
shoulder said: "O King, remember the curse I spoke of and declare which
of these three was the cleverest."
When he heard this, the wise king answered the goblin: "Without doubt I
regard the specialist in cotton as the cleverest, on whose body the
imprint of the hair was seen to appear visibly. The other two might
possibly have found out beforehand."
When the king had said this, the goblin slipped from his shoulder as
before. And the king went back under the sissoo tree again to fetch him.