Kabanata Kabanata 11 · Harisarman

. Harisarman

There was a certain Brahman in a certain village, named Harisarman. He

was poor and foolish and in evil case for want of employment, and he

had very many children, that he might reap the fruit of his misdeeds

in a former life. He wandered about begging with his family, and at

last he reached a certain city, and entered the service of a rich

householder called Sthuladatta. His sons became keepers of

Sthuladatta's cows and other property, and his wife a servant to him,

and he himself lived near his house, performing the duty of an

attendant. One day there was a feast on account of the marriage of the

daughter of Sthuladatta, largely attended by many friends of the

bridegroom, and merry-makers. Harisarman hoped that he would be able

to fill himself up to the throat with ghee and flesh and other

dainties, and get the same for his family, in the house of his patron.

While he was anxiously expecting to be fed, no one thought of him.

[Illustration:]

Then he was distressed at getting nothing to eat, and he said to his

wife at night, "It is owing to my poverty and stupidity that I am

treated with such disrespect here; so I will pretend by means of an

artifice to possess a knowledge of magic, so that I may become an

object of respect to this Sthuladatta; so, when you get an

opportunity, tell him that I possess magical knowledge." He said this

to her, and after turning the matter over in his mind, while people

were asleep he took away from the house of Sthuladatta a horse on

which his master's son-in-law rode. He placed it in concealment at

some distance, and in the morning the friends of the bridegroom could

not find the horse, though they searched in every direction. Then,

while Sthuladatta was distressed at the evil omen, and searching for

the thieves who had carried off the horse, the wife of Harisarman came

and said to him, "My husband is a wise man, skilled in astrology and

magical sciences; he can get the horse back for you; why do you not

ask him?" When Sthuladatta heard that, he called Harisarman, who

said, "Yesterday I was forgotten, but to-day, now the horse is stolen,

I am called to mind," and Sthuladatta then propitiated the Brahman

with these words--"I forgot you, forgive me"--and asked him to tell

him who had taken away their horse. Then Harisarman drew all kinds of

pretended diagrams, and said: "The horse has been placed by thieves on

the boundary line south from this place. It is concealed there, and

before it is carried off to a distance, as it will be at close of day,

go quickly and bring it." When they heard that, many men ran and

brought the horse quickly, praising the discernment of Harisarman.

Then Harisarman was honoured by all men as a sage, and dwelt there in

happiness, honoured by Sthuladatta.

Now, as days went on, much treasure, both of gold and jewels, had been

stolen by a thief from the palace of the king. As the thief was not

known, the king quickly summoned Harisarman on account of his

reputation for knowledge of magic. And he, when summoned, tried to

gain time, and said, "I will tell you to-morrow," and then he was

placed in a chamber by the king, and carefully guarded. And he was sad

because he had pretended to have knowledge. Now in that palace there

was a maid named Jihva (which means Tongue), who, with the assistance

of her brother, had stolen that treasure from the interior of the

palace. She, being alarmed at Harisarman's knowledge, went at night

and applied her ear to the door of that chamber in order to find out

what he was about. And Harisarman, who was alone inside, was at that

very moment blaming his own tongue, that had made a vain assumption of

knowledge. He said: "O Tongue, what is this that you have done

through your greediness? Wicked one, you will soon receive punishment

in full." When Jihva heard this, she thought, in her terror, that she

had been discovered by this wise man, and she managed to get in where

he was, and falling at his feet, she said to the supposed wizard:

"Brahman, here I am, that Jihva whom you have discovered to be the

thief of the treasure, and after I took it I buried it in the earth in

a garden behind the palace, under a pomegranate tree. So spare me, and

receive the small quantity of gold which is in my possession."

When Harisarman heard that, he said to her proudly: "Depart, I know

all this; I know the past, present and future; but I will not denounce

you, being a miserable creature that has implored my protection. But

whatever gold is in your possession you must give back to me." When he

said this to the maid, she consented, and departed quickly. But

Harisarman reflected in his astonishment: "Fate brings about, as if in

sport, things impossible, for when calamity was so near, who would

have thought chance would have brought us success? While I was blaming

my jihva, the thief Jihva suddenly flung herself at my feet. Secret

crimes manifest themselves by means of fear." Thus thinking, he passed

the night happily in the chamber. And in the morning he brought the

king, by some skilful parade of pretended knowledge into the garden,

and led him up to the treasure, which was buried under the pomegranate

tree, and said that the thief had escaped with a part of it. Then the

king was pleased, and gave him the revenue of many villages.

But the minister, named Devajnanin, whispered in the king's ear: "How

can a man possess such knowledge unattainable by men, without having

studied the books of magic; you may be certain that this is a specimen

of the way he makes a dishonest livelihood, by having a secret

intelligence with thieves. It will be much better to test him by some

new artifice." Then the king of his own accord brought a covered

pitcher into which he had thrown a frog, and said to Harisarman,

"Brahman, if you can guess what there is in this pitcher, I will do

you great honour to-day." When the Brahman Harisarman heard that, he

thought that his last hour had come, and he called to mind the pet

name of "Froggie" which his father had given him in his childhood in

sport, and, impelled by luck, he called to himself by his pet name,

lamenting his hard fate, and suddenly called out: "This is a fine

pitcher for you, Froggie; it will soon become the swift destroyer of

your helpless self." The people there, when they heard him say that,

raised a shout of applause, because his speech chimed in so well with

the object presented to him, and murmured, "Ah! a great sage, he knows

even about the frog!" Then the king, thinking that this was all due to

knowledge of divination, was highly delighted, and gave Harisarman the

revenue of more villages, with gold, an umbrella, and state carriages

of all kinds. So Harisarman prospered in the world.