Chương Chương 1 · The Lion and the Crane

. The Lion and the Crane

The Bodhisatta was at one time born in the region of Himavanta as a

white crane; now Brahmadatta was at that time reigning in Benares. Now

it chanced that as a lion was eating meat a bone stuck in his throat.

The throat became swollen, he could not take food, his suffering was

terrible. The crane seeing him, as he was perched on a tree looking

for food, asked, "What ails thee, friend?" He told him why. "I could

free thee from that bone, friend, but dare not enter thy mouth for

fear thou mightest eat me." "Don't be afraid, friend, I'll not eat

thee; only save my life." "Very well," says he, and caused him to lie

down on his left side. But thinking to himself, "Who knows what this

fellow will do," he placed a small stick upright between his two jaws

that he could not close his mouth, and inserting his head inside his

mouth struck one end of the bone with his beak. Whereupon the bone

dropped and fell out. As soon as he had caused the bone to fall, he

got out of the lion's mouth, striking the stick with his beak so that

it fell out, and then settled on a branch. The lion gets well, and

one day was eating a buffalo he had killed. The crane thinking "I will

sound him," settled on a branch just over him, and in conversation

spoke this first verse:

"A service have we done thee

To the best of our ability,

King of the Beasts! Your Majesty!

What return shall we get from thee?"

In reply the Lion spoke the second verse:

"As I feed on blood,

And always hunt for prey,

'Tis much that thou art still alive

Having once been between my teeth."

Then in reply the crane said the two other verses:

"Ungrateful, doing no good,

Not doing as he would be done by,

In him there is no gratitude,

To serve him is useless.

"His friendship is not won

By the clearest good deed.

Better softly withdraw from him,

Neither envying nor abusing."

And having thus spoken the crane flew away.

_And when the great Teacher, Gautama the Buddha, told this tale, he

used to add: "Now at that time the lion was Devadatta the Traitor, but

the white crane was I myself."_

[Illustration: THE LION AND THE CRANE]