| Internet Indian History Sourcebook
Tales From Ancient India
Right and Might
WHILE a deer was eating wild fruit, he heard an owl call "Haak, haak" (a
spear), and a cricket cry, "Wat" (surrounded), and, frightened, he fled. In his
flight he ran through the trees up into the mountains and into streams. In one of the
streams the deer stepped upon a small fish and crushed it almost to death. Then the fish
complained to the court, and the deer, owl, cricket, and fish had a lawsuit. In the trial
came out this evidence:
As the deer fled, he ran into some dry grass, and the seed fell into the eye of a wild
chicken, and the pain of the seed in the eye of the chicken caused it to fly up against a
nest of red ants. Alarmed, the red ants flew out to do battle, and in their haste, bit a
mongoose. The mongoose ran into a vine of wild fruit and shook several pieces of it on the
head of a hermit who sat thinking under a tree. "Why did you, O fruit, fall on my
head?" cried the hermit. The fruit answered: "We did not wish to fall; a
mongoose ran against our vine and threw us down." And the hermit asked, " O
mongoose, why did you throw the fruit?" The mongoose answered: "I did not wish
to throw down the fruit, but the red ants bit me, and I ran against the vine." The
hermit asked, " O ants, why did you bite the mongoose?" The red ants replied:
"The hen flew against our nest and angered us." The hermit asked: " O hen,
why did you fly against the red ants' nest?" And the hen replied: "The seed fell
into my eyes and hurt me." And the hermit asked, " O seed, why did you fall into
the hen's eyes?" And the seed replied: "The deer shook me down." The hermit
said unto the deer, "O deer, why did you shake down the seed?" The deer
answered: "I did not wish to do it, but the owl called, frightening me, and I
ran." "O owl," asked the hermit, "why did you frighten the deer?"
The owl replied: "I called, but as I am accustomed to call---the cricket, too,
called."
Having heard the evidence, the judge said, "The cricket must replace the crushed
parts of the fish and make it well," as he, the cricket, had called and frightened
the deer. The cricket was smaller and weaker than the owl or the deer, therefore had to
bear the penalty.
The Man in the Moon
THERE was a blacksmith once who complained: "I am not well, and my work is too
warm. I want to be a stone on the mountain. There it must be cool, for the wind blows and
the trees give a shade." A wise man who had power over all things replied: "Go
you, be a stone." And he was a stone, high up on the mountain-side. It happened that
a stone-cutter came that way for a stone, and when he saw the one that had been the
blacksmith, he knew that it was what he sought, and he began to cut it. The stone cried
out: "This hurts! I no longer want to be a stone. A stone-cutter I want to be. That
would be pleasant." The wise man, humoring him, said, "Be a cutter." Thus
he became a stone-cutter, and as he went seeking suitable stone, he grew tired, and his
feet were sore. He whimpered, " I no longer want to cut stone. I would be the sun;
that would be pleasant." The wise man commanded, " Be the sun." And he was
the sun. But the sun was warmer than the blacksmith, than a stone, than a stone-cutter,
and he complained, "I do not like this. I would be the moon. It looks cool." The
wise man spake yet again, "Be the moon." And he was the moon. "This is
warmer than being the sun," murmured he, "for the light from the sun shines on
me ever. I do not want to be the moon. I would be a smith again. That, verily, is the best
life." But the wise man replied, " I am weary of your changing. You wanted to be
the moon; the moon you are, and it you will remain."
And in yon high heaven lives he to this day.
The Legend of the Rice
IN the days when the earth was young and all things were better than they now are, when
men and women were stronger and of greater beauty, and the fruit of the trees was larger
and sweeter than that which we now eat, rice, the food of the people, was of larger grain.
One grain was all a man could eat; and in those early days, such, too, was the merit of
the people, they never had to toil gathering the rice, for, when ripe, it fell from the
stalks and rolled into the villages, even unto the granaries. And upon a year when the
rice was larger and more plentiful than ever before, a widow said to her daughter
"Our granaries are too small. We will pull them down and build larger." When the
old granaries were pulled down and the new one not yet ready for use, the rice was ripe in
the fields. Great haste was made, but the rice came rolling in where the work was going
on, and the widow, angered, struck a grain and cried, "Could you not wait in the
fields until we were ready? You should not bother us now when you are not wanted."
The rice broke into thousands of pieces and said "From this time forth, we will wait
in the fields until we are wanted," and from that time the rice has been of small
grain, and the people of the earth must gather it into the granary from the fields.
The Lord Krishna and the Lapwing's Nest
IT was the battle of Kurukshetra. The white conch shells were about to sound, the
elephants to march forward, and the attack of the archers to commence. The moment was
brief and terrible. Banners were flying, and the charioteers preparing for the advance.
Suddenly a little lapwing, who had built her nest in the turf of a hillock in the midst of
the battlefield, drew the attention of the Lord Krishna by her cries of anxiety and
distress for her young. "Poor little mother!" he said tenderly, "let this
be thy protection!" And, lifting a great elephant-bell that had fallen near, he
placed it over the lapwing's nest. And so, through the eighteen days of raging battle that
followed, a lapwing and her nestlings were kept in safety in their nest, by the mercy of
the lord, even in the midst of the raging field of Kurukshetra.
The Peacock and the Tortoise
ONCE upon a time a peacock and a tortoise became great friends. The peacock lived on a
tree on the banks of the stream in which the tortoise had his home; and daily the peacock
after he had a drink of water danced near the stream and displayed his gay plumage for the
amusement of his friend. One unfortunate day, a bird-catcher who was on the prowl caught
the peacock and was about taking him away to the market. The unhappy bird begged of his
captor to allow him to bid his friend the tortoise good-bye, as it would be the last time
he would see him. The bird-catcher allowed him his prayer and took him to the tortoise,
who was greatly moved to see his friend a captive. The tortoise asked the bird-catcher to
let the peacock go; but he laughed at the request, saying that was his means of
livelihood. The tortoise then said, "If I make you a handsome present, will you let
my friend go?" "Certainly," answered the bird-catcher, that is all I
want." Whereupon the tortoise dived into the water and in a few seconds came up with
a handsome pearl, which, to the great astonishment of the bird-catcher, he handed to him.
This was beyond his expectabons, and he let the peacock go immediately. A short time
after, the avaricious man came back and told the tortoise that he thought he had not paid
enough for the release of his friend, and threatened that, unless a match to that pearl
was obtained for him, he would again catch the peacock. The tortoise, who had already
advised his friend to betake himself to a distant jungle on being set free, was greatly
enraged at the greed of this man. "Well," said the tortoise, "if you insist
on having another pearl like it, give it to me and I will fish you out an exact match for
it." The cupidity of the bird-catcher prevented his reasoning that "one in the
hand was equal to two in the bed of the stream," and he speedily gave the pearl to
the wily tortoise, who swam out with it saying, "I am no fool to take one and give
two!" and forthwith disappeared, leaving the bird-catcher to be sorry ever after for
his covetousness.
Let's See On Which Side The Camel Sits
ONCE a greengrocer and a potter jointly hired a camel and each filled one side of the
pannier with his goods. The camel as he went along the road took a mouthful every now and
then, as he had a chance, from the green-grocer's bag of vegetables. This provoked a laugh
from the potter, who thought he had the best of the bargain. But the time came for the
camel to sit, and he naturally sat on the heavier side, bearing down on the pots, and also
to have his mouth free to operate on the bag of greens. This caused the pots to break in
the bag, and then the greengrocer had all the laugh to himself.
The Washerman and The Donkey
A STORY is told of an over-credulous washerman who was childless. This preyed upon his
mind very much and was a permanent cause of unhappiness. One day, in the course of his
work, he went to the house of the town kazi (or magistrate). He heard the kazi
reproaching one of his pupils in this wise: "Not long ago you were a jackass; I made
a man of you," etc. The washer-man did not wait to hear the rest. He hastened home
with all speed and told his wife that he had made a discovery which they were to lose no
time in utilizing. "The kazi, my dear," said the washerman, "can make a man
of a donkey. Why should we fret any longer for a child? Let us take our donkey to him and
beg of him to transform him." The washerman and his wife, with their donkey, were
shortly after this conversation on their way to the kazi.
Their mission being explained with many supplications, the kazi, quick-sighted, and
with an eye to business, accepted the charge, and promised to effect the metamorphosis in
a year. The washerman on his part promised to give his services free for that period. A
year passed in waiting and in happy hopes. On the appointed day the washerman and his
companion presented themselves before the kazi. The kazi took them aside and pointed out a
strong young man among his pupils. "There," he whispered to the washerman,
"is your donkey. You see the change: now persuade him and take him home." The
washerman and his wife flew to their newly created son, and with many endearing terms
prepared to embrace him and made other affectionate advances. Amazed at this unaccountable
conduct of these low people, the lad resisted at first, but as they persisted, he grew
furious. After receiving many a cuff from the lad, a happy idea struck the washerman's
wife: turning to her husband she said, "Go you and fetch his peg, rope, and
grain-bag; perhaps they may remind him of what he was once." The washerman in hot
haste went home and fetched them. But it seemed to make matters worse. The washerman held
up each of these articles to the young man's view, and said, in the most persuasive tone
he could command, "Come home, my son. Do you forget the day you were my donkey? This
was the peg to which I would tether you, this your tether rope, and this your food-bag;
come to your home!" By this time a jeering crowd had gathered round the young man,
and this so infuriated him that he turned to and gave the washerman the soundest thrashing
he had ever received in his life. The poor dupe of a washerman---the story says---went
home thoroughly convinced that what fate had ordained it was useless to fight against,
looking upon his punishment as a just return for his presumption.
The Seven Weavers and The Field of Flax
SEVEN weavers once started on a moonlight journey. They had not gone very far from
their home when they lost the road. After trying to find their way, they came to a field
of flax, which they took to be a river, as the field was in flower, and they fancied the
blue color of the flower to be that of water. They stripped themselves and began swimming.
After hard labor, they got across. To make certain that no one was drowned, they took the
precaution of counting themselves before resuming their journey; but they discovered that
one of them was missing, as each forgot to count himself. Grieved at the loss of one of
their company, they had not the heart to pursue their journey, but returned home.
Some Hindu Proverbs
SELF PRAISE is no praise.
The young crow is wiser than its mother.
What is play to one is death to another.
In a treeless country, the castor-oil plant is a big tree
A scalded cat dreads cold water.
The washerman never tears his father's clothes.
A fool went to fish, but lost his fishing-basket.
A thief is a thief, whether he steals a diamond or a cucumber.
God takes care of a blind cow.
One who cannot dance blames the floor.
Source:
From: Eva March Tappan, ed., The World's Story: A History of the World in Story,
Song and Art, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), Vol. II: India, Persia,
Mesopotamia, and Palestine, pp. 67-79.
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton.
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© Paul Halsall November1998
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