Story of the monkey that pulled out the wedge.[3]
In a certain town, a merchant had begun to build a temple to a divinity, and had accumulated much timber. The workmen there, after sawing through the upper half of a plank, placed a wedge in it, and leaving it thus suspended, went home. In the meanwhile a monkey came there and bounded up out of mischief, and sat on the plank, the parts of which were separated by the wedge. And he sat in the gap between the two parts, as if in the mouth of death, and in purposeless mischief pulled out the wedge. Then he fell with the plank, the wedge of which had been pulled out, and was killed, having his limbs crushed by the flying together of the separated parts.
“Thus a person is ruined by meddling with what is not his own business. So what is the use of our penetrating the mind of the king of beasts?” When the grave Damanaka heard Karaṭaka say this, he answered—“Certainly wise ministers must penetrate and observe the peculiarities of their master’s character. For who would confine his attention to filling his belly?” When Damanaka said this, the good Karaṭaka said—“Prying for one’s own gratification is not the duty of a servant.” Damanaka, being thus addressed, replied—“Do not speak thus, every one desires a recompense suited to his character; the dog is satisfied with a bone only, the lion attacks an elephant.”
When Karaṭaka heard this, he said, “And supposing under these circumstances the master is angry, instead of being pleased, where is your special advantage? Lords, like mountains, are exceedingly rough, firm, uneven, difficult of access, and surrounded with noxious creatures.” Then Damanaka said, “This is true, but he who is wise, gradually gets influence over his master by penetrating his character.”
Then Karaṭaka said—“Well, do so,” and Damanaka went into the presence of his master the lion. The lion received him kindly: so he bowed, and sat down, and immediately said to him; “King, I am a hereditary useful servant of yours. One useful is to be sought after, though a stranger, but a mischievous one is to be abandoned; a cat, being useful, is bought with money, brought from a distance, and cherished; but a mouse, being harmful, is carefully destroyed, though it has been nourished up in one’s house. And a king, who desires prosperity, must listen to servants who wish him well, and they must give their lord at the right time useful counsel, even without being asked. So, king, if you feel confidence in me, if you are not angry, and if you do not wish to conceal your feelings from me, and if you are not disturbed in mind by my boldness, I would ask you a certain question.” When Damanaka said this, the lion Pingalaka answered; “You are trustworthy, you are attached to me, so speak without fear.”
When Pingalaka said this, Damanaka said: “King, being thirsty, you went to drink water; so why did you return without drinking, like one despondent?” When the lion heard this speech of his, he reflected—“I have been discovered by him, so why should I try to hide the truth from this devoted servant?” Having thus reflected, he said to him, “Listen, I must not hide anything from you. When I went to drink water, I heard here a noise which I never heard before, and I think, it is the terrible roar of some animal superior to myself in strength. For, as a general rule, the might of creatures is proportionate to the sound they utter, and it is well known that the infinitely various animal creation has been made by God in regular gradations. And now that he has entered here, I cannot call my body nor my wood my own; so I must depart hence to some other forest.” When the lion said this, Damanaka answered him; “Being valiant, O king, why do you wish to leave the wood for so slight a reason? Water breaks a bridge, secret whispering friendship, counsel is ruined by garrulity, cowards only are routed by a mere noise. There are many noises, such as those of machines, which are terrible till one knows the real cause. So your Highness must not fear this. Hear by way of illustration the story of the jackal and the drum.
Story of the Jackal and the Drum.[4]
Long ago there lived a jackal in a certain forest district. He was roaming about in search of food, and came upon a plot of ground where a battle had taken place, and hearing from a certain quarter a booming sound, he looked in that direction. There he saw a drum lying on the ground, a thing with which he was not familiar. He thought, “What kind of animal is this, that makes such a sound?” Then he saw that it was motionless, and coming up and looking at it, he came to the conclusion that it was not an animal. And he perceived that the noise was produced by the parchment being struck by the shaft of an arrow, which was moved by the wind. So the jackal laid aside his fear, and he tore open the drum, and went inside, to see if he could get anything to eat in it, but lo! it was nothing but wood and parchment.