“Of what avail is it that my heart is kind, if by that very kindness I lose everything I have in the world?” said he with a sigh, refusing to be comforted.
“You have not lost everything,” corrected the mouse, “you still have three faithful friends who were won to you forever by that same kind heart of yours.” [[157]]
And without another word the little creature disappeared, leaving Shrikantha still lamenting on the ground.
It were too long a tale to tell how the three animal friends met and planned together, how they went at night to the palace of the wicked merchant, crept to his room, and how the ape and the bear waited breathlessly outside while the mouse climbed through the keyhole and stole the talisman from the breast of the sleeping man. They had little trouble in passing the many guards, who were on the lookout for men, not animals, to steal their master’s treasure. When they reached the river, however, in sight of Shrikantha himself, a sorry adventure befell them. The bear was the only one of the three who could swim, and so, in order to cross the water, the ape got upon the bear’s back, put the mouse upon his shoulder and the talisman in his mouth. Thus, with this precious, heavy load on his back, the bear started bravely on his long swim across to [[158]]the island. In the very middle of the stream, a fish passed within a few feet of his nose, and he, foolish creature, made a dive for it. The ape lost his balance and cried out in fright, letting the blue talisman slip from his mouth into the water. Down it sank into the muddy depths, and the three friends, in dismay, watched it disappear.
“Alack-a-day!” wailed the little mouse. “We have spent all our time and labor for nothing, and our poor friend on the island will surely die of hunger and despair! What shall we do? Whatever shall we do?”
The bear turned and swam back to the mainland, and there the three sat down disconsolately on the shore.
“What a fool you were to jump at that fish!” said the ape to the bear crossly.
“What a fool you were not to keep your mouth shut, when you had such a treasure inside it!” growled the bear.
“Now don’t waste time blaming each [[159]]other!” counselled the mouse. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it was; the talisman is gone, and we must get it again; that is the thing to think about.”
“Get it again!” the bear was crosser than ever. “I’d like to know how that can be done! It has gone to the bottom of the river, thanks to the carelessness of the ape, and we can never recover it. Let us go to our homes; we have done enough for the man already to more than pay for his kindness to us.”