Root touches root, branches entwine about branches.
Through contact with the bad, therefore your mango has bitter fruit.
The king, hearing his words, had every one of the nimbs and pot-herbs chopped down, the roots pulled up, the sour earth round about removed, sweet earth put in its place, and the mango fed with milk and water, sweetened water, and perfumed water. Through contact with sweet juices the mango became perfectly sweet again. The king gave the regular gardener sole charge of the garden, and after living out his allotted term of life, passed away according to his deeds.
15. A Buddhist Henny-Penny.
Much ado about nothing.
Jātaka 322: iii. 74-78.
On a certain occasion the Teacher, referring to the self-mortification of the Hindu ascetics, said to the monks: “Monks, there is no value, no merit, in their self-mortification. It is like the ‘rat-a-tat’ the little hare heard.” Said the monks: “We do not understand what you mean by saying that it is like the ‘rat-a-tat’ the little hare heard. Tell us about it, Reverend Sir.” So in response to their request the Teacher related the following Story of the Past:
In times past, when Brahmadatta ruled at Benāres, the Future Buddha was reborn as a lion, and when he grew up, lived in a forest. At that time, near the Western Ocean, grew a grove of cocoanut trees intermingled with Vilva trees. There, at the foot of a Vilva tree, under a cocoanut sapling, lived a little hare. One day, returning with food, he lay down under a cocoanut leaf and thought: “If this earth should collapse, what would ever become of me?”
At that very instant a Vilva fruit fell on top of the cocoanut leaf. At the sound of it the little hare thought: “This earth is certainly collapsing!” And springing to his feet, back he ran, without so much as taking a look. As he was running away as fast as he could in fear of death, another little hare saw him and asked: “Why, pray, are you running away in such a fright?” “Oh, don’t ask me!” And he kept right on running, in spite of the fact that the other little hare kept asking: “Oh! what is it? Oh! what is it?” The other little hare turned around, and without so much as taking a look, said: “The earth is collapsing here!” He also ran away, following the first.
In the same way a third little hare saw the second, and a fourth the third, until finally there were a hundred thousand little hares running away together. A deer saw them,—also a boar, an elk, a buffalo, an ox, a rhinoceros, a tiger, a lion, and an elephant. Seeing, each asked: “What’s this?” “The earth is collapsing here!” Each ran away. Thus, in the course of time, there was an army of animals a league in size.