This destitute Brāhmaṇa asked the tom-tom beater, “What is that tom-tom beating for?”
The tom-tom beater says, “A man of this country has died and there is no one to bury him. Because of it I am beating the notice tom-tom,” he said.
This Brāhmaṇa thought, “ ‘When one has gone to a country do not require honours,’ he said.” Having thought, “Because it is so I must bury this nobleman,” this one said, “I can,” and went.
Thereupon this dead nobleman’s son says to the Brāhmaṇa, “Thou having quite alone buried this dead body, come [to me]; I will give thy wages.”
This one having said, “It is good,” and taken away the corpse, and cut the grave, thinks, “A sooth-saying Brāhmaṇa said to-day, ‘Without investigation don’t do a thing.’ ” Having said this he unfastened the cloth round the waist of this dead nobleman, and looked at the body. There was a belt. He unfastened it and looked [at it]; the belt was full of masuran. Having taken them he buried the corpse and came to the nobleman’s house. Well then, the nobleman’s son gave the Brāhmaṇa five hundred masuran.
This one having taken them, came near a goldsmith, and causing him to make for his wife the things that she needed, he went to the Brāhmaṇa’s village. Having gone he spoke to his wife and gave her these articles.
After he gave them this woman asks the Brāhmaṇa, “Whence did you bring these?” in order that he should say the manner in which he brought them.
This one thought, “Yet [another] Brāhmaṇa having taken one masurama from me said, ‘To one’s own wife don’t tell a secret,’ didn’t he?” Thinking this, not telling her the way in which he brought them, he said, “Having become thirsty when I was coming home, when I looked about there was not a place to drink at. Having drunk a great quantity of Euphorbia milk[1] because the thirst was excessive, I was lying down upon a rock. Then the rock having split, masuran were thrown out. Collecting as many as I could, I got these things made,” he said to his wife.
As soon as he said it (kīwā wahama), this woman having gone running told it in this manner to a great number of women besides. Thereupon the women having come running to their houses said it to their husbands. Those persons, about twenty-five, taking cooking pots, went to drink Euphorbia milk. Out of the persons who drank it a portion died; the other persons [after] vomiting came back.
Having said to this Brāhmaṇa and his wife, “You told our men to drink Euphorbia milk, and caused them to die,” those women instituted a law-suit before a King.