IX
Wonders of Wisdom
The Words of Untold Value
In the days long since gone by, a young man, a son of a poor widow, desired to go with two of his friends to Tuck Kasula,[20] the country where one could learn the wisdom of all the world, but he had no gold with which to buy the wisdom, for does not every one know that wisdom is difficult to obtain, and is therefore of great price.
Now, the two young friends had each two puns[21] of gold, but the widow’s son had but two hairs of his mother’s, which, when he wept because he had no money, the widow had given him, saying, “I have naught but these two fine hairs to give thee, my son, but go with thy friends, each hair will be to thee as a pun of gold.”
Then the son placed the two hairs in a package with his clothing, and sealed the package with wax, and set out with his friends to visit Tuck Kasula.
After they had travelled some time, they grew hungry, and on arriving in a village, they entered [116 ] a house for food. The widow’s son left his package and his other goods on the veranda. While he was within the house a hen ran away with the package and lost it. The owners of the hen offered the son anything they had either of food or clothing to replace his loss, but he would be content with nothing but the hen, and they gave it to him.
And again when they entered another house for food, the widow’s son tied the hen to a small bush in the compound, and, lo, an elephant stepped upon it and killed it!
The people offered the young man many things to make good his loss, but he would be content with nothing but the elephant, and they gave him the elephant.
At last they reached Tuck Kasula, and while his two friends, with their gold, sought the house of the teachers, the widow’s son stayed under a tree where he could hear the teachers instructing their disciples.