And neither of the two being able to solve the knotty point, they went to the Master, and after paying him reverence, asked him, “At what time, Sir, is the cold?”
When the Master had heard their story, he said, “Formerly also, O mendicants! I solved this question for you; but the confusion arising from change of birth has driven it out of your minds.” And he told a tale.
Once upon a time two friends, a lion and a tiger, were living in a certain cave at the foot of a hill. At that time the Bodisat, who had devoted himself to the religious life of a hermit, was living at the foot of that same mountain.
Now one day a dispute arose between the friends about the cold. The tiger said it was cold in the dark half of the month, the lion said it was cold in the light half. And as neither of them could solve the difficulty, they asked the Bodisat, and he uttered this stanza:
“It is whenever the wind blows,
In the dark half or in the light.
For cold is caused by wind: and so
You both are right.”
Thus the Bodisat pacified the two friends.