“O yes, sir! Some thieves used to come and talk together,” was the reply.
The Bodisat went away, and told the king, “There is nothing bodily the matter with the elephant, your Majesty; it is simply from hearing robbers talk that he has become a Rogue.”
“Well; what ought we to do now?”
“Let holy devotees, venerable by the saintliness of their lives,[310] be seated in the elephant stable and talk of righteousness.”
“Then do so, my friend,” said the king. And the Bodisat got holy men to sit near the elephant’s stall, telling them to talk of holy things.
So, seated not far from the elephant, they began: “No one should be struck, no one killed. The man of upright conduct ought to be patient, loving, and merciful.”
On hearing this, he thought, “It is me these men are teaching; from this time forth I am to be good!” And so he became tame and quiet.
The king asked the Bodisat, “How is it, my friend? Is he quieted?”
“Yes, my Lord! The elephant, bad as he was, has, because of the wise men, been re-established in his former character.” And so saying, he uttered the stanza:
By listening first to robbers’ talk,