The jackal said, ‘They have related that once upon a time the aid of divine grace was extended to a monkey, and, withdrawing from those of his own race, he took up his abode in a retired spot in a certain wilderness. Now, therein were some fig-trees; and the monkey bethought himself, ‘An animal cannot dispense with food, and in this jungle the only eatable thing is figs. If I devour all the figs while they are fresh, I must pass the winter without supplies. I cannot do better than each day shake down the figs of one tree, and after eating as much thereof as will support life, dry the remainder, that both the summer may pass comfortably, and that during the winter, too, I may be well off.

Accordingly he finished several trees, and having eaten a little of their fruit, he stored up the remainder. One day, having climbed up one of the fig-trees, he, as usual, was eating some of the fruit and gathering some to dry, when all of a sudden a Hog springing away from a hunter rushed into that jungle. Whenever it came to a tree it found no fruit on it, till it came to the foot of that up which the monkey was, gathering the figs. When the monkey’s eyes lighted on the Hog his heart was pained, and he said,

When the Hog saw the monkey he called out ‘Bravo!’ and having uttered the usual benedictory expressions, said, ‘Dost thou wish for a guest?’ The monkey, too, deceitfully returned a hypocritical answer, and said,

May the arrival of thy auspicious footstep be blessed and fortunate! If thou hadst previously favored me with a message informing me of thy high advent, assuredly the conditions of hospitality should have been fulfilled in a manner suitable to my circumstances. At present the shame that I feel is owing to the want of the means of entertainment.

The Hog replied, ‘We are just off our journey, and could most eagerly partake of whatever thou hast at hand.

The Monkey shook the fig-tree, and the Hog kept on eating with the utmost avidity, till not a thing was left on the tree and on the ground. He then turned to the Monkey, and said, ‘O gracious host! the fire of my hunger is still burning fiercely, and my greedy mind is still in distress to obtain food. Shake another tree, and bind me to thee as thy debtor.’ The Monkey willing or not shook another tree, and in a very short time not a trace of the fruit of that tree too was left. The Hog pointed to another tree. The Monkey said, ‘Dear guest! exceed not the bounds of generous sentiment! that which I have devoted to thee was a month’s provision for me, and I cannot offer thee more.

Hereupon the Hog grew angry and said, ‘This wilderness has been for a long time in thy possession, and now it shall belong to me!’ The Monkey replied, ‘To take away the territory of another is unlucky, and the conclusion of an oppressive and tyrannical course is not to be commended, but deprecated. Give up the thought of acting intemperately, and hold back thy hand from wrong and injustice; for oppression of the weak yields no happy result, and the molestation of the friendless bears no good fruit.

At these words the fire of the Hog’s wrath waxed hotter, and he said, ‘I will forthwith bring thee down from this tree, and pour into thy bosom what thou deservest.’ He then ascended the tree to throw the Monkey down. He had, however, hardly fixed himself on the first branch, when it broke, and falling head downwards he proceeded to the pit of hell.

And I have adduced this story, since thou too usurpest the fruit of others, and makest their allotted sustenance thy food. When these parties die of hunger, enmity to thee will settle in the hearts of their children, and being ever employed in speaking ill of thee behind thy back, they will not cease for one moment to curse thee. And if the impression of thy tyranny pervaded the world before, so now the rumor of thy pious abstinence is rife on all tongues. Yet in both cases animals cannot escape thy persecution, whether it be in a state of violence and mischief, or in the array of virtue and rectitude. And pray what devotion is this? that thou shouldest be as busied as ever in pampering thy body, and forbear to turn from sensual and corporeal gratifications to the securing intellectual and spiritual delights.

When the Lion heard this discourse, he relinquished his fruit-diet also, and, contenting himself with water and grass, increased his daily portions of worship and adoration; and, in season and out of season, repeated to himself the purport of these truth-distinguished couplets,

This is the story of a violent evil-doer, holding the inhabitants of the world in thraldom under his oppression, and regardless of the disastrous results; till in the end he becomes involved in the same calamity which he inflicted on his fellow-creatures; after which he recognises the right way and the path of rectitude. Similarly, the Lion, until he beheld both his beloved sons roasted on the fire of regret, removed not his heart from blood-thirstiness and evil actions. But when he gained this experience, he turned his back on the deceitful world, and thought it no longer admissible to give heed to its unsubstantial gauds, and was in no wise led to purchase the smiles of this faithless one.

And it behoves men of sense to comprehend well these directions, and store up these experiences for their present condition and future state; and to lay the foundation of their affairs in this world and that to come on the same one maxim, viz., that whatever they would not approve of for themselves and their children and their connections, they should not suffer to be done to others; in order that the commencements of their undertakings and the conclusion of their affairs, may be adorned with a good name and honorable celebrity, and that they may remain secure in this world and in that to come from the consequences of ill-actions and the baneful results of oppression.