The king said, ‘I have heard the story of a person who thoughtlessly and unreflectingly threw himself into the sea of regret and repentance, and through impatience and want of endurance, was caught in the snare of penitence and remorse. Now, if convenient, detail to me the purport of the Seventh Precept; and narrate the story of a person captured by his enemies; and explain the history of one surrounded by powerful foes, both on the left and on the right, and before and behind, and against whom many opponents have risen up, who, rushing upon him, cut him off on all sides. Thus he beholds himself in the claws of destruction and the grasp of ruin, and deems it requisite to form a connection and friendship with one of them; nay, to enter into a treaty and agreement with him, in order to escape safely. Say how shall he advance in this matter? and when, by the aid and assistance of one of his enemies, he obtains liberation from that calamity, how is he to fulfil his promise? And after having made the first courteous overtures, by what contrivance is he to keep open the path of concord?’ The Bráhman replied, ‘In general, friendship and enmity are not durable, because they are for the most part accidental, and that which is accidental quickly perishes. Consequently many friendships decrease with the lapse of time; nay, become entirely annihilated. In the same manner enmities, too, change and become erased from the tablet of the breast. The affection and animosity of the people of this world are like the clouds of spring, which sometimes pour down, and at other times withhold their showers; they have, therefore, no permanence nor stability.

There is as little dependence to be placed on the love and hatred of man­kind, as on the partiality of a prince, the beauty of the fair, the voices of young singers, the fidelity of women, the favor of the deranged,* the generosity of the drunken, the attachment of the populace, or the flattery of foes; for in none of these can you place any reliance, nor can you set your heart upon their duration.

For there have been many friendships which, after reaching the very extreme of union and attachment, and, after being founded in sincere and pure attachment, and mounting in the course of time to the very pinnacle of heaven, have been, by some fatal misfortune,* changed from the most unalloyed affection to the extreme of hate, while their moisture was dried up by the scorching wind of separation. Again, long animosities and hereditary quarrels may be annihilated by a little kindness, and a foundation of friendship laid and strengthened in an excellent manner. Hence it is that men of under­standing do not give up treating an enemy with courtesy, nor at once cut off all hopes of reconciliation. Neither do they place implicit reliance upon every friendship, nor feel perfect security and confidence therein. And of the perfect sayings, which have flowed from the source of the Great Prophecy, this significatory sentence is one that has been honored by manifestation, ‘Love thy friend moderately, not to the very extreme.’

Wherefore, as it is well known that small confidence is to be placed in the friendship or animosity of mankind, it behoves a wise and prudent man not to reject the overtures of an enemy to reconciliation and friendship, which may be the means of averting evils and of attracting benefits; but on the contrary, he should make use of every means in his power, as the exigencies of the moment may require, for the accomplishment of his purpose—in order that by happy influence of foresight and reflection, the door of good-fortune may be opened and the moon of prosperity dawn from the horizon of success. And of the various examples which have been quoted on this subject, that of the Rat and Cat is one.’ The king asked, ‘How was that?’