Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/114

106 was flying afar off, saw the rice and said to his fellow-doves:—"Whence cometh this rice in a desert? We should not crave for this rice. Once upon a time a traveller, through craving a bracelet, was deceived by a tiger and died.

Once upon a time an old tiger bathed and holding sacred grass in its hand stood on the bank of a tank and called aloud to a passer-by to take the golden bracelet which he offered him. The traveller thought to himself:—'This is my luck. Why hesitate ?' So he asked the tiger to show him the bracelet, and the tiger stretched forth his paw and said:—'See, here is the bracelet.' The traveller said:—'You are a cruel beast: how can I trust you'? The tiger replied:—'True, I was a very cruel beast in my young days, and slew a host of men and cows. As a consequence I lost my wife and children and have to live alone. But a kind man had mercy on me and advised me to give up killing men and cows and practise good actions. I took his advice, and now I am a poor, weak brute. Why can you not trust me? As you are a poor man I wish to give this in charity to you.