Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/195

 Now, as chance would have it, that noble boar woke up and heard the conversation of the lion and his mate. And he was delighted, and thought to himself, " The idea of my receiving such guests on such a night in such a storm ! Ah ! to-day my merit in a former state of existence has brought forth fruit. So let me satiate these guests with this body that perishes in a moment, while 1 have a chance of doing so." Having thus reflected, the boar rose up, and went out, and said to the lion with an affectionate voice; " My good friend, do not despond. For here I am ready to be eaten by you and your mate and your cub: so eat me." When the boar said this, the lion was delighted and said to his mate, " Let this cub eat first, then I will eat, and you shall eat after me." She agreed, and first the cub ate some of the flesh of the boar, and then the lion himself began to eat. And while he was eating, the noble boar said to him, " Drink my blood quickly, before it sinks into the ground, and satisfy your hunger with my flesh, and let your mate eat the rest." While the boar was saying this, the lion gradually devoured his flesh until nothing but bones was left, but still the virtuous boar did not die, for his life remained in him, as if to see what would be the end of his endurance. And in the meanwhile the lioness, exhausted with hunger, died in the cave, and the lion went off somewhere or other with his cub, and the night came to an end. At this juncture his friend the monkey woke up, and went out, and seeing the boar reduced to such a condition, said to him in the utmost excitement, " Who reduced you to such a state? Tell me, my friend, if you can." Thereupon the heroic boar told him the whole story. Then the monkey prostrated himself at his feet, and said to him with tears, " You must be a portion of some divinity, since you have thus rescued yourself from this animal nature: so tell me any wish that you may have, and I will endeavour to fulfil it for you." When the monkey said this to the boar, the boar answered; " Friend, the only wish that I have is one difficult for even Destiny to fulfil. For my heart longs that I may recover my body as before, and that this unfortunate lioness that died of hunger before my eyes, may return to life, and satiate her hunger by devouring me."

While the boar was saying this, the god of Justice appeared in bodily form, and stroking him with his hand, turned him into a chief of sages possessing a celestial body. And he said to him; " It was I that assumed the form of this lion, and lioness, and cub, and produced this whole illusion, because I wished to conquer thee who art exclusively intent on benefiting thy fellow-creatures; but thou, possessing perfect goodness, gavest thy life for others, and so hast triumphed over me the god of Justice, and gained this rank of a chief of sages." The sage, hearing this, and seeing the god of Justice standing in front of him, said, " Holy lord, this rank of chief of sages, even though attained, gives me no pleasure, since