Page:Katha sarit sagara, vol2.djvu/86

 cat here to declare what is just?"— Then they approached the cat and said; " Reverend sir, hear our cause, for you are a holy ascetic." When the cat heard that, he said to thorn in a low voice,— " I am weak from self-mortification, so I cannot hear at a distance, pray, come near me. For a case wrongly decided brings temporal and eternal death." With these words the cat encouraged them to come just in front of him, and then the base creature killed at one spring both the hare and Kapinjala.

" So, you bee, one cannot confide in villains whose actions are base. Accordingly you must not make this owl king, for he is a great villain." When the crow said this to the birds, they admitted the force of it, and gave up the idea of anointing the owl king, and dispersed in all directions. And the owl said to the crow; " Remember; from this day forth you and I are enemies. Now I take my leave of you." And he went away in a rage. But the crow, though he thought that he had spoken what was right, was for a moment despondent. Who is not grieved when he has involved himself in a dangerous quarrel by a mere speech?

" So you see that our feud with the owls arose from an inconsiderate utterance." Having said this to the king, Chirajívin continued, " The owls are numerous and strong, and you cannot conquer them. Numbers prevail in this world, hear an instance." Story of the Bráhman, the goat, and the rogues.* :— A Bráhman had bought a goat, and was returning from a village with it on his shoulder, when he was seen on the way by many rogues, who wished to deprive him of the goat. And one of them came up to him, and pretending to be in a great state of excitement, said; " Bráhman, how come you to have this dog on your shoulder? Put it down." When the Bráhman heard that, he paid no attention to it, but went on his way. Then two more came up and said the very same thing to him. Then he began to doubt, and went along examining the goat carefully, when three other rascals came up to him and said: " How comes it that you carry a dog and a sacrificial thread at the same time? Surely you must be a hunter, not a Bráhman, and this