Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 3 1885.djvu/340

 332 FOLK-TALES OF INDIA.

was in, and said, " greedy crow ; you heeded not my advice, and so your lust has brought upon you great suffering." Then he spake the following gdthd : —

" Who follows not his friend's advice, Nor his well-wisher's warning heeds, Will come to grief, just like this crow. That laughed to scorn the dove's kind words."

At the conclusion of this verse the Bodhisat said, " I shall no longer be able to stay in this place." He thereupon went elsewhere. The crow died there, and then the cook took it and threw it, along with the nest-basket, on to a dust-heap.

There are two variants of this story in the Jdtaka Book : —

(1) The Lola Jdtaka (vol. ii. No. 274, p. 361).

(2) The Kapota Jdtaha (vol. iii. No. 375, p. 224).

The original difference between the three Pali versions lies in the number of gdthds or verses. No. 1 has three while No. 2 contains six verses.

The first verse in No. 1 is spoken by the pigeon on seeing the crow in such a pretty plight. He pretends not to know him as he flutters about in his agony, and says mockingly : —

" tell me, I pray, what crested crane 's this That grandmother-like doth here limp about ; Come down, you old thief, no right have you there, My friend '11 be wrath whene'er he returns."

The crow replies : —

" No crane am I, my friend, but goodly crow, That heeded not thy word of good advice. Pray come and see what wretched plight I'm in, Full bare am I with feathers all stripped off."

The Bodhisat makes answer : —

" Again, my friend, to bitter grief you've come, From which for you there's no release, I trow, Your nature's such, no warning would you take, But ate the food of men, not meant for birds."