Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 3 1885.djvu/67

Rh serpent's. What's the reason, I wonder, he seizes us?" Asking this, he spake the following gâtha:—

On hearing this the crab gave him the cause of his being held fast in the two following gâthas:—

The serpent on hearing this thought to himself:—I must by some artifice outwit this fellow and release the crow and myself. Then in order to take him in he uttered the next gâtha:—

Having heard this the crab thought to himself: "This serpent, by some artifice, wishes me to release these two creatures and then to make off. He is not aware of my cleverness in artifices. I'll now relax my grasp, so that the serpent shall be able to move about, but I'll not as yet release the crow." Thus thinking he uttered the following gâtha:—

And, moreover, when he had thus spoken he unloosened his claw so as to let the serpent get easily away. The serpent extracted the poison and freed the body of the Bodhisat from the venom.

He rose up, free from injury, and had too his natural appearance. The crab thought to himself, "If these two creatures be allowed to