The Panchatantra (Purnabhadra's Recension of 1199 CE)/Book 1/The Foolish Friend
THE FOOLISH FRIEND
In this spot they sold all three gems, the merchant's son serving as their agent. The considerable capital thus obtained he laid before the prince, who, having appointed the son of the man of learning his prime minister, planned to seize the kingdom of the monarch of that country, and made the merchant's son his secretary of the treasury. He then, by offering double pay, assembled an army of picked elephants, horse, and infantry, began hostilities with a prime minister intelligent in the six expedients, killed the king in battle, seized his kingdom, and himself became king. Next he delegated all burdensome administrative functions to his two friends and consulted his ease in a life of graceful luxury.
After a time, as he dallied now and then in the ladies' apartments, he made a pet and constant companion of a monkey from the stable near by. For it is a well-known fact that kings take naturally to parrots, partridges, pigeons, rams, monkeys, and such creatures. In course of time the monkey, regaled with a variety of dainties from the royal hand, grew to be a big fellow, and became an object of respect to the entire court. The king, indeed, felt such confidence in the monkey and such affection that he made him his personal sword-bearer.
Now the king had near his palace a pleasure-grove made charming by clumps of trees of various species. When springtime came, he perceived how delightful was this grove, since it advertised the glory of Love in the humming of swarms of bees, and was fragrant with the perfumes of crowding blossoms. He therefore entered it with his queen in a passion of love, and all his human retinue were left behind at the entrance.
After a period of delighted wandering and gazing, the king grew weary and said to the monkey: "I shall rest and sleep a moment in this arbor. You must keep careful watch to prevent anyone from disturbing me." With this he went to sleep.
Presently a bee, drawn by the fragrance of flowers, of musk, and other perfumes, hovered over him and alighted on his head. On seeing this, the monkey angrily thought: "What! Under my very eyes this wretched creature looks upon the king!" And he undertook to drive him away.
But when the bee, for all his efforts, continued to approach the king, the monkey went blind with rage, drew his sword, and fetched a blow at the bee—a blow that split the king's head.
And the queen, who was sleeping beside him, started up in terror, screaming when she beheld the incomprehensible fact: "You fool! You monkey! The king trusted you. How could you do it?"
Then the monkey told what had happened, after which everybody, by common consent, scolded him and shunned him.
"So there is reason in saying that one should not make friends with a fool, inasmuch as the monkey killed the king. Indeed, that is why I say:
To foes of sense, not foolish friends,
'Tis wiser far to cling:
The robber for his victims died;
The monkey killed the king."
And Cheek continued:
"Where your sort have the final word,
By whom friends' enmities are stirred,
Whose wisdom lies in tricky traps,
All efforts end in sad mishaps.
And again:
The saint, however deep his need,
Still shuns the guilt of evil deed;
Still does the deeds that bring no shame
To honorable name and fame.
Again:
The wise in need still does the deed
That keeps his honor bright:
The shell a peacock ate and dropped,
Remains a pearly white.
And the proverb says:
Wrong is wrong; the wise man never
Wrong as right will treat:
None would drink, however thirsty,
Water in the street.
To sum it all up:
Do the right, the right, the right,
Till the breath of death;
Shun the wrong, although the right
Lead to death of breath."
Hereupon, being a tortuous-minded creature to whom a sermon advocating such moral standards was sheer poison, Victor slunk away.
At this moment Rusty and Lively, their minds blinded by rage, renewed the battle. But when Rusty had killed Lively, his wrath subsided into pity at the memory of past affection. He wiped his weeping eyes with a blood-smeared paw and penitently said: "Ah, me! It was very wrong. Lively was almost my second life. In killing him, I have only hurt myself. For the proverb says:
When bits are lost of royal land
Or servants true who understand,
The servants' loss is deadly pain;
Lost lands are quickly won again."
But Victor, the impudent, perceiving that Rusty was mastered by irresolution, slowly crept near and said: "Master, what conduct is this—to show yourself irresolute after slaying a rival? For the saying runs:
None leaves a father, brother, son,
Or bosom-friend alive
Who treasonably threatens him,
If he desires to thrive.
Likewise:
A king compassionate,
A careless magistrate,
A wilful wife, a friend
Whose thoughts to treason tend,
A guzzling Brahman, or
A sulky servitor,
With all who do not know
Their business—let them go
Go however far to find
Honest joy;
Learn from any who is wise,
Though a boy;
Give your life, the altruist's
Bliss to win;
Cut your very arm away
If it sin.
"And the morality of kings has nothing in common with that of ordinary men. As the proverb says:
To ruling monarchs let no trace
Of common nature cling;
For what is vice in other men,
Is virtue in a king.
And once more:
Kings' policy is fickle, like
A woman of the town:
For now it hoards its money up,
Now flings it careless down;
'Tis rough and flattering by turns;
'Tis kind, and cruel too;
Exacting much and giving much,
At once 'tis false and true."
Hereupon Cheek, since Victor did not return, drew near, sat down beside the lion, and said to Victor: "Sir, you know nothing of the business of administration, since the stirring of strife means the destruction of those who had enjoyed mutual friendship. It is not the practice of genuine counselors, when objects of ambition are attainable through conciliation, bribery, or intrigue, to advise the master to fight his own servant, so bringing him into deadly danger. As the proverb says:
The god of wealth, the god of war,
The god of water, and
The god of fire have planned to win,
Then lost the fights they planned;
For victory is not a thing
That men or gods command.
And besides:
No wisdom lies in fighting, since
It is the fools who fight;
The wise discover in wise books
What course is wise and right,
And wise books in the course that is
Not violent, delight.
"Therefore a counselor should under no circumstances advise his master to fight. And there is another wise saying:
Where the palace harbors servants
Kindly, modest, pure,
Death to enemies, and deaf to
Avarice's lure,
Foes may struggle, but the royal
Honor is secure.
Therefore
Speak the truth, though harsh it be:
Blarney is true enmity.
And again:
Where royal servants, asked or not,
Indulge in pleasant lies
That lead the royal mind astray,
The royal glory dies.
"Furthermore, counselors should be consulted severally by the master, who should thereupon make his own decision concerning the advice given by each, as tending to the king's loss or profit. For it happens at times that even an established fact seems otherwise to a wandering judgment. As the proverb says:
The firefly seems a fire, the sky looks flat;
Yet sky and fly are neither this nor that.
The true seem often false, the false seem true;
Appearances deceive, so think it through.
"Consequently, a master should not implicitly rely on the advice of a servant who lacks the administrative sense, inasmuch as rascally servants, for their personal profit, present matters to the master in a false light, and with bewildering eloquence. Hence, a master should undertake a matter only after full reflection. As the proverb says:
Let fit and friendly counsel first,
And more than once, be heard;
Then ponder on the plan proposed
From first to final word;
Then act, and harvest fame and wealth,
Avoiding the absurd.
"Finally, let no master suffer his mind to be twitched aside by others' counsel. Let him always be mindful of the differences in men, let him fully consider the ultimate issue, whether favorable or the reverse, of various counsels, answers, and times of action. Let him be the master, a wise master, ever cognizant of the multiform complexities of duty."
Here ends Book I, called "The Loss of Friends." The first verse runs:
The forest lion and the bull
Were linked in friendship, growing, full;
A jackal then estranged the friends
For greedy and malicious ends.