42
balance was made of a thousand palas of iron; and depositing it in the care of a certain merchant, he went to another land. And when, on his return, he came to that merchant to demand back his balance, the merchant said to him: " It has been eaten by mice." He repeated, " It is quite true, the iron, of which it was composed, was particularly sweet, and 80 the mice ate it." This he said with an outward show of sorrow, laughing in his heart. Then the merchant's son asked him to give him some food, and he, being in a good temper, consented to give him some. Then the merchant's son went to bathe, taking with him the son of that merchant, who was a mere child, and whom he persuaded to come with him by giving him a dish of ámalakas. And after he had bathed, the wise merchant's son deposited the boy in the house of a friend, and returned alone to the house of that merchant. And the merchant said to him, " Where is that son of mine?" He replied, " A kite swooped down from the air and carried him off." The merchant in a rage said, " You have concealed my son," and so he took him into the king's judgment-hall; and there the merchant's son made the same statement. The officers of the court said, " This is impossible, how could a kite carry off a boy?" But the merchant's son answered; " In a country where a large balance of iron was eaten by mice, a kite might carry off an elephant, much more a boy."*[1] When the officers heard that, they asked about it, out of curiosity, and made the merchant restore the balance to the owner, and he, for his part, restored the merchant's child.
" Thus, you see, persons of eminent ability attain their ends by an artifice. But you, by your reckless impetuosity, have brought our master into danger." When Damanaka heard this from Karataka, he laughed and said— " Do not talk like this ! What chance is there of a lion's not being victorious in a fight with a bull? There is a considerable difference between a lion, whose body is adorned with numerous scars of wounds from the tusks of infuriated elephants, and a tame ox, whose body has been pricked by the goad." While the jackals were carrying on this discussion, the
John of Capua, e., 4, German translation (Ulm, 1483) H., II, b., Firenzuola, 82, Doni, 113, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 187, Livre dea Lumières, 135, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 853, Robert, Fables inédites, II, 193—196. (Benfey, I, 283). It is the Ist of the IXth Book of La Fontaine's Fables, Le depositaire infidèle.
- ↑ * The argument reminds one of that in " Die Kluge Bauerntochter," (Grimm's Marchen, 94). The king adjudges a foal to the proprietor of some oxen, because it was found with his beasts. The real owner fishes in the road with a net. The king demands an explanation. He says, " It is just as easy for me to catch fish on dry land, as for two oxen to produce a foal." See also Das Märchen vom sprechendem Bauche, Kuden'a Unter don Olivenbäumen, pp. 83, 84.
