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discharge rain. Then the fools said; " Our master told us to take care that the rain did not touch the leather of the trunks;" and after they had made this sage reflection, they dragged the clothes out of the trunks and wrapped them round the leather. The consequence was, that the rain spoiled the clothes. Then the merchant returned, and in a rage said to his servants; " You rascals ! Talk of water ! Why the whole stock of clothes is spoiled by the rain." And they answered him; " You told us to keep the rain off the leather of the trunks. What fault have we committed?" He answered; "I told you that, if the leather got wet, the clothes would be spoiled: I told it you in order to save the clothes, not the leather." Then he placed the load on another camel, and when he returned home, imposed a fine on his servants amounting to the whole of their wealth.
" Thus fools, with undiscerning hearts, turn things upside down, and ruin their own interests and those of other people, and give such absurd answers. Now hear in a few words the story of tho'fool and the cakes."
Story of the fool and the cakes.*[1]:— A certain traveller bought eight cakes for a pana; and he ate six of them without being satisfied, but his hunger was satisfied by eating the seventh. Then the blockhead exclaimed; " I have been cheated; why did I not eat this cake, which has allayed the pangs of hunger, first of all? Why did I waste those others, why did I not store them up?" In these words he bewailed the fact that his hunger was only gradually satisfied, and the people laughed at him for his ignorance.
Story of the servant who looked after the door.†[2]:— A certain merchant said to his the door. foolish servant; " Take care of the door of my shop, I am going home for a moment. After the merchant had said this, he went away, and the servant took the shop-door on his shoulder and went off to see an actor perform. And as he was returning, his master met him and gave him a scolding. And he answered, " I have taken care of this door as you told me."
" So a fool, who attends only to the words of an order and does not understand the meaning, causes detriment. Now hear the wonderful story of the buffalo and the simpletons."
Story of the simpletons who ate the buffalo.:— Some villagers took a buffalo belonging to a certain man, and killed it in an enclosure outside the village, under a banyan-tree, and, dividing
- ↑ * This is No. LXVI in the Avadánas.
- ↑ † Cp. the 37th story in Sicilianische Märchen, part I. p. 249. Giusa's mother wished to go to the mass and she said to him " Giusa, if you go out, draw the door to after you." (Ziehe die Thür hinter dir zu.) Instead of shutting the door, Giusa took it off its hinges and carried it to his mother in the church. See Dr. Köhler's notes on the story.
