Page:Panchatantra.djvu/219

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210
THE PANCHATANTRA

And again:

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.