The Panchatantra (Purnabhadra's Recension of 1199 CE)/Book 3/Crows and Owls
BOOK III
CROWS AND OWLS
BOOK III
CROWS AND OWLS
Here, then, begins Book III, called "Crows and Owls," which treats of peace, war, and so forth. The first verse runs:
Reconciled although he be,
Never trust an enemy.
For the cave of owls was burned,
When the crows with fire returned.
"How was that?" asked the princes, and Vishnusharman told the following story.
In the southern country is a city called Earth-Base. Near it stands a great banyan tree with countless branches. And in the tree dwelt a crow-king named Cloudy with a countless retinue of crows. There he made his habitation and spent his time.
Now a rival king, a great owl named Foe-Crusher, had his fortress and his habitation in a mountain cave, and he had an unnumbered retinue of owls. This owl-king cherished a grudge, so that whenever he met a crow in his airings, he killed him and passed on. In this way his constant aggression gradually spread rings of dead crows about the banyan tree. Nor is this surprising. For the proverb says:
If you permit disease or foe
To march unheeded, you may know
That death awaits you, sure if slow.
Now one day Cloudy summoned all his counselors and said: "Gentlemen, as you are aware, our enemy is arrogant, energetic, and a judge of occasions. He always comes at nightfall to work havoc in our ranks. How, then, can we counter-attack? For we do not see at night, and in the daytime we cannot discover his fortress. Otherwise, we might go there and strike a blow. What course, then, shall we adopt? There are six possibilities—peace, war, change of base, entrenchment, alliances, and duplicity."
And they replied: "Your Majesty does well to put this question. For the saying goes:
Good counselors should tell their king,
Unasked, a profitable thing;
If asked, they should advise.
While flatterers who shun the true
(Which in the end is wholesome, too)
Are foemen in disguise.
Therefore it is now proper to confer in secret session."
Then Cloudy started to consult severally his five ancestral counselors, whose names were Live-Again, Live-Well, Live-Along, Live-On, and Live-Long. And first of all he questioned Live-Again: "My worthy sir, what is your opinion under the circumstances?" And Live-Again replied: "O King, one should not make war with a powerful enemy. And this one is powerful and knows when to strike. Therefore make peace with him. For the saying goes:
Bow your head before the great,
Lifting it when times beseem,
And prosperity will flow
Ever onward, like a stream.
And again:
Make your peace with powerful foes
Who are rich and good and wise,
Who are seasoned conquerors,
In whose home no discords rise.
Make your peace with wicked men,
If your life endangered be;
Life, itself first made secure,
Gives the realm security.
And again:
Make your peace with him whose wont
'Tis to conquer in a fight;
Other foes will bend their necks
To you, fearful of his might.
Even with equals make your peace;
Victory is often given
Whimsically; take no risks—
Says the current saw in heaven.
Even with equals victory
Whimsically may alight.
Try three other methods first;
Only in extremis fight.
And yet again:
See! The bully to whose soul
Power is all, and peace is not,
Clashing with an equal foe,
Crumbles like an earthen pot.
Land and friends and gold at most
Have been won when battles cease;
If but one of these should fail,
It is best to live in peace.
When a lion digs for moles
Hiding in their pebbly house,
He is apt to break his nails,
And at best he gets a mouse.
Therefore, where no prize is won
And a healthy fight is sure,
Never stir a quarrel, but
Whatsoe'er the cost, endure.
By a stronger foe assailed,
Bend as bends the river reed;
Do not strike, as serpents do,
If you wish your luck to speed.
Imitators of the reed
Slowly win to glory's peak;
But the luckless serpent-men
Only earn the death they seek.
Shrink like turtles in their shells,
Taking blows if need there be;
Raise your head from time to time
Like the black snake, warily.
To sum it up:
Never struggle with the strong
(If you wish to know my mind)
Who has ever seen a cloud
Baffle the opposing wind?"
Having heard this view, the king said to Live-Well: "My worthy sir, I desire to hear your opinion also." And Live-Well said: "O King, I disagree. Inasmuch as the enemy is cruel, greedy, and unprincipled, you should most certainly not make peace with him. For the proverb says:
With foes unprincipled and false.
'Tis vain to seek accommodation:
Agreements bind them not; and soon
They show a wicked transformation.
Therefore you should, in my judgment, fight with him. You know the saying:
'Tis easy to uproot a foe
Contemning fighters, never steady,
Cruel and greedy, slothful, false,
Foolish and fearful and unready.
"But more than this—we have been humiliated by him. Therefore, if you propose peace, he will be angry and will employ violence again. There is a saying:
The truculence of fevered foes
By gentle measures is abetted:
What wise physician tries a douche?
He knows that fever should be sweated.
Conciliation simply makes
A foeman's indignation splutter,
Like drops of water sprinkled on
A briskly boiling pan of butter.
Besides, the previous speaker's point about the strength of the enemy is not decisive.
The smaller often slays the great
By showing energy and vigor:
The lion kills the elephant,
And rules with unrestricted rigor.
And more than that:
Foes indestructible by might
Are slain through some deceptive gesture.
As Bhima strangled Kichaka,
Approaching him in woman's vesture.
And yet again:
When kings are merciless as death,
All foes are quick to knuckle under;
Quick, too, to kill the kings who fall
Into compassion's fatal blunder.
And he whose sun of glory sets
Before the glory of another
Is born in vain; he wastes for naught
The youthful vigor of his mother.
For Regal Splendor, unbesmeared
With foemen's blood as rich cosmetic,
Though dear, is insufficient for
Ambitions truly energetic.
And in a kingdom unbedewed
With foemen's blood in slaughter gory,
And hostile women's falling tears,
The king enjoys no living glory."
Having heard this view, the king put the question to Live-Along: "My worthy sir, pray express your opinion also." And Live-Along said: "O King, the enemy is vicious and powerful and unscrupulous. Therefore you should make neither peace nor war with him. Only a change of base can be recommended. For the saying goes:
With vicious foemen, proud of power,
From hindering scruples free,
Adopt a change of base, not peace
Nor war, for victory.
Now change of base is known to be
No single thing, but twin—
Retreat, to save imperiled life;
Invasion, planned to win.
A warlike and ambitious king
May choose 'twixt April and
November—other months are barred—
To invade the hostile land.
For storming-parties—so the books
Prescribe—all times are fair,
If hostile forces show distress,
And lay some weakness bare.
A king should put his realm in charge
Of heroes strong and fit;
Then pounce upon the hostile land,
When spies have peopled it.
The case in hand requires, O King,
The base-change called Retreat,
Not peace nor war; the foe is vile,
And very hard to beat.
"Furthermore, a recessive movement is made, says the science of ethics, with due regard to cause and effect. The point is thus expressed in poetry:
When rams draw back, their butting fiercer stings;
The crouching king of beasts more deadly springs:
So wise dissemblers, holding vengeance sure,
In dumb communion with their hearts, endure.
And once again:
A king, abandoning his realm
To foes of fighting worth,
Preserves his life, as Fight-Firm did,
And later rules the earth.
And so, to sum it up:
The weak who, struggling with the strong,
Are not too proud to fight,
Bring great rejoicing to their foes,
And on their kinsmen, blight.
"Therefore, since you are engaged with a powerful foe, there is occasion for a change of base. It is no time for peace or war."
When he had listened to this view, the king said to Live-On: "My worthy sir, pray express your opinion also." And Live-On said: "O King, I disapprove of peace, war, and change of base, all three of them; and particularly change of base. For
A crocodile at home
Can beat an elephant;
But if he goes abroad,
A dog can make him pant.
And again:
When stronger foes attack,
Close in your fortress stay;
But sally to relieve
Your friends, and save the day
If, panic-struck, you flee
When foes are at the door,
And leave the land to them,
You ne'er will see it more.
One man, entrenched, can hold
A hundred foes at bay
(Strong foes at that), therefore
In your entrenchment stay.
Therefore provide your fort
With shaft and gun; adorn
It well with moat and wall,
And store abundant corn.
Stand ever firm within,
Resolved to do or die:
So, living, earn renown;
Or dead, the starry sky.
And there is a further consideration:
The union of the weak
A powerful bully stumps:
The hostile blizzard spares
The shrubs that grow in clumps.
And single trees, though huge
And posted for defense,
May be uprooted by
The stout wind's violence.
While groves of trees, where each
Receives and gives defense,
Unitedly defy
The wind's fierce violence.
Just so, one man alone,
However brave he be,
Is scorned by foes, who soon
Proceed to injury."
Having listened to this view likewise, the king said to Live-Long: "My worthy sir, pray express your opinion also." And Live-Long said: "O King, from among the six possibilities, I recommend alliance. Pray adopt that. For the saying goes:
Though deft and brilliant, what good end
Can you attain without a friend?
The fire that seems immortal will
Die when the fanning wind is still.
"Therefore you should stay at home and seek some competent ally, to make a counterweight against the enemy. But if you leave home and travel, no one will give you so much as a friendly word. For the proverb says:
The wind is friend to forest-fire
And causes it to flame the higher;
The same wind blows a candle out.
Who cares what poor folk are about?
"Nor is it even essential that the ally be powerful; the alliance even of feeble folk makes for defense. You know the saying:
However weak, a bamboo stem
From others takes, and gives to them
Strength to resist uprooting: so
Weak kings unite against a foe.
"And how much more so, if you have alliance with the truly great! For the poet says:
Who is there whom a friendly state
With great folk does not elevate?
The raindrop, hiding in a curl
Of lotus-petal, shines like pearl.
"Thus, O King, there is no counterweight to your enemy save in alliance. Therefore let an alliance be concluded. Such is my opinion."
After these opinions had been given, Cloudy bowed low before an ancient, farsighted counselor of his race. This was a crow who had persevered to the last page of every textbook of social ethics, and his name was Live-Strong. "Father," said the king, "I had a secret purpose in questioning the others in your very presence; namely, that you might listen to everything, and instruct me as to what is fitting. Pray instruct me in the appropriate course of action."
And Live-Strong said: "My son, all that these have proposed is drawn from the textbooks of social ethics, and all is highly proper, each course in its own good time. But the present hour demands duplicity. You have heard the saying:
You must regard with like distrust
Both peace and warlike measures; must
Seek through duplicity your goal,
With powerful foes of evil soul.
"In this way those who themselves trust nobody and have a single eye to self-interest can win the trust of an enemy and easily destroy him. For the saying goes:
Shrewd enemies will cause a foe
Whom they would ruin, first to grow:
The flow of mucus by molasses
Is first increased, but later passes.
And again:
To foe, to false friend, to female
(Particularly her for sale)
The man so simple as to give
Straightforward conduct, does not live.
Proceed in pure straightforwardness
With Brahmans, with the gods no less,
With teachers, with yourself; but treat
All other creatures to deceit.
A hermit mastering his soul
May see life simple, see it whole;
Not those who thirst for carnal things,
Nor, most particularly, kings.
And so:
Strong through duplicity, you will
Preserve your habitation still;
For death will prove a friend in need,
To crush a foe possessed by greed.
"Furthermore, if a vulnerable point appears in him, you will destroy him by being aware of it."
But Cloudy said: "Father, I do not know his residence. So how shall I become aware of a vulnerable point?"
And Live-Strong replied: "My son, through spies I will reveal not only his dwelling, but also his vulnerable point. For
Cows see a thing by sense of smell;
While Scripture serves the Brahman well;
The king perceives by means of spies:
And other creatures use their eyes.
And in this connection there is another saying:
The king, well served by spies, who knows
The functionaries of his foes,
Who knows his retinue no less,
Is never plunged in deep distress."
Then Cloudy said: "Father, what are these functionaries? What is their number? And of what character are secret-service men? Pray tell me all."
And Live-Strong replied: "On these points the sage Narada gave the following information when questioned by King Fight-Firm. In the hostile camp are eighteen functionaries; in one's own, fifteen. Their conduct is discovered by assigning to each three secret-service men, by whose efforts both friends and enemies are kept in good control. The facts are put in a bit of doggerel:
The foe has eighteen functionaries;
And you have five and ten:
Give each, as unknown secretaries,
Three secret-service men.
"The term 'functionary' implies a delegated task. If this be shamefully performed, it ruins the king; if admirably, it brings him high success.
"Now for details. The functionaries in the hostile camp are—the counselor, the chaplain, the commander-in-chief, the crown prince, the concierge, the superintendent of the gyneceum, the adviser, the tax-collector, the introducer, the master of ceremonies, the director of the stables, the treasurer, the minister for elephants, the assessor, the war-minister, the minister for fortifications, the favorite, the forester, and so forth. By sowing intrigue among these the enemy is subdued. In one's own camp the functionaries are—the queen, the queen-mother, the chamberlain, the florist, the lord of the bedchamber, the chief of the secret service, the star-gazer, the court physician, the purveyor of water, the purveyor of spices, the professor, the life-guard, the quarter-master, the bearer of the royal umbrella, and the geisha. It is by way of these that ruin befalls one's own party. As the saying goes:
Professor, star-scout, and physician
Find flaws within your home position:
The madman and snake-charmer know
Points vulnerable in the foe."
"Father," said Cloudy, "what is the origin of the deadly feud between crows and owls?"
And Live-Strong answered: "Listen. I will tell you