The Priest in Horse-Trappings

Once upon a time, when king Brahmadatta was reigning
in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born of his chief queen.
He came of age, and his father passed away ; and then he
became king and ruled in righteousness.

The Bodhisatta had a family priest named Ruhaka,
and this Ruhaka had an old brahmin woman to wife.

The king gave the brahmin a horse accoutred with all
its trapping's, and he mounted the horse and went to wait
upon the king. As he rode along on the back of his
richly caparisoned steed, the people on this side and that
were loud in its praise: "See that fine horse!" they cried;
"what a beauty!"

When he came home again, he went into his mansion
and told his wife, "Goodwife," said he, "our horse is
passing fine ! Right and left the people are all speaking
in praise of it."

Now his wife was no better than she should be, and full
of deceit ; so she made reply to him thus.

"Ah, husband, you do not know wherein lies the beauty
of this horse. It is all in his fine trappings. Now if you
would make yourself fine like the horse, put his trappings
on yourself and go down into the street, prancing along
horse-fashion. You will see the king, and he will praise
you, and all the people will praise you."

This fool of a brahmin listened to it all, but did not
know what she purposed. So he believed her, and did as
she had said. All that saw him laughed aloud: "There
goes a fine professor ! " said they all. And the king cried
shame on him. "Why, my Teacher," said he, "has your
bile gone wrong? Are you crazy?" At this the brahmin
thought that he must have behaved amiss, and he was
ashamed. So he was wroth with his wife, and made haste
home, saying to himself, "The woman has shamed me
before the king and all his army : I will chastise her and
turn her out of doors ! "

But the crafty woman found out that he had come
home in anger; she stole a march on him, and departed
by a side door, and made her way to the palace, where
she stayed four or five days. When the king heard of it,
he sent for his priest, and said to him,

"My Teacher, all womankind are full of faults; you
ought to forgive this lady"; and with intent to make him
forgive he uttered the first stanza:

Even a broken bowstring 1 can be mended and made whole:
Forgive your wife, and cherish not this anger in your soul.

Hearing this, Ruhaka uttered the second :

While there is bark and workmen too
"Tis easy to buy bowstrings new.
Another wife I will procure;
I've had enough of this one, sure.

So saying, he sent her away, and took him another
brahmin woman to wife.