The Wedge-Pulling Monkey

There was a city in a certain region. In a grove
near by, a merchant was having a temple built. Each
day at the noon hour the foreman and workers would
go to the city for lunch.

Now one day a troop of monkeys came upon the



half-built temple. There lay a tremendous anjana

log, which a mechanic had begun to split, a wedge of
acacia-wood being thrust in at the top

There the monkeys began their playful frolics
upon tree-top, lofty roof, and woodpile. Then one of
them, whose doom was near, thoughtlessly bestrode



the log, thinking: "Who stuck a wedge in this queer



place?" So he seized it with both hands and started
to work it loose. Now what happened when the wedge
gave at the spot where his private parts entered the
cleft, that, sir, you know without being told.

And that is why I say that meddling should be



avoided by the intelligent. And you know," he con
tinued, "that we two pick up a fair living just from
his leavings."

But, f said Victor, cc how can you give first-rate
service merely from a desire for food with no desire
for distinction ? There is wisdom in the saying:

In hurting foes and helping friends
The wise perceive the proper ends
Of serving kings. The belly's call

To answer, is no job at all.



And again :



When many lives on one depend,

Then life is life indeed:
A crow, with beak equipped, can fill

His belly's selfish need.



If loving kindness be not shown
To friends and souls in pain,
To teachers, servants, and one's self

What use in life, what gain
crow will live for many years

And eat the offered grain.

dog is quite contented
He gets a meatless bone,
dirty thing with gristle-strings
And marrow-fat alon
And not enough of it at that

To still his belly's moan.


The lion scorns the jackal, though
Between his paws, to smite

The elephant. For everyone
However sad his plight,

Demands the recompense that he
Esteems his native right.

Dogs wag their tails and fawn and roll
Bare mouth and belly, at your feet:

Bull-elephants show self-esteem,
Demand much coaxing ere they eat.
tiny rill

Is quick to fill,

And quick a mouse's paws;
So seedy men

Are grateful, when

There is but little cause.




For if there be no mind
Debating good and

And if religion send
No challenge to the will

If only greed be there
For some material feast

How draw a line between

The man-beast and the beast?



Or more accurately yet:



Since cattle draw the plow
Through rough and level soil

And bend their patient necks *
To heavy wagons' toil,

Are kind* of sinless birth


And find in grass a feast,

How can they be compared

With any human beast ?"

But at present," said Cheek, "we two hold no
job at court. So why meddle ?" "My dear fellow,
said Victor, "after a little the jobless man does hold
a job. As the saying goes:

The jobless man is hired

For careful serving;

The holder may be fired,
If undeserving.



No character moves up or down
At others' smile or others' frown;
But honor or contempt on earth
Will follow conduct's inner worth.



And once more:



It costs an effort still

To carry stones uphill;

They tumble in a trice:
So virtue, and so vice/ 1



"Well/' said Cheek, "what do you wish to imply 5
And Victor answered: "You see, our master is



frightened, his servants are frightened, and he does




not know what to do." "How can you be sure
that?" asked Cheek, and Victor said: "Isn't it plain f

An ox can understand, of course

The spoken word; a driven horse
Or elephant, exerts his force;



But men of wisdom can infer
Unuttered thought from features' stir—
For wit rewar4s its worshiper.



And again:



From feature, gesture, gait
From twitch, or word

From change in eye or face

thought inferred.

So by virtue of native intelligence I intend to get him

into my power this very day."

"Why," said Cheek, "you do not know how to
make yourself useful to a superior. So tell me. How

can you establish power over him ?

And why, my good fellow, do I not know how to



make myself useful?" said Victor. "The saintly poet
Vyasa has sung the entry of the Pandu princes into



Virata's court. From his poem I learned the whole
duty of a functionary. You have heard the proverb:

No burden enervates the strong;

To enterprise no road is long;

The well-informed all countries range;



To flatterers no man is strange.

But Cheek objected: "He might perhaps despise
you for forcing yourself into a position that does not
belong to you." "Yes," said Victor, "there is point
in that. However, I am also a judge of occasions.

And there are rules, as follows:



The Lord of Learning, speaking to




false occasion,

Will meet with hatred, and of course



Lack all persuasion



And again:



The favorite's business comes to be




sudden source of king's ennui,
When he is thoughtful, trying scents
Retiring, or in conference.

And once again :



On hours of talk or squabbling rude
Of physic, barber, flirting, food,

gentleman does not intrude.

Let everyone be cautious

In palaces of kings
And let not students rummage

In their professor's things:
For naughty meddlers suffer



Destruction swift and sure
Like evening candles, lighted

In houses of the poor



Or put it this way:



On entering a palace,

Adjust a modest dress
Go slowly, bowing lowly

In timely humbleness
And sound the kingly temper

And kingly whims no less.



Or this way:

Though ignorant and common

Unworth the honoring
Men win to royal favor

By standing near the king:
For kings and vines and maidens

To nearest neighbors cling.



And once agafti:



The servant in his master's face



Discerns the signs of wrath and grace,
And though the master jerk and tack,
The servant slowly mounts his back.

And finally:



The brave, the learn&L he who wins

To bureaucratic power —
These three, alone of all mankind


it Can pluck earth's golden flower.

Now let me inform you how power is gained




dancing attendance on a master.

Win the friendly counselors

To the monarch dear

Win persuasive speakers; so
Gain the royal ear.



On the undiscerning mob
Tis not wise to toil:

No man reaps a harvest
Plowing barren soil.




Serve a king of merit, though
Friendless, destitute;

After some delay, you pluck
Long-enduring fruit.



Hate your master, and you fill

Servant's meanest state:
Not discerning whom to serve

Tis yourself you hate.



Treat the dowager, the queen

And the king-to-be,
Chaplain, porter, counselor,

Most obsequiously.

One who seeks the van in fights
In the palace clings,

In the city walks behind,

beloved of kings.

One who flatters when addressed

Does the proper things

Acts without expressing doubts

Is beloved of kings.



One, the royal gifts of cash

Prudently who flings,

Wearing gifts of garments, he

Is beloved of kings.



One who never makes reply

That his master stings,

Never boisterously laughs,

Is beloved of kings.



One who never hearkens to

Queenly whisperings,

In the women's quarters dumb

Is beloved of kings.



One who, even in distress

Never boasts and sings
Of his master's favor, he

Is beloved of kings.



One who hates his master's foe



Loves his friend, and brings
Pain or joy to either one,

Is beloved of kings.
One who never disagrees,

Blames, or pulls the strings
Of intrigue with enemies,

Is beloved of kings
One who finds in battle, peace

Free from questionings,
Thinks of exile as of home,

beloved of kings.

One who thinks of dice as death



Wine as poison-stings

Others 1 wives as statues, he



Is beloved of kings.

"Well," said Cheek, "when you come into his pres-
ence, what do you intend to say first? Please tell me

that." And Victor replied:

Answers, after speech begins

Further answers breed


As a seed, with timely rain
Ripens other seed.

And besides:



A clever servant shows his master
The gleam of triumph or disaster
From good or evil courses springing,
And shows him wit, decision-bringing.



The man possessing such a wit
Should magnify and foster it
Thereby he earns a livelihood
And public honor from the good.



And there is a saying:



Let anyone who does not seek
His master's fall, unbidden speak;
So act at least the excellent:
The other kind are different
But/' said Cheek, "kings are hard to conciliate
There is a saying:

In sensuous coil
And heartless toil,
In sinuous course
And armored force,
In savage harms
That yield to charms

In all these things

Are snakes like kings



Uneven, rough,

And high enough

Yet low folk roam

Their flanks as home,

And wild things haunt
Them, hungry, gaunt

In all these things

Are hills like kings.



The things that claw, and the things that gore

Are unreliable things

And so is a man with a sword in his hand

And rivers, and women, and kings.

Quite true," said Victor. "However:

The clever man soon penetrates
The subject's mind, and captivates

Cringe, and flatter him when angry;

Love his friend and hate his foe
Duly advertise his presents

Trust no magic — win him so.
And yet:



If a man excel in action
Learning, fluent word
Make yourself his humble servant

While his power is stirred,
Quick to leave him at the moment
When he grows absurd.



Plant your words where profit lies
Whiter cloth takes faster dyes.



Till you know his power and manhood

Effort has no scope:

Moonlight's glitter vainly rivals
Himalaya's slope."
And Cheek replied: "If you have made up your



mind, then seek the feet of the king. Blest be your
journeyings. May your purpose be accomplished.

Be heedful in the presence of the king;
We also to your health and fortune cling."



Then Victor bowed to his friend, and went to meet

Rusty.

Now when Rusty saw Victor approaching, he said
to the doorkeeper: "Away with your reed of office!
This is an old acquaintance, the counselor's son Vic-
tor. He has free entrance. Let him come in. He be-
longs to the second circle." So Victor entered, bowed
to Rusty, and sat down on the seat indicated to him.



Then Rusty extended a right paw adorned with



claws as formidable as thunderbolts, and said re
spectfully: "Do you enjoy health? Why has so long
a time passed since you were last visible?' 1 And Vic-
tor replied: "Even though my royal master has no



present need of me, still I ought to report at the

proper time. For there is nothing that may not render
service to a king. As the saying goes :



To clean a tooth or scratch an ear



A straw may serve a king:
A man, with speech and action, is

A higher kind of thing.



"Besides, we who are ancestral servants of our
royal master, follow him even in disasters. For us
there is no other course. Now the proverb says;

Set in fit position each

Gem or serving-man
No tiaras on the toes,

Just because you can.



Servants leave the kings who their

Qualities ignore,
Even kings of lofty line,

Wealthy, served of yore.

Lacking honor from their equals

Jobless, diclassi)

Servants give their master notice
That they will not stay.



And again :



If set in tin, a gem that would

Adorn a golden frame,
Will never scream nor fail to gleam

Yet tells its wearer's shame.

The king who reads a servant's mind



Dull, faithless, faithful,



wise-



May servants find of every kind
For every enterprise.

"And as for my master's remark: 'It is long since
you were last visible/ pray hear the reason of that:

Where just distinction is not drawn

Between the left and right,
The self-respecting, if they can

Will quickly take to flight.

If masters no distinction make
Among their servants, then

They lose the zealous offices
Of energetic men.



And in a market where it seems
That no distinctions hold

Between red-eye and ruby, how
Can precious gems be sold ?

There must be bonds of union

In all their dealings, since
No prince can lack his servants

Nor servants lack a prince

Yet the nature of the servant also depends on the



master's quality. As the saying goes:

In case of horse or book or sword
Of woman, man or lute or word*

The use or uselessness depends
On qualities the user lends.

And another point. You do wrong to despise me



because I am a jackal. For

Silk comes from worms, and gold from stone

From cow's hair sacred grass is grown;

The water-lily springs from mud;
From cow-dung sprouts the lotus-bud,


The moon its rise from ocean takes;
And gems proceed from hoods of snakes
From cows' bile yellow dyestuffs come;
And fire in wood is quite at home:
The worthy, by display of worth,
Attain distinction, not bv birth.


And again:



Kill, although domestic born
Any hurtful mouse:

Bribe an alien cat who will
Help to clean the house.


And once again :



How use the faithful, lacking power?
Or strong, who evil do ?



But me, King, you should not scorn

For I am strong and true.



Scorn not the wise who penetrate



Truth's universal law

They are not men to be restrained

By money's petty straw:
When beauty glistens on their cheeks

By trickling ichor lent,

Bull-elephants feel lotus-chains
As no impediment.

Oh/ 1 said Rusty, "you must not say such things.

You are our counselor's son, an old retainer.
King," said Victor, "there is something that should
be said." And the king replied: "My good fellow,



reveal what is in your heart."

Then Victor began: "My master set out to take

water. Why did he turn back and camp here?" And
Rusty, concealing his inner feelings, said: "Victor,



it just happened so." "0 King/' said the jackal

is not a thing to disclose, then let it be.

Some things a man should tell his wife,

Some things to friend and some to son
All these are trusted. He should not
Tell everything to everyone

Hereupon Rusty reflected: "He seems trust
worthy. I will tell him what I have in mind. For the
proverb says:

You find repose, in sore disaster,
By telling things to powerful master,
To honest servant, faithful friend,
Or wife who loves you till the end.



Friend Victor, did you hear a great voice in the dis-



tance?" "Yes, master, I did," said Victor. "What
of it?"

And Rusty continued: "My good fellow, I in-
tend to leave this forest." "Why?" said Victor. "Be-
cause," said Rusty, "there has come into our forest
some prodigious creature, from whom we hear this
great voice. His nature must correspond to his voice,
and his power to his nature."

What!" said Victor. "Is our master frightened
mere voice? You know the proverb:



Water undermines the dikes;
Love dissolves when malice strikes

Secrets melt when babblings start;
Simple words melt dastard hearts.

So it would be improper if our master abruptly left
the forest which was won by his ancestors and has



been so long in the family. For they say :



Wisely move one foot; the other
Should its vantage hold



Till assured of some new dwelling
Do not leave the old.

Besides, many kinds of sounds are heard here.
Yet they are nothing but noises, not a warning of




danger. For example, we hear the sounds made
thunder, wind among the reeds, lutes, drums, tarn-
bourines, conch-shells, bells, wagons, banging doors,
machines, and other things. They are nothing to be
afraid of. As the verse says :

If a king be brave, however



Fierce the foe and grim
Sorrows of humiliation

Do not wait for him.



And again:



Bravest bosoms do not falter,

Fearing heaven's threat:

Summer dries the pools; the Indus
Rises, greater yet



And once again :



Mothers bear on rare occasions

To the world a chief,
Glad in luck and brave in battle

Undepressed in grief.
And yet again :



Do not act as does the grass- blade.
Lacking honest pride,

Drooping low in feeble meanness
Lightly brushed aside.

My master must take this point of view and reinforce
his resolution, not fear a mere sound. As the saying

goes:

thought at first that it was full




Of fat; I crept within



And there I did not find a thing



Except some wood and skin


How was that?" asked Rusty. And Victor told



the story.