Unasked-For Advice

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta reigned in
Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life as a young singila
bird. And when he grew to be a big bird, he settled in
the Himalaya country and built him a nest to his fancy,
that was proof against the rain. Then a certain monkey in
the rainy season, when the rain fell without intermission,
sat near the Bodhisatta, his teeth chattering by reason
of the severe cold. The Bodhisatta, seeing him thus
distressed, fell to talking with him, and uttered the first
stanza :

Monkey, in feet and hands and face

So like the human form,
Why buildest thou no dwelling-place,

To hide thee from the storm?

The monkey, on hearing this, replied with a second
stanza :

In feet and hands and face, bird,

Thoug-h close to man allied,
Wisdom, chief boon on him conferred,
To me has been denied.

The Bodhisatta, on hearing this, repeated yet two more
couplets :

He that inconstancy betrays, a light and fickle mind,
Unstable proved in all his ways, no happiness may find.

Monkey, in virtue to excel, do thou thy utmost strive,

And safe from wintry blast to dwell, go, hut of leaves contrive.

Thought the monkey, " This creature, though dwelling
in a place that is sheltered from the rain, despises me.
I will not suffer him to rest quietly in this nest." Accord-
ingly, in his eagerness to catch the Bodhisatta, he made a
spring upon him. But the Bodhisatta flew up into the
air, and winged his way elsewhere. And the monkey,
after smashing up and destroying his nest, betook him-
self off.