The cartwright hearing the tree-deity's directions, cried out, "Ah, this is a lucky day for me!" He killed the Lion, cut down the tree, and away he went.

[211] The Master explained the matter by reciting:

"Thus plassey tree contends with beast , and beast with tree contends,
So each with mutual dispute to death the other sends.

"So among men, where'er a feud or quarrel doth arise,
They, as the beast and tree did now, cut capers peacock-wise .

"This tell I you, that well is you what time ye are at one:
Be of one mind, and quarrel not, as beast and tree have done.

"Learn peace with all men; this the wise all praise; and who is fain
Of peace and righteousness, he sure will final peace attain."

When they heard the discourse of the king, they were reconciled.

The Master, having brought this discourse to an end, identified the Birth: "At that time, I was the deity who lived in that wood, and saw the whole business."

Footnotes

^129:1 No. 536.

^129:2 The phandana () is a tree of the same kind as the palasa, "butea frondosa."

^130:1 Vatica Robusta: so called from the shape of its leaves.

^130:2 dhavo: Grislea Tomentosa.

^131:1 The word is iso, "lord," i.e. lion, king of beasts. So above.

^131:2 The scholiast explains that men expose themselves in a quarrel, as peacocks expose their privy parts. This is perhaps an allusion to No. 32.