"The cry of jackals and of birds is understood with ease;
Yea, but the word of men, O king, is harder far than these.

"A man may think, "This is my friend, my comrade, of my kin;"
But friendship goes, and often hate and enmity begin ."

When the king heard these words, he answered, "O king of the deer! do not suppose that I am one of that kind; for I will not deny the boon I have promised you, not even if I lose my kingdom for it. [262] Trust me." And he gave him choice of a boon. The Great Being accepted this boon at his hands, and chose this: That all creatures, beginning with himself, should be free from danger. This boon the king granted, and then took him back to the city of Benares, and having adorned and decorated the city, and the Great Being also, caused him to discourse to the queen his wife. The Great Being discoursed to the queen, and afterwards to the king and all his court, in a human voice sweet as honey; he admonished the king to hold fast by the Ten Virtues of Kings, and he comforted the great multitude, and then returned to the woodland, where he dwelt among a herd of deer.

The king sent a drum beating about the city, with this proclamation: "I give protection to all creatures!" From that time onwards no one durst so much as raise hand against beast or bird.

Herds of deer devoured the crops of mankind, and no one was able to drive them away. A crowd assembled in the king's courtyard, and complained.

To make this clear, the Master repeated the following stanza:

"The country-folk and townsfolk all straight to the king they went:
"The deer are eating up our crops: this let the king prevent!"

Hearing this, the king recited a couple of stanzas:

"Be it the people's wish or no, e'en if my kingdom cease,
I cannot wrong the deer, to whom I promised life and peace.

"The people may desert me all, my royal power may die,
The boon I gave that royal deer I never will deny."

The people listened to the king's words, and finding themselves unable to say anything, departed. This saying was spread abroad. The Great Being heard of it, and assembling all the deer, laid his bidding on them: "From this time forward you must not devour the crops of men." [263] He then sent a message to men, that each should set up a placard on his own lands. The men did so; and at that sign even to this day the deer do not devour the crops.

When the Master had ended this discourse, he said, "This is not the first time, Brethren, that Devadatta has been ungrateful;" and then he identified the Birth: "At that time, Devadatta was the merchant's son, Ananda was the king, and I myself was the deer."

Footnotes

^162:1 Read phalaphalani.