"Give to the fowler meat and drink, soft food, apparel brave,
And store of ruddy gold as much as heart of man can crave."

[371] Being highly elated with joy, he in this way showed his pleasure and said, "Go and array the fowler and bring him back to me." So the courtiers, taking him down from the palace, had his hair and beard trimmed, and when he had taken a bath and had been anointed and was sumptuously arrayed they brought him into the presence of the king. Then the king conferred on him twelve hamlets, yielding annually a hundred thousand pieces of money, a chariot yoked with thoroughbreds, a large well-equipped house and very great honour. On receiving so great honour, the fowler, to explain what he had done, said, "This, sire, is no ordinary goose that I have brought you; this is the king of ninety thousand geese, Dhatarattha by name, and this is the chief captain, Sumukha." Then the king asked, "How, friend, did you catch them?"

The Master, to make the matter clear, said:

Seeing the fowler highly pleased, the king of Kasi said,
"If, Khemaka, on yonder lake geese in their thousands fed,

Amidst the throng of kindred fowl, pray, how didst thou contrive
To single out this lovely bird and capture him alive?"

The fowler answering him said:

Through seven long days with anxious care in vain I marked the spot,
Searching for that fair goose's track, concealed within a pot .

To-day I found the feeding-ground to which the goose repaired,
And there straightway I set a trap and lo! he soon was snared.

[372] On hearing this the king thought, "This fellow standing at the door and telling his story spoke only of the arrival of the Dhatarattha king and now too he speaks of this one only. What can be the meaning of this?" and he spoke this stanza:

Fowler, thou speakst of only one, yet here two birds I see;
'Tis some mistake, why wouldst thou bring this second bird to me?

Then the fowler said, "There was no change of purpose on my part, nor am I anxious to present the second goose to some one else: moreover only one was caught in the snare I set," and in explanation he said:

The goose with lines like ruddy gold all running down his breast,
Caught in my snare I hither bring, O king, at thy behest.

This splendid bird himself still free sat by the captive's side,
The while with kindly human speech his friend to cheer he tried.