As earth bears with all living things, as father with his son,
Do thou, O mighty king, forgive the wrong that we have done.

Then the king took the bird up and embraced him and seating him on a golden stool he accepted his confession of error, and said:

I thank thee, bird, that thou shouldst ne'er thy nature true conceal,
Thou breakest down my stubborn will; upright art thou, I feel.

And with these words the king, being highly pleased with the exposition of the Law by the Great Being, and with the straightforward speech of Sumukha, thought, "When one is pleased, one ought to act so as to show one's pleasure," and yielding his royal splendour to the birds, he said:

Whate'er of silver, gold, and pearls, rich gems and precious gear
In Kasi's royal town is stored within my palace here,

[380] Copper and iron, shells and pearls, and jewels numberless,
Ivory, yellow sandal wood, deer skins and costly dress,
This wealth and lordship over all, I give you to possess.

And with such-like words honouring both birds with the white umbrella he handed over to them his kingdom. Then the Great Being, conversing with the king, said:

Since thou art fain to honour us, be pleased, O lord of men,
To be our Master, teaching us those royal virtues ten.

And then if thy approval and consent we haply win,
We would take formal leave of thee, and go to see our kin.

He gave them leave to go, and, while the Bodhisatta was still preaching the Law, the sun arose.

The Master, to make the matter clear, said:

The livelong night in deepest thought the king of Kasi spent,
Then to that noble bird's request straight yielded his consent.

When he had thus got his permission to depart, the Bodhisatta, saying, "Be vigilant and rule your kingdom in righteousness," established the king in the five moral laws. [381] And the king offered them parched corn with honey and sugar-water in golden dishes, and when they had finished their meal, after doing them homage with scented wreaths and similar offerings, the king himself lifted the Bodhisatta on high in a golden cage, and queen Khema lifted Sumukha on high. Then at sunrise they opened the window and saying, "Sirs, begone," they let them loose.

The Master, to make the matter clear, said:

Then as the sun began to rise and break of day was nigh ,
Soon from their sight they vanished quite in depths of azure sky.

One of them, the Great Being, flying up from the golden cage, remained poised in the air, and saying, "O sire, be not troubled, but be vigilant and abide in our admonition," he thus comforted the king, and taking Sumukha with him he made straight for Cittakuta. And those ninety thousand geese issuing forth from the Golden Cave settled on the