The Parrot and the Thrush. Which are worse, men or women?
Then the king Trivikrama
went back to the sissoo tree to fetch the goblin. When he got there, he took
the body with the goblin in it on his shoulder, and started off in silence. And
as he walked along, the goblin said to him again: "O King, you must be
very tired, coming and going in the night. So to amuse you I will tell another
story. Listen."
There is a city called Patna , the gem of the earth. And long ago a
king lived there whose name was Vikramakesari. Fate had made him the owner of
all virtues and all wealth. And he had a parrot called Vidagdha Chudamani, that
had divine intelligence and knew all the sciences, but lived as a parrot
because of a curse.
This king had a
son called Chandra, and by the advice of the parrot this prince married the
daughter of the king of the Magadha
country; and her name was Chandraprabha. Now this princess had a thrush named Somika,
who was like the parrot, because she had learning and intelligence. And the
parrot and the thrush lived in one cage in the palace.
One day the parrot
eagerly said to the thrush: "My darling, love me, and share my bed and my
chair and my food and my amusements."
But the thrush
said: "I will have nothing to do with men. Men are bad and
ungrateful."
Then the parrot
said: "Men are not bad. It is only women who are bad and
cruel-hearted." And they quarrelled.
Then the two birds
wagered their freedom with each other and went to the prince to have their
quarrel decided. And the prince mounted his father's judgment throne, and when
he had heard the cause of the quarrel, he asked the thrush: "How are men
ungrateful? Tell the truth." Then she said, "Listen, O Prince,"
and to prove her point she started to tell this story illustrating the faults
of men.
There is a famous
city called Kamandaki, where a wealthy merchant lived named Arthadatta. And in
time a son was born to him and named Dhanadatta. Then when the father went to
heaven, the young man became very unruly because of gambling and other vices.
And the rascals came together, and ruined him. Association with scoundrels is
the root from which springs the tree of calamity.
So in no long time
he lost all he had through his vices, and being ashamed of his poverty, he left
his own country and went to wander in other places. And during his travels he
came to a city called Chandanapura
City , and entered the
house of a merchant, seeking something to eat. When the merchant saw the youth,
he asked him about his family, and finding that he was a gentleman, he
entertained him. And thinking that Fate had sent the young man, he gave him his
own daughter Ratnavali, together with some money. And when Dhanadatta was
married, he lived in his father-in-law's house.
As time passed, he
forgot his former miseries in the comforts of his life, and longed for the old
vices, and wanted to go home. So the rascal managed to persuade his
father-in-law, who had no other children, took his wife Ratnavali with her
beautiful ornaments, and an old woman, and started for his own country.
Presently he came to a wood where he said he was afraid of thieves, so he took
all his wife's ornaments. Perceive, O Prince, how cruel and hard are the
ungrateful hearts of those who indulge in gambling and other vices. And the
scoundrel was ready, just for money, to kill his good wife. He threw her and
the old woman into a pit. Then the rascal went away and the old woman perished
there.
But Ratnavali,
with the little life she had left, managed to get out by clinging to the grass
and bushes, and weeping bitterly, and bleeding, she asked the way step by step,
and painfully reached her father's house by the way she had come. And her
mother and father were surprised and asked her: "Why did you come back so
soon, and in this condition?"
And that good wife
said: "On the road we were robbed, and my husband was forcibly carried
off. And the old woman fell into a pit and died, but I escaped. And a
kind-hearted traveler pulled me from the pit." Then her father and mother
were saddened, but they comforted her, and Ratnavali stayed there, true to her
husband.
Then in time Dhanadatta
lost all his money in gambling, and he reflected: "I will get more money
from the house of my father-in-law. I will go there and tell my father-in-law
that his daughter is well and is at my house."
So he went again
to his father-in-law. And as he went, his ever-faithful wife saw him afar off.
She ran and fell at the rascal's feet and told him the entire story that she
had invented for her parents. For the heart of a faithful wife does not change
even when she learns that her husband is a rogue.
Then that rascal
went without fear into the house of his father-in-law and bowed low before his
feet. And his father-in-law rejoiced when he saw him and made a great feast
with his relatives, for he said: "My son is delivered alive from the
robbers. Heaven be praised!" Then Dhanadatta enjoyed the wealth of his father-in-law
and lived with his wife Ratnavali.
Now one night this
worst of scoundrels did what I ought not to repeat, but I will tell it, or my
story would be spoiled. Listen, O Prince. While Ratnavali lay asleep trusting
him, that wretch killed her in the night, stole all her jewels, and escaped to
his own country. This shows how bad and ungrateful men are.
When the thrush
had told her story, the prince smiled and said to the parrot: "It is your
turn now."
Then the parrot
said: "Your Majesty, women are cruel and reckless and bad. To prove it, I
will tell you a story. Listen."
There is a city
called Harshavati, where lived a prince of merchants named Dharmadatta, who
owned millions of money. He had a daughter named Vasudatta, peerless in beauty,
dearer to him than life. And she was given in marriage to a merchant's son from
Tamraliptya, whose name was Samudradatta. He was her equal in wealth, beauty,
and family; a delight to the eyes of men.
One day when her
husband was away from home, she saw from the window a handsome young man. And
the moment she saw him, the fickle girl went mad with love, and secretly sent a
messenger to invite him in, and made love to him in secret. Thus her heart was
fixed on him alone, and she was happy with him.
But at last her
husband came home and delighted the hearts of his parents-in-law. And when the
day had been spent in feasting, Vasudatta was adorned by her mother, and sent
to her husband's room. But she was cold toward him and pretended to sleep. And
her husband went to sleep, too, for he was weary with his journey, and had been
drinking wine.
When everyone in
the house had gone to sleep after their dinner, a thief made a hole in the wall
and came into that very room. And just then the merchant's daughter got up
without seeing him, and went out secretly to a meeting with her lover. And the
thief was disappointed, and thought: "She has gone out into the night
wearing the very jewels that I came to steal. I must see where she goes."
So the thief went out and followed her.
But she met a
woman friend who had flowers in her hand, and went to a park not very far away.
And there she saw the man whom she came to meet hanging on a tree. For the
policeman had thought he was a thief, had put a rope around his neck and hanged
him.
And at the sight
she went distracted, and lamented pitifully: "Oh, oh! I am undone,"
and fell on the ground and wept. Then she took her lover down from the tree and
made him sit up, though he was dead, and adorned him with perfumes and jewels
and flowers.
But when in her
love-madness she lifted his face and kissed him, a goblin who had come to live
in her dead lover, bit off her nose. And she was startled and ran in pain from
the spot. But then she came back to see if perhaps he was alive after all. But
the goblin had gone, and she saw that he was motionless and dead. So she slowly
went back home, frightened and disgraced and weeping.
And the concealed
thief saw it all and thought: "What has the wicked woman done? Alas! Can
women be so dreadful as this? What might she not do next?" So out of
curiosity the thief still followed her from afar.
And the wretched
woman entered the house and cried aloud, and said: "Save me from my cruel
enemy, my own husband. He cut off my nose and I had done nothing." And her
servants heard her cries and all arose in excitement. Her husband too awoke.
Then her father came and saw that her nose was cut off, and in his anger he had
his son-in-law arrested.
And the poor man
did not know what to do. Even when he was being bound, he remained silent and
said nothing. Then they all woke up and heard the story, but the thief who knew
the whole truth, ran away. And when day came, the merchant's son was haled
before the king by his father-in-law. And Vasudatta went there without her
nose, and the king heard the whole story and condemned the merchant's son to
death for mistreating his wife.
So the innocent,
bewildered man was led to the place of execution and the drums were beaten.
Just then the thief came up and said to the king's men: "Why do you kill
this man without any good reason? I know how the whole thing happened. Take me
to the king, and I will tell all."
So all the king's
men took him to the king. And the thief told the king all the adventures of the
night, and said: "Your Majesty, if you cannot trust my word, you may find
the nose at this moment between the teeth of the dead body."
Then the king sent
men to investigate, and when he found it was true, he released the merchant's
son from the punishment of death. As for wretched Vasudatta, he cut off her
ears, too, and banished her from the country. And he took from her father, the
merchant, all his money, and made the thief the chief of police. He was pleased
with him.
O Prince, this
shows how cruel and false women are by nature.
As he spoke these
words, the parrot changed into a god, for the curse was fulfilled, and went to
heaven like a god. And the thrush suddenly became a goddess, for her curse was
at an end, and flew up likewise to heaven. So their dispute was never settled
at that court.
When the goblin had told this story, he
asked the king: "O King, tell me. Are men bad, or women? If you know and
do not tell, your head will fly to pieces." And when the king heard these
words of the goblin on his shoulder, he said to that magic goblin: "O
goblin! Here and there, now and then, there is an occasional bad man like that.
But women are usually bad. We hear about many of them."
Then the goblin
disappeared from the king's shoulder as before. And the king tried again to
catch him.
To be continued...
To be continued...
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