Buddhaghosha lived in the middle of the fifth century after Christ. He is, next to Asoka, the most celebrated man in Buddhist history. He visited Ceylon, where he greatly revived the Buddhist faith. He then went to Burmah, where he established Buddhism among the Burmese. From these people it spread into Arracan, Pegu, and finally into Siam. He wrote a famous commentary on the Buddhist Bible; some scholars believe that this is but a translation of older commentaries which Buddhaghosha made, and that his parables are but the parables of Mahinda or even of Gautama re-written. At any rate, they go by Buddhaghosha’s name among the Burmese Buddhists. His parables are very interesting, and are used by the monks and preachers in all their sermons. The accompanying story of King Kākavanna is quoted from Captain Rogers’ translation of Buddhaghosha’s Parables, and will serve as a fair specimen of the stories as a whole. THE STORY OF KING KĀKAVANNA. A Rahanda once preached the Law to Kākavanna, his queen and concubines, in the island of Ceylon. King Kākavanna, filled with love for the Law, resolved to make an offering of the putzo which he was wearing. In a spirit of niggardliness, however, he thought he would defer the offering until the next day. Two crows, a husband and wife, who were perched upon the tree at the foot of which the Law had been preached, knowing what was passing in the king’s mind, said to each other: “The king, from his niggardly spirit, excellent as the Law is, cannot make up his mind to make an offering of the putzo.” Neither the queen, nor the concubines, nor the nobles understood what the two crows were saying to each other; but the king, directly he heard the sound of the crows, knew what they said. “O you pair of crows,” he exclaimed, “how dare you speak so of a king like me?” The crows replied, “Your majesty, do not take the putzo you have at home, but make an offering of the one you are wearing, worth a hundred thousand pieces of gold. In seven days hence you will receive the five rewards.” The king smiled at the crows’ speech. My lord, the Rahanda, who had been preaching the Law, said to the king, “Why does your majesty smile at me?” “I was not smiling at my lord Rahanda,” replied the king; “I was smiling at what the two crows said.” The Rahanda, who possessed the Nat’s eye, which could behold eight past and eight future existences, and who saw the previous life of the king, said to him, “Great king, I will tell you something; will you be angry with me?” “My lord,” replied the king, “I shall not be angry with you; deign to tell it to me.” My lord, the Rahanda, proceeded: “When your majesty was a poor man in the Anurādha country, you used to collect firewood, and live by the sale of it. One day, when you went out to your work, you took with you a small cupful of boiled rice. Coming across a heap of white sand which looked like sheet-silver, you reflected that your poverty must have been