Now when Sakka, the King of the Gods, heard this thing, he determined to put the Royal Hare to the test. So he came in disguise of a Brahmin to the Otter and said: "Wise Sir, if I could get something to eat, I would perform _all_ my priestly duties." The Otter said: "I will give you food. Seven red fish have I safely brought to land from the sacred river of the Ganges. Eat thy fill, O Brahmin, and stay in this wood." And the Brahmin said: "Let it be until to-morrow, and I will see to it then." Then he went to the Jackal, who confessed that he had stolen the food, but he begged the Brahmin to accept it and remain in the wood: but the Brahmin said: "Let it be until the morrow, and then I well see to it." Then the Brahmin went to the wise Hare, and the Hare said: "Behold, I will give you of my flesh to eat. But you must not take life on this holy day. When you have piled up the logs I will sacrifice myself by falling into the midst of the flames, and when my body is roasted you shall eat my flesh and perform all your priestly duties." Now when Sakka heard these words he caused a heap of burning coals to appear, and the Wisdom Being, rising from the grass, came to the place, but before casting himself into the flames he shook himself, lest perchance there should be any insects in his coat who might suffer death. Then, offering his body as a free gift, he sprang up, and like a royal swan, lighting on a bed of lotus in an ecstasy of joy, he fell on the heap of live coals. But the flame failed even to heat the pores or the hair on the body of the Wisdom Being, and it was as if he had entered a region of frost. Then he addressed the Brahmin in these words: "Brahmin, the fire that you have kindled is icy cold; it fails to heat the pores of the hair on my body. What is the meaning of this?" "O most wise Hare! I am Sakka, and have come to put your virtue to the test." And the Buddha in a sweet voice said: "No god or man could find in me an unwillingness to die." Then Sakka said: "O wise Hare, be thy virtue known to all the ages to come." And seizing the mountain he squeezed out the juice and daubed on the moon the signs of the young hare. Then he placed him back on the grass that he might continue his Sabbath meditation, and returned to Heaven. And the four creatures lived together and kept the moral law. From "EASTERN STORIES AND LEGENDS." FILIAL PIETY