The grateful elephant : $b And other stories translated from the PāliBurlingame, Eugene Watson
Religion
The grateful elephant : $b And other stories translated from the Pāli
Burlingame, Eugene Watson
Buddhist legends
Now when he reached the age of discretion, when he was about sixteen
years of age, the king addressed him. “Son,” said the king, “acquire
the arts and crafts.” “Under what teacher shall I acquire them, your
majesty?” “Son, go acquire them under a world-renowned teacher who
resides in the city of Takkasilā in the kingdom of Gandhāra; here is
the fee for you to give to this teacher.” So saying, he gave him a
thousand pieces of money and sent him on his way.
The prince went there and acquired the arts and crafts. Having so
done, he took the five weapons which his teacher gave him, bowed to
his teacher, departed from the city of Takkasilā, and girded with the
five weapons, struck into the road leading to Benāres. On the way he
came to a certain forest infested by an ogre named Sticky-hair. Now
at the mouth of the forest men who saw him tried to dissuade him from
entering, saying: “Sir prince, do not enter this forest; an ogre named
Sticky-hair lives here; he kills every man he sees.”
The Future Buddha, confident of himself, fearless as a maned lion,
entered the forest just the same. When he reached the heart of that
forest, that ogre showed himself to the Future Buddha. He had
increased his stature to the height of a palm-tree; he had created for
himself a head as big as a summer-house with bell-shaped pinnacle, eyes
as big as alms-bowls, two tusks as big as giant bulbs or buds; he had
the beak of a hawk; his belly was covered with blotches; his hands and
feet were dark green.
Having shown himself to the Future Buddha, he said: “Where are you
going? halt! you are my prey!” But the Future Buddha said to him:
“Ogre, I knew what I was about when I entered this forest. You would
do well to be careful about attacking me, for with an arrow steeped in
poison will I pierce your flesh and fell you on the spot!” Having thus
threatened him, the Future Buddha fitted to his bow an arrow steeped in
deadly poison and let fly.
It stuck right to the ogre’s hair. Then he let fly, one after another,
fifty arrows. All stuck right to the ogre’s hair. The ogre shook off
every one of those arrows, letting them fall right at his feet, and
approached the Future Buddha. The Future Buddha threatened him once
more, and drawing his sword, smote him with it. The sword, thirty-three
inches long, stuck right to the ogre’s hair. Then he hit him with a
spear. That also stuck right to his hair. Perceiving that the spear had
stuck, he smote him with a club. That also stuck right to his hair.
[Illustration: _Then he hit him with a spear._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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