When the little hares were asked, they pointed out that little hare and said: “He’s the one that told us.” So the lion asked the little hare: “Friend, is it true, as you say, that the earth is collapsing?” “Yes, master, I saw it.” “Where were you living when you saw it?” asked the lion. “Near the Western Ocean, in a grove of cocoanut trees mingled with Vilva trees. For there, at the foot of a Vilva tree, under a cocoanut sapling, beneath a cocoanut leaf, I lay and thought: ‘If the earth collapses, where shall I go?’ That very instant I heard the sound of the earth collapsing. So I ran away.” The lion thought: “Evidently a Vilva fruit fell on top of that cocoanut leaf and made a ‘rat-a-tat,’ and this hare here, hearing that sound, came to the conclusion: ‘The earth is collapsing!’ I will find out for a fact.” So the lion, taking the little hare with him, reassured the throng, saying: “I am going to find out for a fact whether or not the earth collapsed at the spot where the little hare saw what he saw; having so done, I will return. Until I return, all of you remain right here.” So taking the little hare on his back, he sprang forward with the speed of a lion. And setting the little hare down in the cocoanut grove, he said: “Come, show me the spot where you saw what you saw.” “I don’t dare, master.” “Come, don’t be afraid.” The little hare, not daring to approach the Vilva tree, stood no great distance off and said: “That, master, is the spot where it went ‘rat-a-tat.’” So saying, he uttered the first stanza: “Rat-a-tat” it went,--I wish you luck,-- In the region where I dwell. But as for me, I do not know What made that “rat-a-tat.” When the little hare said this, the lion went to the foot of the Vilva tree, looked at the spot beneath the cocoanut leaf where the little hare had lain, and observed that a Vilva fruit had fallen on top of the cocoanut leaf. And knowing for a fact that the earth had not collapsed, he took the little hare on his back, went quickly, with the speed of a lion, to the assemblage of animals, informed them of all the facts, reassured the throng of animals by saying, “Fear not,” and released the little hare. For if, at that time, the Future Buddha had not come to the rescue, they would all have run down into the sea and perished. It was through the Future Buddha that they obtained their lives. Hearing a Vilva fruit fall,--“rat-a-tat,”--the hare ran. Hearing the hare’s words, a host of animals were frightened. Those who have not attained consciousness of their portion, Those who follow the voice of others, Those who are given to heedlessness,--the foolish,-- They attain what others attain. But those who are endowed with morality, Those who delight in the tranquillity of wisdom, Those who abstain and refrain from worldly delights,--the wise,-- They attain what others attain not. (These three stanzas were uttered by the Supremely Enlightened One.)