There was in a certain village, a certain Brahman named Harisarman. He was
poor and foolish and unhappy for want of employment, and he had very many
children. He wandered about begging with his family, and at last he reached a
certain city, and entered the service of a rich householder called Sthuladatta.
His sons became keepers of Sthuladatta's cows and other property, and his wife a
servant to him, and he himself lived near his house, performing the duty of an
attendant. One day there was a feast on account of the marriage of the daughter
of Sthuladatta, largely attended by many friends of the bridegroom and
merry-makers. Harisarman hoped that he would be able to fill himself up to the
throat with oil and flesh and other dainties, and get the same for his family,
in the house of his patron. While he was anxiously expecting to be fed, no one
thought of him.
Then he was distressed at getting nothing to eat, and he said to his wife at
night: "It is owing to my poverty and stupidity that I am treated with such
disrespect here; so I will pretend by means of an artifice to possess a
knowledge of magic, so that I may become an object of respect to this
Sthuladatta; so, when you get an opportunity, tell him that I possess magical
knowledge." He said this to her, and after turning the matter over in his mind,
while people were asleep he took away from the house of Sthuladatta a horse on
which his master's son-in-law rode. He placed it in concealment at some
distance, and in the morning the friends of the bridegroom could not find the
horse, though they searched in every direction. Then, while Sthuladatta was
distressed at the evil omen, and searching for the thieves who had carried off
the horse, the wife of Harisarman came and said to him: "My husband is a wise
man, skilled in astrology and magical [pg 104] sciences; he can get the horse back for you—why
do you not ask him?" When Sthuladatta heard that, he called Harisarman, who
said, "Yesterday I was forgotten, but to-day, now the horse is stolen, I am
called to mind;" and Sthuladatta then propitiated the Brahman with these words:
"I forgot you, forgive me," and asked him to tell him who had taken away their
horse. Then Harisarman drew all kinds of pretended diagrams, and said: "The
horse has been placed by thieves on the boundary line south from this place. It
is concealed there, and before it is carried off to a distance, as it will be at
close of day, go quickly and bring it." When they heard that, many men ran and
brought the horse quickly, praising the discernment of Harisarman. Then
Harisarman was honored by all men as a sage, and dwelt there in happiness,
honored by Sthuladatta.
Now, as days went on, much treasure, both of gold and jewels, had been stolen
by a thief from the palace of the King. As the thief was not known, the King
quickly summoned Harisarman on account of his reputation for knowledge of magic.
And he, when summoned, tried to gain time, and said: "I will tell you
to-morrow," and then he was placed in a chamber by the King and carefully
guarded. And he was sad because he had pretended to have knowledge. Now, in that
palace there was a maid named Jihva (which means Tongue), who, with the
assistance of her brother, had stolen that treasure from the interior of the
palace. She, being alarmed at Harisarman's knowledge, went at night and applied
her ear to the door of that chamber in order to find out what he was about. And
Harisarman, who was alone inside, was at that very moment blaming his own
tongue, that had made a vain assumption of knowledge. He said: "Oh, tongue, what
is this that you have done through your greediness? Wicked one, you will soon
receive punishment in full." When Jihva heard this, she thought, in her terror,
that she had been discovered by this wise man, and she managed to get in where
he was, and, falling at his feet, she said to the supposed wizard: "Brahman,
here I am, that Jihva whom you have discovered to be the thief of the treasure,
and after I took it I buried it in [pg 105] the earth in a garden behind the palace, under
a pomegranate tree. So spare me, and receive the small quantity of gold which is
in my possession."
When Harisarman heard that, he said to her proudly: "Depart, I know all this;
I know the past, present, and future, but I will not denounce you, a miserable
creature that has implored my protection. But whatever gold is in your
possession you must give back to me." When he said this to the maid, she
consented, and departed quickly. But Harisarman reflected in his astonishment:
"Fate brings about, as if in sport, things impossible; for, when calamity was so
near, who would have thought chance would have brought us success? While I was
blaming my jihva, the thief Jihva suddenly flung herself at my feet. Secret
crimes manifest themselves by means of fear." Thus thinking, he passed the night
happily in the chamber. And in the morning he brought the King, by some skilful
parade of pretended knowledge, into the garden and led him up to the treasure,
which was buried under the pomegranate tree, and said the thief had escaped with
a part of it. Then the King was pleased, and gave him the revenue of many
villages.
But the minister, named Devajnanin, whispered in the King's ear: "How can a
man possess such knowledge unattainable by men without having studied the books
of magic? You may be certain that this is a specimen of the way he makes a
dishonest livelihood, by having a secret intelligence with thieves. It will be
much better to test him by some new artifice." Then the King of his own accord
brought a covered pitcher into which he had thrown a frog, and said to
Harisarman: "Brahman, if you can guess what there is in this pitcher, I will do
you great honor to-day." When the Brahman Harisarman heard that, he thought that
his last hour had come, and he called to mind the pet name of "Froggie," which
his father had given him in his childhood in sport; and, impelled by luck, he
called to himself by his pet name, lamenting his hard fate, and suddenly called
out: "This is a fine pitcher for you, Froggie; it will soon become the swift
destroyer of your helpless self." The people there, when they heard him say
that, raised a shout of applause, because his speech chimed in so [pg 106] well with the
object presented to him, and murmured: "Ah! a great sage; he knows even about
the frog!" Then the King, thinking that this was all due to knowledge of
divination, was highly delighted, and gave Harisarman the revenue of more
villages, with gold, an umbrella, and state carriages of all kinds. So
Harisarman prospered in the world.
|
