In a village, there lived two friends, whose names were Dharmabuddhi and Papabuddhi. One day, Papabuddhi thought to himself, “I am not only poor but also not so bright, so I shall get Dharmabuddhi’s help, go with him to another kingdom and make some money. Then, I shall cheat him of his share of the fortune, and live happily ever after.”
And so, after a few days, Papabuddhi said to Dharmabuddhi, “My friend! How are you planning to provide for your old age? Let’s go to a foreign country and make money there! Besides, unless you travel abroad, what stories will you tell your grandsons? For: ‘A man who has not wandered in different lands And has not learned foreign languages, Nor studied various cultures, And made himself – a fortune, Is born in vain on this earth.'”
Dharmabuddhi readily agreed to accompany Papabuddhi and carry out his plan. He took leave of his parents and, on an auspicious day, set out with Papabuddhi on their travels.
Through Dharmabuddhi’s cleverness, the two of them made a lot of money and after some time, returned home, extremely pleased with themselves.
As they were approaching their own village, Papabuddhi said to Dharmabuddhi, “Friend! It’s not a good idea to carry all this money home because then our friends and relatives will want a share of it. So let us take home only a nominal amount and bury the rest in the jungle. When the necessity arises, we can come back and dig it out, for they say: ‘A clever man does not show off his wealth to anyone, For even the mind of a sage May be shaken by the sight of money.'”
“Very well then,” replied Dharmabuddhi, “we will.”
And so after burying most of the money, they returned home with the remainder and lived happily.
Some time after, at dead of night, Papabuddhi went to the jungle, uncovered all the money that was buried there, took it out, and closed the pit as it had been before. Then he returned home with the money.
After a few days, Papabuddhi went to Dharmabuddhi and said, “Friend! I have a large family and as a result, my money is all gone. Let’s go and fetch some more from the place where we buried it.”
“All right then,” replied Dharmabuddhi, “we will.”
When the two arrived at the place, they dug up the pit and found the money pot empty. Papabuddhi began to beat his head, crying out, “Oh Dharmabuddhi! Only you and nobody else could have stolen the money and filled in the pit! Give me back my half or I shall make a complaint against you in the court of law.”
“You scoundrel!” said Dharmabuddhi. “Don’t you talk like that! I am indeed Dharmabuddhi! I could never commit such a theft! For they say: ‘A righteous man looks upon other men’s women As his own mother, And other men’s wealth As crow droppings And other human beings As his own self.'”
And so, fighting like this, they went to the judges and accused each other. The judges ordered them to submit themselves to trial by fire to find out the truth.
But Papabuddhi said to them, “This decision is not good, for they say: ‘In the investigation of disputes, Only in the absence of written evidence and witnesses, Do the wise recommend ordeal by fire.’ Now, the goddesses in the trees of the jungle nearby will be my witnesses. They will be able to reveal to us, which one is a thief and which one is an honest man.”
“You are right,” said the judges. “We are very anxious to know the truth about this. So, tomorrow morning you must both accompany us to the jungle.”
After that, Papabuddhi went home and said to his father, “I have stolen a huge amount of money belonging to Dharmabuddhi and we have taken the matter to the court. Now only your cooperation will save me. Otherwise, I shall lose not only the money but also my life.”
“My son!” said the father. “Tell me quickly what I can do to save you and make the money secure.”
“Well,” said Papabuddhi, “in the jungle, there is a Shami tree, which is hollow inside. You get into the hollow now so that, tomorrow morning, when we come with the judges, to find out the truth, you can shout from inside the tree, ‘Dharmabuddhi is the thief.'”
His father agreed to this arrangement and left immediately.
Next morning, Papabuddhi took an early bath and accompanied by Dharmabuddhi and the judges, went to the Shami tree and asked in a loud voice, “Oh, goddess in the tree! Tell us which one is the thief.”
Immediately Papabuddhi’s father, hidden inside the hollow of the tree, replied, “Listen! It’s Dharmabuddhi who stole the money.”
When the judges heard this, they were wonderstruck. They opened their eyes wide and immediately started discussing how to punish Dharmabuddhi according to the law.
But, meanwhile, Dharmabuddhi put a heap of dried leaves and grass in front of the hollow of the tree and set fire to it. When the fire was blazing, out came Papabuddhi’s father, crying pitifully, with half his body burnt and his eyes popping out.
“Friend,” they all said to him, “whatever has happened to you?”
“It’s all Papabuddhi’s fault!” he replied and he told them all that Papabuddhi had done.
Then they hanged Papabuddhi on the same Shami tree.
The judges praised Dharmabuddhi and said, “It’s very true what they say: ‘A wise man thinks not only of a solution to his problems, But also of its consequences. The heron found a way to kill the snake, Little realizing that this would result in his own destruction.'”
“How was that?” asked Dharmabuddhi.
And the judges told: THE STORY OF THE FOOLISH HERON, THE BLACK SNAKE AND THE MUNGOOSE
