In a certain town, there lived a merchant’s son by the name of Jveernadhana. Because he had lost all his money, he made up his mind to leave that part of the country and go somewhere else.
“Now in his house, the merchant’s son had a very heavy iron balance, that he had inherited from his forefathers. He deposited this with another merchant and then left for a different part of the country.
“When he had travelled all over the country to his heart’s content, Jveernadhana returned to his own town, went to the merchant’s house and said, ‘Ho! Merchant! Please return the balance that I deposited with you.’
‘But brother,’ said the merchant, ‘I no longer have it. The rats ate it!’
‘Merchant,’ said Jveernadhana, ‘if that’s the case, then it is not your fault. Life is like that, nothing lasts forever. Anyway, I am going to the river for a bath. Please let your son Dhanadeva come with me to carry the things and look after them.’
“Now the merchant was afraid that the bath things might be stolen, so he said to his son, ‘My son! Here is your uncle. He is going to the river for a bath. Go along with him and carry the things that he needs.’
So, the merchant’s son gladly accompanied Jveernadhana to the river and carried his bath things. When he had taken his bath, Jveernadhana caught hold of the merchant’s son and threw him into a cave near the river bank. He then closed the entrance with a big rock and returned quickly to the merchant’s house.
“When the merchant saw him coming back alone, he cried, ‘Where is my son who went with you to the river?’
‘I am very sorry,’ said Jveernadhana, ‘but as he was standing on the bank of the river, a flamingo swept down, picked him up and flew off with him.’
‘You liar!’ said the merchant. ‘How could a flamingo fly off with a child! Return my son to me immediately or I shall complain against you in the royal court.’
‘Speaker of truth yourself,’ retorted Jveernadhana, ‘just as a flamingo cannot fly off with a child, so too rats can’t eat away a heavy iron balance. Give me back my balance and I’ll return your son.’
Quarrelling like this, they went to the royal court. The merchant began to shout, ‘It’s disgraceful. This thief has kidnapped my son!’
‘Return the merchant’s son to him,’ the judges said to Jveernadhana.
‘What can I do?’ he replied. ‘While the child was standing on the river bank, a flamingo swept down, picked him up and flew off with him.’
‘You are not telling the truth!’ said the judges. ‘How could a flamingo ever fly off with a child?’
‘Please listen!’ said Jveernadhana. ‘Where rats can eat away a heavy iron balance, undoubtedly a flamingo can fly off with a child!’
‘What do you mean?’ asked the judges.
And then Jveernadhana told them the whole story from beginning to end, and the judges burst out laughing.
In due course, they were reconciled, Jveernadhana and the merchant. Jveernadhana got back his balance and the merchant his son. The judges were content.
“And so,” continued Karataka, “that’s why I said: ‘Where rats can eat away a heavy iron balance, Undoubtedly, a flamingo can also fly off with a child.’
“Now, you Damanaka, are a fool. You could not bear to see Sanjivaka favored by the king. That’s why you arranged this quarrel. As they say: ‘Fools sneer at the wise; The poor hate the rich, The wicked run down the righteous, And harlots discredit the names of virtuous women.’
“In your foolishness, whilst trying to do good for us, you have, in fact, done harm. That’s why they say: ‘A shrewd enemy is far preferable To a foolish benefactor; A foolish monkey killed the king But a shrewd thief saved the lives of the Brahmins.'”
“How was that?” asked Damanaka.
And Karataka told: THE STORY OF THE KING AND THE FOOLISH MONKEY
