________________
THE CONVERSION OF THE ROBBER
CHIEF.
M AHADUTA lay quiet for a while to
collect his thoughts, and then he addressed the samana not without effort:
"Listen, honorable sir, I will make a confession: I was the servant of Pandu, the jeweller af Kaushambî, but when he unjustly had me tortured I ran away and became a chief of robbers. Some time ago when I heard from my spies that Pandu was passing through the mountains, I succeeded in robbing him of a great part of his wealth. Will you now go to him and tell him that I have forgiven from the bottom of my heart the injury which he unjustly inflicted upon me, and ask him, too, to pardon me for having robbed him. While I stayed with him his heart was as hard as flint, and I learned to imitate the selfishness of his character. I have heard that he has be
