Kathakoca or Treasury of Stories

SR No.: 016059
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: C H Tawney
Publisher: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation New Delhi
Publication Year: 1975
Total Pages: 288
Language: English
Classification: Dictionary & Dictionary
File Size: 15 MB

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their nestling. One day the parrot heard the abbot telling his pupils that in the middle of the sea there is an island, named Harisena ; that in the north-east corner of that island there is a large fragrant mango-tree, bedewed with ambrosia ; and that the fruit of that tree cures the body of deformity, disease, and old age. So the parrot flew up and went to that island to bring the fruit of the fragrant mango-tree. On its return, it fell in the middle of the sea, on account of the weight of the fruit, and was seen by the head of a maritime caravan, picked up, and restored to life. The merchant said to the parrot: “What is this fruit, and who are you?” The parrot told his story, and gave the fruit to Ságaradatta.* He brought another fruit and gave it to his parents. Ságaradatta presented the fruit to the King of Jayapura, and related the marvellous virtues attaching to it. The king, in order to benefit the whole world, sowed the seed of the fragrant mango-tree in an orchard. It triumphantly flowered and bore fruit, which ripened together with the wishes of the king. One day the poison of a serpent, that was held in the beak of a kite, dropped on a mango-fruit. On account of the heat of the poison, the fruit ripened throughout, and becoming loosened from the tree, fell on the ground. The keeper of the garden brought the mango-fruit to the king. The king, remembering the maxim, “ One should consecrate to religion what one values most,” gave the fruit to his chaplain ;, and the chaplain immediately ate it up without washing it, and died. The king was in a rage, and exclaiming that the tree was a poison-tree, had it cut down. A host of men who. longed for death, being maimed, diseased, blind, and lepers, ate the fruits of the tree, with the result that they all became sound of body. The king heard of that fact. He regretted what he had done all the rest of his life. So do you take care not to act rashly, having heard the story of the King of Jayapura.'
* In Grimm's seventeenth tale ("The White Snake ') a crow gives a young man an apple from the Tree of Life.
† For a similar case see my translation of the Katha Sarit Ságara,' vol. ii., p. 296.