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RIŞABHA DEVA
irascible disposition. He was easily excited and would then flare up vehemently. One day he forcibly possessed himself of certain provisions from the royal stores, and was caught and roughly handled. In consequence of the beating he then received he died and became a lion. The Monkey was one Nāgdatta in his previous life. He was a great rogue and given to swindling others by fraud. He even tried to help himself to the things that his mother had purchased for the marriage ceremony of his sister; but in this he failed. His low criminal character has dragged him into a monkey's form after death. The Pig was a raja's son, and was called Haribāhana. He had a very proud disposition, and showed much disrespect even to his parents. One day he was running away in defiance of the parental authority when he knocked against a stone pillar and was killed instantly. Pride has brought about his fall from the status of a man to that of a pig! The Mongoose was a miser, nicknamed Lolupa. He used to sell eatables in a small way. One day he induced certain labourers who were engaged in building a house for the king, by giving them bread and other eatables, to clandestinely remove some of the old big bricks that were lying in the debris. These the workmen brought to his place. It so happened that some of the
