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"Our old friend," etc.
The Master told this tale while dwelling in Jetavana, concerning a greedy Brother. The occasion is as above.
Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was a pigeon and lived in a nest-basket in the kitchen of a °° Benares merchant. A crow became intimate with him and lived there also. Here the story is to be expanded. The cook pulled out the crow's feathers and sprinkled him with flour, then piercing a cowrie he hung it on the crow's neck and threw him into a basket. The Bodhisatta came from the wood, and seeing him made a jest and spoke the first stanza: —
[315] The crow hearing him spoke the second stanza: —
Then the Bodhisatta spoke the third stanza: —
Then the crow uttered two stanzas: —
The Bodhisatta hearing him spoke the sixth stanza: —
[316] With these words he flew up and went elsewhere; and the crow died then and there.
After the lesson, the Master declared the Truths and identified the Birth: —After the Truths, the greedy Brother was established in the fruition of the Third Path: "At that time the crow was the greedy Brother, the pigeon was myself."
Next: No. 396.: Kukku-Jātaka.