156 



CEYLON BRANCH 



Ah crane, those little fishes were destitute of wisdom, and 

 therefore they became your prey, but you cannot deceive me 

 bo; I will bring you to your end. You have not done wisely 

 in this; do you not see you are deceived, for if I die, we both 

 shall die, for I will cut your throat with my claws ; and so say- 

 ing he grasped him*tightly : upon this, the crane gasping and 

 trembling for his life, said with tears, O my Lord, crab, I did 

 not intend to injure you, neither have I done you any harm; 

 Spare my life, I pray you. Well, said the crab, if it be so, 

 then descend gently and put me into the lake. The crane ac- 

 cordingly turned round, and descending to the lake, put the 

 crab upon the mud on its border: upon this, the crab, with bis 

 sharp claws, severed at once the crane's head from his body, as 

 a flower is severed from its stalk with shears, and descended 

 into the water. The god who resided in the tree, seeing this 

 wonderful transaction, caused the woods to resound with his 

 plaudits, and with a mellifluous voice said, 



Fraudful cunning does not in the end produce permanent 

 advantage : the fraudulent person may be circumvented as the 

 crane was by the crab. 



He who was the crane at that time is now the Dewaram 

 priest : the crab is now the country priest by whom the other 

 has been taken in, and I Budha was then the god residing in 

 the tree who witnessed the transaction. 



