Page 32 - Śrī Pañcatantra - Eng

4 The Pañcatantra: First Tantra

retinue without quenching his thirst. To save face, Piṅgalaka
tried to hide his feelings from his followers although his sudden
sheepishness became obvious to them.

Now among Piṅgalaka’s retinue were two wily jackals named
Karaṭaka and Damanaka. They were the sons of his previous
minister, but due to some irregularities in their services they
had been dismissed from their respective posts. Having been
demoted, they were now forced to follow the lion and his troupe
from a distance, eating only whatever scraps were left behind.
Damanaka at once noted that Piṅgalaka had scurried back to his
tree without drinking water. He said, “My dear Karaṭaka, there
is something strange afoot. Piṅgalaka has come back still thirsty,
yet he now sits at his usual spot surrounded by his admirers.”
“But why should we bother about that,” retorted Karaṭaka. “For
he who accepts a duty that is actually not his own only courts
destruction just like the monkey who pulled the wedge from
the log.”
“And how did that happen?” Damanaka inquired. And so
Karaṭaka related the story of ...

The Monkey and the Log
(Story 1)

n a grove of tall trees on the outskirts of town, a religious
Imerchant began building a temple for the pleasure and
worship of the Supreme Lord. At noon each day, the carpenters
and other workmen would lay down their tools and return
to town for lunch. One day a throng of nomadic monkeys
happened upon the scene. A log that one of the carpenters
had been sawing for lumber aroused the curiosity of one of
the monkeys. Before taking his lunch break, the carpenter had
placed a steel wedge in the cut of the half-sawed log to prevent