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CHAPTER LXII.
The next morning Naraváhanadatta got up, and went into the presence of the king of Vatsa his loving father. There he found Sinhavarman, the brother of the queen Padmávatí and the sou of the king of Magadha who had come there from his own house. The day passed in expressions of welcome, and friendly conversation, and after Naraváhanadatta had had dinner, he returned homo. There the wise Gomukha told this story at night, in order to console him who was longing for the society of Śaktiyaśas.
Story of the war between the crows and the owls.*[1]:There was in a certain place a great and shady banyan-tree, which seemed, with the voices of its birds, to summon travellers to repose. There a king of the crows, named Meghavarna, had established his home, and he had an enemy named Avamarda, king of the owls. The king of the owls surprised the king of the crows there at night, and after inflicting a defeat on him and killing many crows, departed. The next morning the king of the crows, after the usual compliments, said to his ministers Uddívin, Ádívin, Sandívin, Pradívin, and Chirajívin: " That powerful enemy, who has thus defeated us, may get together a hundred thousand soldiers, and make another descent on us. So let some preventive measure be devised for this case." When Uddívin heard this, he said; " King, with a powerful enemy, one must either retire to another country, or adopt conciliation." When Ádivin heard this, he said, " The danger is not immediate; let us consider the intentions of the adversary and our own power, and do the best we can." Then Sandívin said, "King, death is preferable to submission to the foe, or retiring to another country. We must go and fight with that feeble enemy; a brave and enterprising king, who possesses allies, conquers his foes." Then Pradívin said, " He is too powerful to be conquered in battle, but we must make a truce with him, and kill him when we get an opportunity," Then Chirajívin said, " What truce? Who will be ambassador? There is war
- ↑ * See Benfey's Panchatantra, IIIrd book, page 213, Vol. II. Benfey points out that in the Mahábhárata, Drona's son, one of the few Kauravas that had survived the battle, was lying under a sacred fig-tree, on which crows were sleeping. Then he sees one owl come and kill many of the crows. This suggests to him the idea of attacking the camp of the Pándavas. In the Arabic text the hostile birds are ravens and owls. So in the Greek and the Hebrew translation. John of Capua has " sturni," misunderstanding the Hebrew. (Benfey, Vol. I, 335). Rhys Davids states in his Buddhist Birth Stories (p. 292 note,) that the story of the lasting foud between the crows and the owls is told at length in Játaka, No. 270.
