posal, he cried out angrily: "Shame upon you, most
degraded of sinners! The moment you repeat those words, I will strike you dead. Why, I guaranteed his personal security. How can I kill him with my own paw? You have heard the saying:
The wise declare and understand
No gift of cow or food or land
To be among all gifts as grand
As safety granted on demand."
"Master," replied the jackal, "if you kill him after guaranteeing his safety, then you are indeed blameworthy. If, however, of his own accord he devotedly offers his own life to his lord and king, then no blame attaches. So you may kill him on condition that he voluntarily destines himself to slaughter. Otherwise, pray eat one or another of the rest of us. For the king is on a diet, and if food fails, he will experience a change for the worse. In that case, what value have these lives of ours, which will no longer be spent in our master's service? If anything disagreeable happens to our gracious master, then we must follow him into the fire. For the proverb says:
Save the chieftain of the clan,
Whatsoe'er the pain;
Lose him, and the clan is lost:
Hubless spokes are vain."
After listening to this, Haughty said: "Very well. Do as you will."
With this message the jackal hastened to say to
