Much upset by the king’s displeasure, all his servants, normally too lazy to lift a finger, crowded into the bedroom and searched every inch.  Both the louse and the bedbug were found and killed.  So you see, the louse should not have permitted the bedbug to come anywhere near the king.  At the end of his story, Nandaka the bull added, for the benefit of the jackal, “You know that the king is your master.  You depend on him for your living, so do not be greedy.”

Michael K. Nichols/Magnum

A view of the land that produced these tales: A man walks along a river amid the lush vegetation of central Java.

The jackal now tried a different tack and began thus: “Nandaka, I heard the king say that he wants to kill you and eat you!” To which the wise bull of Siwa replied, “Who, apart from yourself, has heard this?  How can I be sure such a grave accusation is true?  Do you not know the story of Sewantara, who was sent out by his king in search of water and fruits?  The king was hunting in the forest but there was no game (except branch-game—monkeys), so the king was hungry.  Sewantara searched for hours but found no food until he came to the seashore.  There he saw a black monkey dancing on an island on the horizon.  Alas, it was a mirage (widyahara).  Sewantara hurried back to tell his story, but by the time the king got to the beach there was nothing to be seen, and Sewantara was executed for lying to His Majesty.  Therefore,” concluded Nandaka, “you have to be very careful when reporting words of events when there are no witnesses.”  Sambada left him, shamefaced, his plans shattered.

Sambada then went to Candapinggala, the lion king, and told him the story of Papaka, the wicked hunter who was chased by a tiger.  A female ape called Wanari took pity on him and hauled him up into her tree to safety.  Then the tiger addressed Wanari thus: “You must not have pity on a man, for men are never grateful.  Don’t you know the story of the Brahmin who rescued three animals from a well into which they had fallen?  They were a snake, a monkey, and a tiger, and each one told him: ‘Do not rescue the man who is also there at the bottom of the well, for men are wicked.’

“But the Brahmin felt it his duty to rescue from certain death a human being in distress, so he let down the rope for the fourth time and hauled up the man, who was a goldsmith.  Each went his own way.  The Brahmin traveled on until he felt hungry.  Just at that moment appeared the monkey whose life he had saved.