His hands were full of fruits and nuts, which he gave the Brahmin.  After eating this healthy meal, the Brahmin went on his way again and was met by the tiger, who gave him a whole hoard of golden ornaments, taken from a prince he had eaten.  He offered his treasure to the Brahmin as a gesture of thanksgiving.

David Austen/Black Star

Hand-printed batiks often depict Javanese folk stories.

“Later that day the Brahmin entered a city where he met the goldsmith, who lived there.  He gave all the golden ornaments to the goldsmith, thinking he was a friend and what need has a Brahmin for gold?  The goldsmith was not grateful at all; on the contrary he took one of the ornaments—which he recognized as having belonged to the prince who was lost in the forest—to the king, hoping to curry some favor at court. ‘Sire,’ said the goldsmith, ‘this gem once belonged to your late lamented son, and just now it was given to me by a Brahmin.  One wonders how he acquired it.’  The king had the Brahmin arrested, and since no one believed the story about the tiger, the poor man was thrown into jail.  Now it was the snake’s turn to come back into the story.

“The snake bit the young prince, the king’s only surviving son.  The prince fell gravely ill and the king consulted his house priest, hoping he could propitiate the snake god.  The priest performed the necessary ceremonies and, lo and behold, the snake god Wijutana appeared to give an oracle: ‘I bit the prince so that justice would be done to the innocent Brahmin who is now in prison.  Only if he is released and restored to his dignity will the prince be cured.  His brother was killed by a tiger in the forest.’   Thus spoke Wijutana, the snake god, of whom the snake was an incarnation.  The Brahmin was released, the prince was cured, and the goldsmith was executed.”

In this story there is inserted the fable of the female monkey Anti Murdasa, which the goldsmith’s wife tells her husband before he goes to the court to accuse the Brahmin.  This monkey practiced asceticism until the god Bhatara appeared to her.  She asked him for a human appearance.  The god told her to go and bathe seven times in a certain pond.