Hitopadesha 2.18.p1

2.18.p1

tato dineṣu gacchatsu saṃjīvakaḥ svecchāhāra-vihāraṃ kṛtvāraṇyaṃ bhrāmyan hṛṣṭa-puṣṭāṅgo balavan nanāda | tasmin vane piṅgalaka-nāmā siṃhaḥ sva-bhujopārjita-rājya-sukham anubhavan nivasati | tathā coktam-

As the days passed by, and Lusty-life picked about in the tender forest grass, he grew wonderfully well, and fat of carcase, and happy, and bellowed about the wood as though it were his own. Now, the reigning monarch of the forest was King Tawny-hide the Lion, who ruled over the whole country absolutely, by right of having deposed everybody else. Is not might right?—

Comforting himself with such philosophy, Well-to-do left Lusty-life there, and went on his way. The Bull watched him depart, and stood mournfully on three legs, alone in the forest. 'Well, well,' he thought, 'it is all destiny whether I live or die:—