Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c14.5

c14.5

Next day, when the carpenters came, the Bōdhisat assumed the form of a chameleon and ran up and down the tree, in and out, so that it seemed to be a hollow tree, and full of holes. Then he rested on the branches and wagged his head to and fro. Seeing this, the master-craftsman, thinking it was a hollow tree, laid his hand on it and exclaimed, ‘The tree is rotten, we were too hasty last night in making our offerings, let us be off to find another.’ And so they went off full of scorn for the great tree which has been saved by the wisdom of the Bōdhisat.