The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c6.42

c6.42

XIV. Again in another place it is the turn of the Bodhisattva to carry the water-vessel and wear the big chignon and the summary costume of an ascetic (pl. VI, 3); and it is in this guise (and not that of a tree-god, as the commentary gives it, *Jât.* 400) that he is present as a simple spectator at a very amusing scene. Two otters, by uniting their efforts, have dragged a big fish to the dry ground on the bank of a river, the one holding it by the head, the other by the tail; but, their united exploit accomplished, they quarrel about the sharing of the booty and take a passing jackal as arbiter. The latter is represented twice, first seated between the litigants, then walking proudly away to the right : he is carrying the best piece in his mouth and leaving to the two deceived otters only the head and tail of their prey. The moral is easily guessed. The text states very explicitly that the best law-suits in the world only serve to enrich the coffers of the king; and you, for your part, have in the « Jackal and the two Otters » already recognised an Indian variant of the « Oyster and the Litigants » of La Fontaine.