Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c36.2723

v2.c36.2723

Siri Jātaka (No. 284).—The Bodhisatta was once an ascetic and had, as patron, an elephant-trainer. A stick-gatherer, sleeping at night in a temple, heard two cocks, roosting on a tree near by, abusing each other. In the course of the quarrel one cock boasted that whoever ate his flesh would be king; his exterior, commander-in-chief or chief queen; his bones, royal treasurer or king’s chaplain. The man killed the cock and his wife cooked it; then, taking it with them, they went to the river to bathe. They left the meat and the rice on the bank, but, as they bathed, a breeze blew the pot holding the food into the river. It floated down-stream, where it was picked up by the elephant-trainer. The Bodhisatta saw all this with his divine eye and visited the trainer at meal-time. There he was offered the meat and divided it, giving the flesh to the trainer, the exterior to his wife, and keeping the bones for himself. Three days later the city was besieged by enemies. The king asked the trainer to don royal robes and mount the elephant, while he himself fought in the ranks. There he was killed by an arrow, and the trainer, having won the battle, was made king, his wife being queen, and the ascetic his chaplain.