The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story

There was a certain man of noble soul, who was an incarnation of a portion of a Bodhisattva, whose heart was melted by compassion only, who had built a hut in a forest and lived there, performing austerities. He, while living there, by his power rescued living beings in distress and Piśáehas, and others he gratified by presents of water and jewels. One day, as he was roaming about in the wood to assist others, he saw a great well and looked into it. And a woman, who was in it, said to him in a loud voice; “Noble sir, here are four of us; myself a woman, a lion, and a golden-crested bird, and a snake, fallen into this well in the night; so take us out; have mercy upon us.” When he heard this, he said, “Granted that you three fell in because the darkness made it impossible for you to see your way, but how did the bird fall in?” The woman answered him, “It fell in by being caught in a fowler’s net.” Then the ascetic tried to lift them out by the supernatural power of his asceticism, but he could not; on the contrary, his power was gone. He reflected, “Surely this woman is a sinner, and owing to my having conversed with her, my power is gone from me. So I will use other means in this case.” Then he plaited a rope of grass, and so drew them all four up out of the well, and they praised him. And in his astonishment he said to the lion, the bird, and the snake; “Tell me, how come you to have articulate voice, and what is your history?” Then the lion said, “We have articulate speech and we remember our former births, and we are mutual enemies; hear our stories in turns.”