What need have I of food of this
or that kind? My concern is with that food which has been eternally
ordained for beings of my order? Hawks feed on pigeons,--this is the
eternal ordinance. O sinless, Usinara, if thou feelest such affection for
this pigeon, do thou then give me flesh from thy own body, of weight
equal to that of this pigeon.'
"The king said, 'Great is the favour thou showiest me today by speaking
to me in this strain. Yes, I shall do what thou biddest. Having said
this, that best of monarchs began to cut off his own flesh and weigh it
in a balance against the pigeon. Meanwhile, in the inner apartments of
the palace, the spouses of king, adorned with jewels and gems, hearing
what was taking place, uttered exclamations of woe and came out, stricken
with grief. In consequence of those cries of the ladies, as also of the
ministers and servants, a noise deep as the roar of the clouds arose in
the palace. The sky that had been very clear became enveloped with thick
clouds on every side. The Earth began to tremble, as the consequence of
that act of truth which the monarch did. The king began to cut off the
flesh from his flanks from the arms, and from his thighs, and quickly
fill one of the scales for weighing it against the pigeon. In spite of
all that, the pigeon continued to weigh heavier.
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