Mahashada from the Tibetan. One day, the king went into the park with
his wives and enjoyed himself there. Together with them, one of them took
off a string of pearls worth a hundred thousand pieces of money and hung it
on a spray of an asoka tree. Whilst sporting with the king, she
forgot about it and left it there. At midnight, after she had gone
back to the palace with the king, she remembered that she had left her
necklace in the forest. Meanwhile, it had been carried off to the top
of a tree by a female monkey. The king ordered his men to hasten
to the forest and bring back the necklace. They went there, but they
did not find it. Now a beggar had gone there in search of the
remnants of the food of which other men had made a meal. As he
came forth from the forest after partaking of such food, the king's men arrested
him. As no one else was to be seen there, they called on
him to render up the necklace. Although he proted tested that he had not
taken it, had not even seen it yet. He was beaten with fists
and steaks, and then thrown into prison. Tormented by hunger, he reflected
that unless he contrived some cunning away of escape, he would die there of
starvation. So he said to the jailer that he had, it was true,
taken the pearl necklace, but that he had given it to such and
such a young merchant him. Also, the king's men summoned, and the
two men were set fast, connected by wooden fetters. The merchant used to
receive from home dainty food. While he was partaking of it, the beggar
asked him for some, but the merchant reviled him, saying, it is
all very well for you to accuse me of theft in order that I may
nourish you with my food, I will give you none of it. And
having thus spoken, he ate it all up. After this, when the
merchant wished to change his place, and said, let let us stand up
and move, the beggar replied, I will not listen to your words.
I shall not get up. Then said the merchant, henceforward will I behave
so that you will be contented. Thus, with friendly words and with an
oath, he won over the beggar and was able to do as he wished.
The Next day, the merchant sent home orders to provide in future food
enough for two persons. Thereat the beggar was highly pleased, and he reflected
that in former times he used to wander about the whole city without being able
to find the means of filling his belly. But now food and drink in
plenty were at hand. While they so enjoyed themselves, a further desire arose
within them. They thought that in order to have still more pleasure, they
must call in a lute player. So the beggar accused a lute player also
of having taken the string of pearls. Then the king's men cast him also
in to the prison. After some time, the others besought the beggar to
find some means whereby they might become free, saying that in that case he
should want for nothing. He promised to do so, and bethought himself that
no one could be of use except mahau Shaddad. So he told the king's
men that mahau Shadda's son had likewise taken part in the affair, and they
sent for him also. When mahau Shadda heard that his son had been imprisoned,
he felt that he must certainly go to the place, for if he
did not do so, his son would fret himself. On arriving there,
he asked the king what offense his son had committed. The king replied that
he had been imprisoned on the testimony of the beggar with respect to the stolen
pearl necklace. When Maha Shadda had become fully acquainted with the contrivance of the
captives, he said to the King, the theft has not been committed by
any of these people. Let them all go free on my word. So
they were released. After this, he went out to the park and came
to the spot to the very tree where they had been before. When he
looked closely at the tree, he perceived a female monkey sitting at the top
of it. Then he felt sure that this animal had taken the string of
pearls and that it must be enticed to come down by some artifice. So
he asked the king to go there with his wife and went there to hang
a necklace round her neck. When that was done, the monkey, as
it sat on the tree top, hung the pearl necklace round its neck.
Then Mahau Shadda told the king's wife to dance. When she did so the
monkey on the tree top also began to dance, but still the string of
pearls did not fall from off its neck. In order to bring that about,
mahau Shadda asked the king to make his wife, as she did,
danced, hang down her head. Then the monkey also began to dance about
with its head hanging down, whereupon the string of pearls fell down off its
neck. Full of joy, the king embraced Mahaushaddah and bestowed much property upon him