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Shri Jaina Conference Herald.
ân merchant. gives to each of his four daughters-in-law five rice corns, telling them to keep these corns carefully till he might ask them back again. The first daughter-in-law cast them away, the second ate them, the third carefully kept them in a jewel-case, the fourth sowed and reaped them, continuing doing so for five years. When after this time the father-in-law asked the corns back, the fourth daughterin-law gave him a great store of rice, whereas the first, who gave him five other corns, was henceforth employed as domestic drudge.
Now Professor Jacobi has pointed out, that the first version of our story occurs twice in the New Testament, viz. Ev. Matth. xxv, 14 and Luke xix, 11. In the first of these two passages it is narrated, that a man, when setting out on a travel, gave to one of his slaves 5 talentsi to the second 2, to the third 1. The first and the second slave doubled each the sum received by trading with it, but the third buried it in the earth. The master of the slaves, when returned from his travel, rewards the first two slaves and punishes the third one.
In the second place ( Luke XIX, 12 ), a noble man, 'be. fore leaving his country in order to conquer another country, gives to each of his ten servants one talent, telling them to trade with this sum. After returning home, as a tutiny has broken out in his residence, he bids his slaves give him their capitals and the interests gained by them. The first slave has earned one talent, the second 5 talents, the third nothing at all. ( In this place not ten slaves, is should be expected, but cnly three are spoken of). The noble man punishes the third servant, whereas he rewards the other two slaves. The rebels are killed.
From this short abstract it will be seen, that the second story ot the New Testament is not well told, and we can prove, by means of the first Jaina variant, that Matthew's narrative is more original than Luke's. But even Matthew's tale is
I A talent is a large sum of inouey.
