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MISCELLANEA.
JUNE, 1903.]
But the mouse, possessed of intelligence and wisdom and knowledge of the Scriptures, replied with these excellent words:-"That friendship in which there is fear, and which cannot be kept up without fear, should be maintained with great caution, like the hand of the snakecharmer at the snake's fangs. He who does not protect himself after having made a covenant with one that is stronger, finds that covenant productive of injury instead of benefit. Nobody is anybody's friend, nobody is anybody's well-wisher; persons become friends or foes only from motives of interest. Interest enlists interest, even as tame elephants help to catch wild individuals of their own species. When a kind act has been accomplished, the door is scarcely regarded. For this reason, all acts should be so done that something may remain to be done. So when I set thee free in the presence of the hunter, thou wilt fly for thy life without ever thinking of seizing me. Behold, all the strings of this net but one have been cut by me, and I will cut that in time. Be comforted."
While the mouse and the cat were thus talking together, both in serious danger, the night gradually wore away, and a great and terrible fear filled the heart of the cat. When at last mornning came, the Chandala appeared on the scene. His visage was frightful. His hair was black and tawny. His lips were very large and his aspect very fierce. A huge month extended from ear to ear, and his ears were very long. Armed with weapons and accompanied by a pack of dogs, this grim-looking man appeared on the scene. Behold. ing one that resembled a messenger of Yama, the cat was penetrated through and through with fright. But the mouse had very quickly cut the remaining string, and the cat ran with speed up the banyan tree. The mouse also quickly fled into his hole. The hunter, who had seen everything, took up the net and quickly left the spot.
Liberated from his great peril, the cat, from the branches of the tree, addressed the mouse :"I hope thou dost not suspect me of any evil intent. Having given me my life, why dost thou not approach me at a time when friends should enjoy the sweetness of friendship? I have been honored and served by thee to the best of thy power. It behoveth thee now to enjoy the company of my poor self who has become thy friend. Like disciples worshipping their preceptor, all the friends I have, all my relatives and kinsmen, will honour and worship thee. I myself, too, will worship thee. Be thou the lord of my body and
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home. Be thou the disposer of all my wealth and possessions. Be thou my honored counsellor, and do thou rule me like a father. I swear by my life that thou hast no fear from us."
But the mouse, conversant with all that is productive of the highest good, replied in sweet
words that were beneficial to himself:"Hear how the matter appears to me. Friends should be well examined. Foes also should be well
studied. In this world a task like this is regard. ed by even the learned as a difficult one, depending upon acute intelligence. Friends assume the guise of foes, and foes of friends. When compacts of friendship are formed, it is difficult for either party to understand why the other party is moved. There is no such thing as a foe. There is no such thing in existence as a friend. It is the force of circumstances that creates friends and foes. He who regards his own interests ensured as long as another person lives, end thinks them endangered when another person will ocase to live, takes that other person for a friend and considers him such as long as those interests of his are not interfered with. There is no condition that deserves permanently the name either of friendship or hostility. Both arise from considerations of interest and gain. Self-interest is very powerful. He who reposes blind trust in friends, and always behaves with mistrust towards foes without
paying any regard to considerations of policy, finds
his life unsafe. He who, disregarding all con siderations of policy, sets his heart upon an affectionate union with either friends or foes, comes to be regarded as a person whose understanding has been unhinged. One should never repose trust in a person undeserving of trust. Father, mother, son, maternal uncle, sister's son, all are guided by considerations of interest and profit.
"Thou tellest me in sweet words that I am very dear to thee. Hear, however, O friend, the reasons that exist on my side. One becomes dear from an adequate cause. One becomes a foe from an adequate cause. This whole world of creatures is moved by the desire of gain in some form or other. The friendship between two uterine brothers, the love between husband and wife, depends upon interest. I do not know any kind of affection between any persons that does not rest upon some motive of self-interest. One becomes dear for one's liberality, another for his sweet words, a third in consequence of his religious acts. Generally
