________________
223
discussion, they simply could not understand how the king's cock could be made to fight in the absence of another cock but they finally came to a satisfactory conclusion that Rohaka should be consulted.
Rohaka brought a huge mirror and polished it clean. He held it before the king's cock. When he saw his own image reflected in the mirror, he thought it was another cock challenging him to fight, and he attacked it with great force. The fight was full of great gusto. Thus the king's cock fought a fierce battle without another cock. The whole village watched the fight with great admiration and wonder. Due report was made to the king that the cock did fight without another cock being involved.
ROPES OF SAND
The king's order was: "Your village is surrounded by colourful sand. Make some thick ropes of that sand and send them to the palace at once."
The entire village was completely taken aback by this order. All that they could do was to seek Rohaka's advice. Rohaka as usual came to the rescue of this village. He composed a message for the king. "We are performers. We know how to dance, we know how to present dramatic entertainments but unfortunately we have never been trained in the art of making ropes. However, we would not disobey your command. We would certainly send you the desired ropes but we would very much like to see the patterns and fabrics of such ropes before we venture on any of our own. Your Majesty's palace is very old and there must be several such ropes made of sand there. Could your majesty please send one of these to us as a model so that we shall make our ropes in the same style and send them to you?"
The king was completely dumbfounded. THE DEAD ELEPHANT
The king sent to the village of Rohaka an old ailing elephant that would die any moment with a message to the villagers that every day news about the elephant must reach the king. But no report should say that the elephant has died.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
