Jataka 187
Catumaṭṭa Jātaka
The Foolish Upstart
as told by Eric Van Horn
originally translated by William Henry Denham Rouse, Cambridge University
originally edited by Professor Edward Byles Cowell, Cambridge University
There are many stories in the Pāli Canon about upstarts, people who thought they knew more than the greatest arahants. Sometimes they thought they knew more than the Buddha. This is one such story. You probably know of a case where someone who was an expert was treated as inferior by someone who clearly knew nothing. In those case it is best to say nothing, or – as happens here – to simply walk away. Fools do not usually know they are fools. In fact, studies show that often it is the fools who are the most opinionated. People who are very confident in their opinions tend to be the most ignorant.
“Sit and sing.” The Master told this story while he was staying at Jetavana. It is about an elder monk.
Once, we are told, the two chief disciples (Sāriputta and Moggallāna) were sitting together answering questionings. An elder monk walked up to them. He sat down and said, “I have a question too, sirs, which I would like to ask you, and if you have any difficulty, you may put the question to me.” Sāriputta and Moggallāna were disgusted. They got up and left. The people who had listened to the Elders’ discourse then went to the Master. He asked why they were there. They told him what had happened. He replied, “This is not the first time, brothers and sisters, that Sāriputta and Moggallāna have been disgusted with this man and left without a word. It was just the same in days gone by.” And he proceeded to tell them a story of the past.
Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was the King of Benares, the Bodhisatta became a tree sprite who lived in a forest. Two young geese flew down from Mount Cittakūṭa and perched on this tree. They flew about in search of food, returned back again, and after resting for a while they flew back to their mountain home.
As time went on, the sprite struck up a friendship with them. Coming and going, they were great friends. They used to talk of different beliefs to one another before they parted.
It so happened that one day, as the birds sat on the treetop talking with the Bodhisatta, a jackal halted at the foot of the tree. He addressed the young geese with the words of the following stanza:
“Sit and sing upon the tree
If in private you would be.
Sit upon the ground, and sing
Verses to your jackal king!”
Filled with disgust, the young geese took off and flew back to Cittakūṭa. When they were gone, the Bodhisatta repeated the second stanza for the jackal’s benefit:
“This bird here to that bird sings,
Lofty such discussion brings.
Defective beast, you must then
Go back into your hole again!”
Figure: “Back Into Your Hole Again!”
When the Master had ended this discourse, he identified the birth: “In those times the old man was the jackal. Sāriputta and Moggallāna were the two young geese, and I was the tree-sprite.”
