Mahā Ukussa Jātaka

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was the King of Benares, certain men built a settlement wherever they could find their food, live in the forest, and kill meat for themselves and their families from the game that thrived there. Not far from their village there was a large natural lake. On its south shore there lived a hawk. On the west shore there was a she-hawk. On the north shore lived a lion, king of the beasts. On the east shore there lived an osprey, king of the birds, and in the middle a tortoise lived on a small island.

The hawk asked the she-hawk to become his wife. She asked him, “Do you have any friends?” “No, madam,” he replied. “We must have someone who can defend us against any danger or trouble that may arise, and you must find some friends.” “With whom shall I make friends” “Why, with king osprey who lives on the eastern shore, and with the lion on the north, and with the tortoise who lives in the middle of this lake.” (It should be said that on a little islet in the same lake grew a kadamba tree. It was surrounded by the water on all sides.) He took her advice and did so. Then the two lived together in a nest that they made.

Afterwards they gave birth to two sons. One day, while the wings of the sons were still growing, some of the country folk went foraging through the woods all day and found nothing. Not wishing to return home empty-handed, they went down to the lake to catch a fish or a tortoise. They got on the island and lay down beneath the kadamba tree. They were tormented by the bites of gnats and mosquitoes. So to drive them away, they built a fire by rubbing sticks together in order to make smoke. The smoke bothered the birds, and the young ones uttered a cry. “’Tis the cry of birds!” the country folk said. “Rise up and feed the fire. We cannot lie here hungry. But before we lie down, we will have a meal of fowls’ flesh.”

They made the fire blaze and built it up. But the mother bird heard the sounds. She thought, “These men want to eat our young ones. We made friends to save us from that danger. I will send my mate to the great osprey.” Then she said, “Go, my husband, tell the osprey of the danger that threatens our young,” repeating this stanza:

“The country churls build fires upon the isle,

To eat my young ones in a little while.

O hawk! To friend and comrade give the word,

My children's danger tell to every bird!”

The cock-bird flew with all speed to the osprey’s place and gave a cry to announce his arrival. He went up to the osprey and made his greeting. “Why have you come?” asked the osprey. Then the cock repeated the second stanza:

“O winged fowl! chiefest of birds art thou,

So, osprey king, I seek your shelter now.

Some country-folk a-hunting now are fain

To eat my young, bring me my joy again!”

“Fear not,” said the osprey to the hawk. And consoling him, he repeated the third stanza:

“In season, out of season, wise men make

Both friends and comrades for protection’s sake.

For you, O hawk! I will perform this deed,

The good must help each other at their need.”

Then he asked, “Have the churls climbed up the tree, my friend?” “They are not climbing yet. They are just piling wood on the fire.” “Then you had better go quickly and comfort your mate and say I am coming.” He did so. The osprey went as well. And from a place near to the kadamba tree, sitting on a tree top, he watched for the men to climb. Just as one of the troublemakers who was climbing the tree had come near to the nest, the osprey dove into the lake. From his wings and beak water poured over the burning logs so that they were put out. The men climbed down and built another fire to cook the bird and its young. But when they climbed up again, once more the osprey demolished the fire. So whenever they made a fire, the bird put it out.

Finally, midnight came. The bird was distressed. The skin under his stomach had become quite thin. His eyes were blood-shot. Seeing him, the hen-bird said to her mate, “My lord, the osprey is exhausted. Go and tell the tortoise so that he may have a rest.” When he heard this, the bird approached the osprey and addressed him in a stanza:

“Good help the good, the necessary deed

You have in pity done for us at need.

Our young are safe, you living. Take good care

Of your own self, nor all your strength outwear.”

On hearing these words, he repeated the fifth stanza as loud as a lion’s roar:

“While I am keeping guard about this tree,

I care not if I lose my life for thee,

So use the good, thus friend will do for friend,

Yea, even if he perish at the end.”

But the sixth stanza was repeated by the Master, in his Perfect Wisdom, as he praised the bird’s goodness:

“The egg-born bird that flies the air did a most painful work,

The osprey, guarding well the chicks before the midnight murk.”

Then the hawk said, “Rest awhile, friend osprey.” Then he went to the tortoise. “What is your errand, friend?” asked the tortoise. “We are facing danger, and the royal osprey has been laboring hard ever since the first watch. He is very tired, and that is why I have come to you.” With these words he repeated the seventh stanza:

"Even they who fall through evil or misdeed

May rise again if they get help in need.

My young in danger, straight I fly to thee,

O dweller in the lake, come, please help me!”

On hearing this the Tortoise repeated another stanza:

“The good man to a man who is his friend,

Both food and goods, even life itself, will lend.

For you, O hawk! I will perform this deed.

The good must help each other at their need.”

His son, who lay not far off, heard the words of his father. He thought, “I would not have my father troubled. I will do my father’s part.” And he repeated the ninth stanza:

“Here at your ease remain, O father mine,

And I, your son, will do this task of thine.

A son should serve a father, so ‘tis best,

I’ll save the hawk, his young ones in the nest.”

The father tortoise addressed his son in a stanza:

“So do the good, my son, and it is true

That son for father service ought to do.

Yet they may leave the hawk’s young brood alone,

Perchance, if they see me so fully grown.”

With these words the tortoise sent the hawk away, adding, “Fear not, my friend. You go first and I will come after.” He dove into the water and collected some mud. Then he went to the island, quenched the flame, and lay still.

Then the countrymen cried, “Why should we trouble with the young hawks? Let us roll over this cursed tortoise and kill him! He will be enough for all.” So they plucked some creepers and got some strings, but when they had fastened them and torn their clothes into strips for their purpose, they could not roll the tortoise over. The tortoise dragged them along with him and plunged into deep water. The men were so eager to get him that they all fell in. They splashed about and scrambled out with a belly-full of water. “Just look,” they said, “for half the night one osprey kept putting out our fire, and now this tortoise has made us get drenched in the water and swallow it to our great discomfort. Well, we will light another fire, and at sunrise we will eat those young hawks.”

Then they began to build a fire. The hen-bird heard the noise they were making and said, “My husband, sooner or later these men will eat our young and leave. You go and tell our friend the lion.”

At once he went to the lion, who asked him why he came at such an unseasonable hour. The bird told him everything from the beginning and repeated the eleventh stanza:

“Mightiest of all the beasts, both beasts and men

Fly to the strongest when beset with fear.

My young ones are in danger, help me then,

You are our king, and therefore I am here.”

This said, the lion repeated a stanza:

“Yes, I will do this service, hawk, for thee,

Come, let us go and slay this gang of foes!

Surely the prudent, he who wisdom knows,

Protector of a friend must try to be.”

Having spoken, he dismissed him, saying, “Now go, and comfort your young ones.” Then he went forward, churning up the crystal water.

When the churls saw him approaching, they were frightened to death. “The osprey,” they cried, “put out our fire. The tortoise made us lose the clothes we had on. But now we are done for. This lion will destroy us.” They ran this way and that, and when the lion arrived at the foot of the tree, he did not see anything. Then the osprey, the hawk, and the tortoise arrived. He told them the value of friendship. He said, “From this time on, be careful to never break the bonds of friendship.” With this advice he departed, and they also went each to his own place. The hen-hawk looked on her young and thought, “Ah, through friends my young have been given back to me!” And as she rejoiced, she spoke to her mate and recited six stanzas declaring the effect of friendship:

“Get friends, a houseful of them without fail,

Get a great friend, a blessing he’ll be found.

Vain strike the arrows on a coat of mail.

And we rejoice, our younglings safe and sound.

“By their own comrade’s help, the friend who stayed to take their part,

One chirps, the fledglings chirp reply, with notes that charm the heart.

“The wise asks help at friend’s or comrade’s hand,

Lives happy with his goods and brood of kind,

So I, my mate, and young, together stand,

Because our friend to pity was inclined.

“A man needs king and warriors for protection,

And these are his whose friendship is perfection,

You who crave happiness, he is famed and strong,

He surely prospers to whom friends belong.

“Even by the poor and weak, O hawk, good friendship must be found,

See now by kindness we and ours each one are safe and sound.

“The bird who wins a hero strong to play a friendly part,

As you and I are happy, hawk, is happy in his heart.”

So she declared the value of friendship in six stanzas. And this company of friends lived all their lives long without breaking the bond of friendship and then passed away according to their deeds.