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prove I speak the truth.
She ordered the old servant woman to fetch her son, the playboy. She was
to tell him to take the lady by the hand and prevent her from stepping in the
flames. This the woman did.
On the day of the trial by fire, the priest s lady said to the crowd of
onlookers,  I have never been touched by any man except this priest, my
master. By this truth, may the fire have no power over me.
Then, just as she was about to step into the fire, the playboy leaped from the
crowd and grabbed her hand. He shouted,  Stop! Stop! How can this priest
be so cruel as to force this tender young lady into a raging fire!
She shook her hand free and said to the priest,  My lord, since this man has
touched my hand, the trial by fire is useless. But you can see my good
intention!
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The priest realised he had been tricked. He beat her as he drove her away
forever. At last she was free of him and mistress of her own fate.
The moral is: You can t force someone to be good.
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Tale 63  The Wicked Lady and Buttermilk Wise
Man
[Seduction]
Once upon a time, a very rich man was living in Benares, in northern India.
He had a daughter who was one of the most beautiful women in the city.
Her skin was as soft as rose petals, her complexion was like lotus blossoms,
and her hair was as black as midnight. But unfortunately her beauty was
only skin deep. For, on the inside, she was very cruel. She insulted her
servants and even enjoyed beating them. She became known as the
 Wicked Lady .
One day she went down to the river for her bath. While she bathed, her
servant girls played and splashed in the water. Suddenly it became dark and
a heavy rainstorm came upon them. Most of the attendants and guards ran
away. The servant girls said to each other,  This would be a perfect time to
get rid of the Wicked Lady once and for all! So they deserted her there, still
bathing in midstream. The storm became more and more terrible as the sun
set.
When the servant girls arrived home without the Wicked Lady, the rich man
asked them,  Where is my precious daughter? They replied,  We saw her
coming out of the river, but since then we haven t seen her. We don t know
where she went. The rich man sent out relatives to search for her, but she
was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile the Wicked Lady had been swept
downstream by the ferocious flooded river.
There just so happened to be a holy man living in the forest next to the river.
In this peaceful area he had been meditating for a long time, until he had
come to enjoy the inner happiness of a high mental state. Because of this
happiness, he was quite sure he had left the ordinary desires of the world
behind.
At about midnight the Wicked Lady was carried past the holy man s hut by
the raging river. She was crying out and screaming for help. When he heard
her, the holy man realised a woman was in danger. So he took a torch down
to the river and saw her being swept along. He dived in and saved her. He
comforted her, saying,  Don t worry, I ll look after you.
He carried her into his hut and made a fire to dry her off and warm her up.
He gave her fruits to eat. When she had eaten her fill, he asked,  Where do
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you live? How did you fall in the river? She told him about the storm and
how her servants deserted her. He took pity on her and let her sleep in his
hut for the next couple of nights. He himself slept under the stars.
When she had recovered her strength, he told her it was time to return home.
But she knew that he was the type of holy man who promised never to live
with a woman, as husband and wife. That was why he had slept outside
while she slept in the hut.
Just to prove her own power and superiority over him, she decided to
seduce him into breaking his religious promise. She refused to leave until
she had tricked him into falling in love with her.
The Wicked Lady used the poses and tricks and flatteries that women learn.
The holy man was not yet strong enough to resist her tempting ways. After a
few days she succeeded in seducing him into breaking his promise. They
began living together in the quiet forest as if they were husband and wife.
He lost the inner happiness he had gained by years of meditating.
But soon the Wicked Lady grew bored with forest life. She missed the noise
and excitement of crowded city life. So she cooed and coaxed until she got
her way, and they moved to a nearby village.
In the beginning, the holy man supported her by selling buttermilk. Later on,
the villagers came and asked him for advice. They soon realised that
listening to him brought good fortune. So they started calling him  the
Buttermilk Wise Man , and gave him a hut to live in. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]