11.  Do you think it is ever possible to make a real friend of an enemy?

12.  What do you think the mouse deserved most praise for in his behaviour?

13.  Which of the four animals in this story do you like best and which do you dislike most?

14.  Can an animal be blamed for acting according to its nature?  For instance, can you call it cruel for a cat or an owl to kill and eat a mouse?

15.  Is it always right to forgive an injury?

16.  Can you give an example from history of the forgiveness of an injury?

STORY III

A Royal Thief-Catcher.

CHAPTER I

In one of the smaller cities of India called Sravasti the people gathered together on a very hot day to stare at and talk about a stranger, who had come in to the town, looking very weary and walking with great difficulty because his feet were sore with tramping for a long distance on the rough roads.  He was a Brahman, that is to say, a man who devoted his whole life to prayer, and had promised to give up everything for the sake of pleasing the god in whom he believed, and to care nothing for comfort, for riches, or for good food.

This Brahman carried nothing with him but a staff to help him along, and a bowl in which to receive the offerings of those who thought it their duty to help him and hoped by doing so to win favour in the sight of God.  He was naked, except for a cloth worn about his loins, and his long hair was all matted together for want of combing and brushing.  He made his way very slowly and painfully through the crowds, till he came to a shady corner, and there he sank down exhausted, holding out his bowl for the gifts of the people.  Very soon his bowl would have been full of all sorts of good things, but he made it clear that he would accept nothing to eat except rice still in the husk, and nothing to drink but pure water.  He was however willing to take money; and when the people who wished to help him found that out, they brought him a good many silver and gold pieces.  Some who had no money to spare gave him jewels and other things which could be sold for money.

1.  Can you explain why the Brahman would only accept such food as rice in the husk and water?

2.  Do you think it was right or wrong of the Brahman to take money and jewels?

CHAPTER II

As time went on, the Brahman became very well known in Sravasti.  His fame indeed spread far beyond the town, and people came from far away to consult him about all sorts of things, and he gave them good advice, for he was a very wise man.  Those who wanted him to tell them what to do paid him for his advice, and as some of them had plenty of money and were glad to help him, he soon became quite rich.  He might have done a great deal of good with all this money by helping the poor and suffering, but unfortunately he never thought of doing so.  Instead of that, he got to love the money for its own sake.  At night, when all those who had come to see him had gone to rest, and there was no fear of his being found out, he used to steal away into the forest, and there he dug a deep hole at the root of a great tree, to which he took all his money and jewels.