by the acts of the sire, or the sire by those of the son.  Bound by their own acts, good and bad, all have to travel by this common road.  Duly practise all the duties, and abstain from acts of unrighteousness.  Reverentially wait, according to the directions of the scriptures, upon the gods and the Brahmanas.  Cast off sorrow and cheerlessness, and abstain from parental affection.  Leave the child on this exposed ground, and go ye away without delay.  The actor alone enjoys the fruit of acts, good or bad, that he does.  What concern have kinsmen with them?  Casting off a (deceased) kinsman, however dear, kinsmen leave this spot.  With eyes bathed in tears, they go away, ceasing to display affection for the dead.  Wise or ignorant, rich or poor, every one succumbs to Time, endued with acts, good and bad.  What will you do by mourning?  Why do you grieve for one that is dead?  Time is the lord of all, and in obedience to his very nature he casts an equal eye on all things.  In pride of youth or in helpless infancy bearing the weight of years or lying in the mother’s womb, every one is subject to be assailed by Death.  Such indeed, is the course of the world.’

“The jackal said, ’Alas, the affection cherished by your weeping selves that are overwhelmed with grief for your deceased child has been lessened by that light-brained vulture.  Even this must be the case, since in consequence of his well-applied words fraught with tranquillity and capable of producing conviction, there that one goes back to the town, casting off affection that is so difficult to abandon.  Alas, I had supposed that great is the grief felt by men indulging in loud lamentations for the death of a child and for the corpse on a crematorium, like that of kine bereft of calves.  Today, however, I understand what the measure of grief is of human beings on earth.  Witnessing their great affection I had shed tears myself. (It seems however, that their affection is not strong)!  One should always exert oneself.  Thence does one succeed through destiny.  Exertion and destiny, joining together, produce fruit.  One should always exert oneself with hopefulness.  How can happiness be had from despondency?  Objects of desire may be won by resolution.  Why then do you go back so heartlessly?  Where do you go, abandoning in the wilderness this son of your own loins, this perpetuator of the race of his sires?  Stay here till the sun sets and the evening twilight comes.  You may then take away this boy with yourselves or stay with him.’

“The vulture said, ’I am, ye men, a full thousand years of age today, but I have never seen a dead creature, male or female or of ambiguous sex, revive after death.  Some die in the womb; some die soon after birth; some die (in infancy) while crawling (on all fours); some die in youth; and some in old age.  The fortunes of all creatures, including even beasts and birds, are unstable.  The periods of life of all mobile and immobile creatures are fixed