Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace
Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace
Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace
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Translation 562 <strong>Vessantara</strong>-Jåtaka<br />
[Fausbøll, Jåtaka, vol. VI, p. 562]<br />
"O Maddī, royal pr<strong>in</strong>cess born, whose glory is so great,<br />
Thou wentst for food <strong>in</strong> early morn: why comest thou so late?"<br />
She replied:<br />
"Did you not hear the lion <strong>and</strong> the tiger loudly roar<br />
When by the lake their thirst to slake they stood upon the shore?<br />
As <strong>in</strong> the woods I walked, there came the sign I knew so well:<br />
My spade fell from my h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> from my arm the basket fell.<br />
Then hurt, alarmed, I worshipt all the quarters, one by one,<br />
Pray<strong>in</strong>g that good might come of this, my h<strong>and</strong>s outstretcht <strong>in</strong> prayer:<br />
And that no lion <strong>and</strong> no pard, hyena, wolf or bear,<br />
Might tear or harry or destroy my daughter or my son.<br />
A lion, tiger, <strong>and</strong> a pard, three raven<strong>in</strong>g beasts, laid wait<br />
And kept me from my homeward path: so that is why I'm late."<br />
This was all that the Great Be<strong>in</strong>g said to her until sunrise: after which Maddī uttered a<br />
long lament:
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