THE OWLS AND THE CROWS (Part II)

THE OWLS AND THE CROWS.

"The danger of putting confidence in one's enemy"

<<< THE OWLS AND THE CROWS (Part I) (read first)

A monk had bought a fat kid for a sacrifice,
and led it away, but was observed by some
persons near him, who agreed amongst themselves
that they would endeavor to rob him of it ;
upon this one of them came up to him, and asked
him, what he intended to do with the dog which
he was leading away ; a second and then a third
repeated the same question, till at length he no
longer trusted his own eyes, but fancied he had
been cheated by the person who had sold him the
kid, upon which he let it go, and the others
went off with it.

Thinking therefore on the present occasion
that we may accomplish all what we desire by
some device which will escape the penetration
of the owls, I entreat the king to order my
tail and all my feathers to be plucked out,
and to have me thrown at the foot of the tree,
and then to retire with all his attendants.

This being done, the crow began to mourn,
and to send forth the most pitiful groans,
till some of the owls having heard him were
attracted by the noise, and coming and seeing
the state in which he was, lost no time in
informing their king of it. The king determined
to have the crow questioned, and commanded
an owl to ask him who he was, and where the
other crows were ; upon which the crow told
his name, and appealed to the state in which he
was as a reason for giving credit to what he
might say. It was then told to the king of the
owls, that this was the vizier and principal
counselor of the king of the crows, and it was
immediately agreed upon to find out, if possible,
by interrogating him, what the crime could be
for which he had been so severely punished ;
and to the questions which were put to him for
this purpose the crow answered in the following manner.

The king was one day taking the advice of
his counselors on the important question of
peace or war between you and us, and as I
happened to be present, I took the liberty of
observing to his majesty, that we were totally
unable to contend with the owls, who were
both more powerful and more intelligent than
us ; and I gave it as my opinion, that we should
make peace, even though we might be reduced
to the necessity of purchasing it ; that if the
terms were accepted by the owls, we should be
at liberty to fly about unmolested wherever we
chose ; whereas, on the other hand, if we
obstinately preferred war, that the issue could not
under any supposition but be unfavorable to us.

At the same time I dwelt on the comparative
advantages of peace and war, enforcing
my arguments by illustrations, and examples
taken from the histories of former times,
tending to show the irreconcilable hatred of an
enemy, who has the means of avenging any affront
that is offered to his power and superiority ;
and I instanced the tender plant which,
yielding to the gale which passes over it
escapes being broken, as a proof of the good
policy of timely submission ; but nothing that I
could advance had any weight, but on the contrary
produced an opposite effect, and rather
inflamed than mitigated the ardor for war;
and more than this I was suspected of treachery,
and of being secretly attached to the
interest of the owls ; and the advice which I
had conscientiously given was rewarded in the
manner you see, and from that period I have
heard nothing either of the king or his people.

The king of the owls was no sooner acquainted
with the speech of the crow, than he
called upon one of his viziers for his opinion, as
to the manner in which he ought to be treated ;

who replied, My advice is, that the utmost
dispatch should be used in putting him to death ;
for as long as he lives, we can never be sure
that he will not contrive some plot against us ;
and as he is without doubt one of the principal
crows, his loss to the community will be very
sensibly felt. It has been truly said, that it is
no proof of wisdom to miss a favorable opportunity
of striking a decisive blow, when the prospect
of almost certain success challenges the attempt ;
and that where the means which were in our power
of accomplishing a vast undertaking have been
neglected, we deserve to be reminded hereafter
of our folly and irresolution, by seeing our hopes
for ever annihilated; and whoever spares an enemy
whose inability to defend himself renders his
destruction inevitable, will at last see his error,
when the increasing though unsuspected power of
resistance renders his purpose no longer practicable.

The king then desired to know the sentiments of
another vizier, who said, My opinion is, that
you should not kill the crow, for a needy
and unprotected enemy is an object of pity,
and should disarm the hand which is raised
against his life ; and if his defenseless state
does not give him a right to be treated with
kindness, it should at least procure him pardon,
and no worse treatment than the thief experienced
from the merchant, of whom it is told, that he
was very rich, and married to a handsome wife;
and one night a thief got into his house with
the intention of robbing it, and found the merchant
asleep, but his wife was awake ; and she
being frightened at what she saw, kept close to
the side of her husband, a mark of affection and
love which he had been a long while unsuccessfully
waiting for ; the novelty of his situation at length
awoke the merchant, and whilst he was asking his wife
the reason of this sudden passion, he discovered the
thief, and not doubting that he had been the occasion
of the good fortune which had happened to him, he told
him to keep what he had stolen, as a recompense for
the services he had rendered.

The king then ordered a third vizier to declare
what he thought should be done with the crow, and
he gave it as his opinion, that he should be well
treated, on account of the information which it might
be in his power to give; for a sensible man,
said he, will always take advantage of the dissension
which exists between his enemies, and torn their mutual
animosity to his own profit, as was the case with the monk,
who owed his safety to the quarrel between the robber and
the evil genius. The king desired to hear the
story related, and the vizier continued.

A monk had bought from a man a milk
cow, which he was leading away to his home,
when a robber met him, who wished to steal from
him his beast; and not far off was an evil genius,
who was thinking by what means he could get
the monk into his power, and who came up to
the robber, and asked him who he was, and
was answered, I am a robber, who intend to
steal this cow when the monk is asleep ; and
now have the goodness to give an account of
yourself, said he, addressing himself to his
inquisitive companion, who replied, I am an evil
genius, and I purpose carrying off the monk
himself when he is asleep. By this time the
monk had arrived at his house, and having tied
up his cow, he supped and went to bed. Then
the robber and the evil genius disputed, who
should first put his plan into execution; and the
evil genius said to the robber. If you begin by
stealing the cow, the monk will probably be
awakened by the noise, and assemble the
people in the house, and my purpose will be
entirely frustrated ; I therefore beg of you to
look quietly on, whilst I am employed in securing
the monk, and you will then be unmolested in
your attempt to steal the cow. This proposal
did not please the robber, who thought that the
monk would awake at the first effort which
the evil genius might make to secure him and
that he should therefore be deprived of the booty
which he anticipated; so he proposed to the
evil genius to give him the precedence in the
accomplishment of their projected plans ; and
they continued quarreling in this manner, till
at length each of them proclaiming in an audible
voice what the other intended to do, the monk
and his neighbors were awakened by the noise,
and the two rogues fled away in haste.

Then the vizier who had first spoken, and
who had advised the killing of the crow, said,
I think that the object of the crow has been to
deceive us, and his words, owing to their not
having been duly weighed and examined, seem
likely to produce inattention to a measure which
our real interest imperiously calls for ;
I therefore take the liberty of cautioning the king
against embracing a determination, which may
be productive of mischief to him, and expose
him to the risk of being as fatally deceived, as
the carpenter was, who chose rather to give
credit to what he heard, than to believe what
his own eyes had witnessed ; for it is told of
him, that he had a wife, of whom he was very
fond, but who was secretly attached to another
man ; and the husband being informed of this,
was desirous of hailing some stronger proof, than
public rumor of his wife's infidelity ;
he therefore told her that he had received orders to
go to a city at some distance on business of the
king, and desired her to get ready what was
necessary for his journey. The wife was delighted
at the prospect of her husband's departure,
which would remove every impediment to her
enjoying the society of her lover. Then
the husband pretended as if he would leave the
house, and told his wife to shut the door after
him ; but instead of going out, he stole privately
into a corner behind the door, where he remained
hid till his wife retired ; he then removed
quietly into his bed room, and concealed himself
under the bed. Now the wife had lost no time
in sending to her lover, to beg him to come to
her, and he obeyed the summons, and went
and passed the night with her.. The merchant
at length grew very drowsy, and fell asleep;
and having stretched out his legs from under
the bed, his wife immediately recognized them;
and calling to her aid all her presence of mind
against the danger of discovery, with which
she was threatened, she said to her lover. Ask
me with a loud voice whom I love most, my
husband or you : and as soon as he had put
the question to her, as she desired, she answered
angrily. What authorizes you to ask me this
question ? do you not know, that the heart and
affections of a woman take no part in the most
intimate and unequivocal intercourse which she
allows her friend, whereas a husband awakens
all the tender feelings which either a son or a
brother are capable of exciting, and is as dear
to his wife as her own existence! As soon
as the husband heard these words, the bad
opinion which he had entertained of his wife gave
way to other thoughts ; and though he was distressed
at the suspicious appearances to which her frailty
had given rise, every feeling of rancor or ill will
quickly subsided, in the persuasion which he felt
of the sincerity of her attachment; he did not
however think it prudent to leave his hiding-place
till the morning, when he was sure that his rival
was gone ; then he came out from under the bed, and
found his wife asleep, and he sat down by her, being
unwilling to disturb her ; and when she awoke, he
said to her, O joy of my heart, sleep on, for
you have passed a restless night ; and I have
only been restrained, by a regard for your
honor and reputation, from calling your visitor
to an open account.

Now the king was not convinced by the
arguments of his vizier, but ordered that the
crow should be taken care of, and treated with
kindness and attention; and some time after,
the crow being in the presence of the king, with
several of the owls, amongst whom was the
visor who had recommended his death, said to
his majesty. You are now fully informed, O
king, of what I have experienced from the
crows, and will find it pardonable, that I seek
to be revenged for the insult which has been
offered to me ; but having considered the matter,
I am persuaded that I never. shall be able to
accomplish what I wish, as long as I remain in
my present state ; but there is a tradition handed
down to us by the sages of old, that whoever
commits his body to the flames, performs the
most acceptable sacrifice to heaven; and that
whatever he prays for whilst he is burning in
the fire, is instantly accorded to him ; if
therefore it meets with the approbation of the king,
I will undergo the trial, and pray to be chained
into an owl, by which means I shall become
a more certain and hurtful enemy to the crows,
and have it in my power to execute my purpose
of vengeance.
Upon this the vizier, who had advised putting
the crow to death, interrupted him, and said.
When I consider the speciousness of your language,
which is intended to throw a cloak over the corrupt
motives of your conduct, I can only compare you
to wine, that has a good taste and smell, though
it is mixed with poison. Do you think that your
substance and composition will be changed by
the burning of your body, or would you persuade
us that this experiment will produce an
alteration in your person and being? Nature
will maintain her right as inviolably, as in the
case of the female mouse, who having the choice
of a husband between the sun, the wind, the
cloud, and the mountain, became at last the
partner of the male of her own species.

It is told of a religious man, who never failed
to obtain what he prayed for, that he was one
day sitting on the shore of the sea, and a kite
flew by him with a young mouse in its claws,
which falling down near him, he took it, and
wrapped it up in a leaf, and carried it home ;
but fearing that it would be difficult for him to
bring it up in his family, he prayed to heaven
that it might be changed into a young girl ; and
his prayer was heard, and his petition immediately
granted : he then carried her to his wife
and told her that it was his adopted daughter,
and desired that she might be treated as if she
were his own child. And when the girl had
reached the age of woman, the religious man
said to her. My daughter, it is now time for
you to think of marrying, and I leave you the
free choice of your husband. She replied, that
as he had left her at liberty to consult her
own inclinations, she should prefer a husband
who was possessed of uncommon strengths
Perhaps, said the religious man, you would
have no objection to the sun : Upon which he
went and addressed the sun, saying, I have a
young woman, who is in search of a husband
and his principal qualification must be his
strength; have you any objection to marry her?
The sun answered, I will direct; you to some
one who is stronger than I am, and that is the
cloud, which is able to prevent the heat of my
rays from reaching the earth, and eclipses the
brightness of my light. Upon this the religious
man .made a proposal of marriage to the cloud
who refused his consent after the example of the
sun, but recommended the wind as the most
suitable husband, who blows, said he, violently
against me, and drives me about in the heavens
from the east to the west. The religious
man then addressed himself to the wind, who
referred him to the mountain, whose power
and resistance, he added, defied all his attempts
to move it : so he went to the mountain, and
the mountain, having heard what he had to say,
said, that the mouse was his superior in strength,
as was proved by his being obliged to afford
him a habitation. At length then the religious
man offered his daughter to the mouse ; and the
mouse asked how it would be possible for him
to marry her, as the hole where he lived was
too small to contain her ; and besides this, a
mouse was accustomed to marry one of his
own species: then the religious man prayed
that his adopted daughter might be transformed
into her first state, and she returned to what
she had been : and this is a faithful picture of
what we may expect from you.

But nothing that his vizier could say had any
effect upon the mind of the king, who continued
to treat the crow with great kindness, and to
lavish upon him proofs of his consideration and
regard ; so he spent his time very pleasantly ;
till at length when his feathers had grown again,
and he had made all the observations which
suited his purpose, he flew away, and returned
to his companions, and being admitted to an
audience of the king, he begged permission to
communicate the information which he had acquired;
which being granted, he spoke as follows.

The owls are living upon a mountain abounding
with wood, and not far off there is a flock
of sheep, and a man watching them ; we shall
therefore have no difficulty in procuring a light,
and having set fire to some dry wood, we will
put it into the holes in which the owls are,
adding fresh fuel as often as is necessary, and
fanning the flame with our wings, by which
means our enemies will be suffocated by the
smoke ; or if any one endeavors to escape by
flying out, he will be burnt to death. The
crows obeyed punctually the instructions they
had received, and having in this manner destroyed
the owls, they returned quietly and unmolested to
their own homes.

Then the king asked the crow, how he had
been able to endure the company of the owls,
as the society of the wicked must be so
insupportable to the good. It is very true,
replied the crow ; but a man of sense, when
any weighty matter seems pregnant with mischief
to himself and those with whom he is connected,
will submit without reluctance to the severest
trials of his patience, when he has the prospect
of a happy issue to his endurance and resignation ;
he neither repines at the pains which he is
obliged to undergo, nor at the mortifying humiliation
of a temporary compliance with the will of an inferior,
looking to the attainment of the object which he has
in view as a sufficient recompense for all his toils
and sufferings.

The king then desired the crow to give him
some account of the intellectual attainment of
the owls. I did not find, he replied, any one
who possessed the least understanding, except
A vizier who endeavored to procure my death.
They proved their utter want of judgment and
good sense, by the little attention which they
paid to my case, and forgetting the credit in
which I had stood with the crows, they were
so far from having suspicions. of any plot which
I might be contriving against them, that they
not only rejected the advice of their counselor,
whose apprehensions were so well founded
but showed me the most unreserved confidence
in making me the depository of their secrets,
contrary to the maxim of the wise men, who
condemn in a sovereign a gratuitous disclosure
of his intentions in the presence of flatterers
and sycophants. Nothing, said the king, has
in my opinion occasioned the ruin of the owls,
but the unreasonable and weak conduct of their
king, in listening to the advice of evil counselor.

The observation of your majesty replied the crow,
is perfectly just, and the truth which it contains
may rank for importance with those sayings, which
experience and time have stamped with the character
of incontrovertible maxims. Insolence, for instance,
and naughtiness of behavior are almost inseparable
attendants on great good fortune ; a passionate
love of women is a source of more than probable
evil ; in the indulgences of the table lie the seeds of
disease, as the ruin of a state is almost inevitable
under the administration of corrupt ministers.

The same authority has also pronounced the proud
and imperious man to be an unsuccessful candidate
for fame; the false and deceitful companion to be
unworthy of finding a friend, and the man of bad
conduct incapable of arriving at distinction; nor
is it less true, that avarice, which in no instance
are free from blame, is often the parent of crimes,
and that a sovereign, who either through idleness
and indifference neglects the affairs of state, or
through weakness, places the reins of government in
unserviceable hands, compromises the safety of his
kingdom, and the happiness of his subjects.

The king here observed to the crow, that he
must have possessed a great deal of self-command,
not to have betrayed any impatience under the
humiliating character in which he appeared amongst
the owls : to which the crow replied, that the temper
of mind, which disposes us to support difficulties on
account of the profit which follows them, without
reluctance and peevishness, is highly praiseworthy;
and instanced the example of the serpent, who found
a reward for the readiness with which he carried the
king of the frogs upon his back, in the plentiful
provision of food which it procured him.

The king desiring to know how this happened,
the crow related the story as follows :

There was a serpent of a very advanced age,
whose sight began to grow dim, and his strength
to fail to that degree, that it became almost
impossible for him to hunt after his food, and
he was therefore at times at a loss even for a
morsel to eat ; one day however he crawled out
in the hopes of finding something to support
life, and went to a pond, where there were a
great many frogs, and where in former times he
had often been used to regale himself very
plentifully, and he lay at the edge of the water
exhibiting signs of great sorrow and affliction.
Then a frog asked him the reason of his distress,
and he answered, that it was no small cause that
had occasioned it ; that he had hitherto lived
upon the frogs which he was able to catch,
whereas at present, owing to some fatality
of which he was the victim, if he met with any,
he was unable to draw them out of the water.

Upon this the frog went to his sovereign, and
acquainted him with what the serpent had said.
Then the king of the frogs came to the serpent,
and asked him what was the matter; and the
serpent replied, I was one evening employed
in hunting a frog, which took refuge in the
house of a religious man, and I followed it thither,
and as I was pursuing it in the dark, I
bit the finger of the religious man's son, which
I mistook for the frog, and he died of the wound :
then I fled away as quickly as I could, and the
father followed me, loading me with imprecations
for what I had done to his innocent child,
and praying, that as a punishment for my crime
I might be reduced to the servile condition of
being rode upon by the king of the frogs, and
of living from his charity and bounty. I am
therefore come to you according to the curse
which hangs over me, to await your will and
pleasure. Then the king of the frogs was impatient
to ride the serpent, which he thought would
be a great honor and distinction, and having
mounted upon him, he was highly pleased and
satisfied. Upon this the serpent reminded the
king of the state to which be had been doomed,
and implored his charitable aid to save him
from starving ; and the king of the frogs
acknowledged the justice of his claims, and that
he fairly earned his livelihood by the case which
was made of him ; and he commanded two
frogs to be delivered to him very day, which
were sufficient for his support ; and his servitude
and patient submission to his enemy were
therefore in the result rather profitable than
injurious to him : in the same manner the security
for our persons, and freedom from all apprehensions
for the future, which have been put beyond all
doubt by the destruction of our foes, were the
object, and have become the recompense, of the
inconveniences to which I submitted.

I found too that meekness and a complying
temper would be more effectual in bringing
about the purpose which I had in view,
than a haughty and assuming deportment,
drawing a parallel in my own mind between
the power and respective influence of the
various qualities which we betray in our conduct,
and the natural but opposite phenomena of fire
and water, the former of which non-withstanding
the intensity of its heat, will only consume the
trunk and branches of a tree, whilst the latter
by its chilling moisture will even destroy the
roots. And it has been said that neither fire,
nor a disease, nor an enemy, nor a debt, should
be despised on account of their apparent
insignificance, a maxim which the king has always
observed, and in which he has found his account ;
and it has been laid down as certain,
that where two men are in pursuit of the same
object, the strongest of the two is always
successful; but if they happen to be equal in
strength, the victory will declare itself for the
more persevering ; and if both are endowed with
an equal measure of indefatigable patience, that
the issue will be favorable to him who has
made the greater preparation for the exertions
which he will be called upon to employ : and
whoever makes war against a king who uses
foresight in the measures which he orders, and
who is neither rendered arrogant by good fortune,
nor beat down by the pressure of ill luck,
but like you, O king, determines prudently what
is to be done, as well as the time and place for
its execution, neither injuring his cause by
unseasonable violence and precipitation on the
one hand, nor by procrastination and a timid
forbearance on the other, but looking to the
business in which he is engaged under every
point of view in which it is possible to survey
it, such a man must inevitably bring ruin upon
his own head.

The king here disclaimed all merit for himself,
and told, the crow, that his judgment and
sensible conduct, aided by the blessing which
seemed to be attached by fate to every thing
which he did, deserved all the praise; for that
one prudent and intelligent person was of more
use in counteracting the plans of an enemy,
and converting them into engines of his destruction,
than a multitude, who had nothing to trust
to except their courage and number ; and what
surprises me the most, added he, is your conduct
in being able to listen for such a length of
time to the vulgar discourse of the owls, without
letting fall a single expression, which might
betray your secret views. I never for a moment
lost sight of your instructions, answered the
crow, and succeeded to the utmost of my
wishes, by following uninterruptedly a mild
and conciliatory course of action. Indeed, said
the king, I am convinced of your worth in this
respect : it is true, I have had other vizirs, who
could talk plausibly, but without giving any
effect to what they uttered ; but in you I have
found a strong and powerful support, so that I
can now enjoy my meals in peace, and take my
rest in whatever place I choose, without any
apprehensions for my safety ; my present situation
reminds me of the state of a sick man, who
can neither enjoy the pleasures of his table, nor
taste the repose of his couch, till he is recovered
from his illness ; or I may compare myself to
the ambitious man, who is tormented by the
desire of arriving at fortune and power, and is
not at ease, till the bounty of his sovereign has
crowned his schemes with success ; or to the
man who, living in constant dread of his enemy,
is a martyr to his fears, till the cause of them is
removed ; for the mind is lightened by the
disappearance of the apprehensions which agitated
it, as the hand is relieved by the removal of a
heavy weight which it was carrying. I will
pray, said the crow, to God, who alone has
been the destroyer of your enemy, that he will
pour down upon you the blessings of his goodness,
and make the excess of his bounty to you
the measure of the happiness and prosperity of
your subjects, for when a people. are not happy
under the sway of their sovereign, he maybe
compared to the excrescence, which grows under
the throat of the milk goat, which the kid sucks;
fancying it to be the teat of the udder, and is
disappointed of its milk .

Tell me thou faithful minister, said the king
what was the practice of the owls and their king
in their wars, and in the management of their affairs;

Their conducts answered the crow, was marked by
insolence, haughtiness, arrogance, weakness, and pride;
this was the character both of the king and his
viziers, with the exception of him who advised
my death; he indeed was wise and intelligent,
gifted with foresight and knowledge, and rarely
to be equaled in firmness, understandings and
sound judgment.

The king; And what did you observe in his behavior,
which led you to form this opinion of him ?

The craw. Two circumstances, which struck me very
forcibly : one was, his recommendation that I should
be put to death; and the other, the freedom with which
he delivered his opinion, notwithstanding the
contempt it met with ; at the same time his
speech was remarkable for moderation and temper ;
and in combating the arguments of his colleagues
he avoided every sort of personality,
endeavoring to give weight to what he advanced
by examples and stories which bore upon the point
under discussion, by which he incurred no risk of
exciting the displeasure of the king : and I
distinctly heard him say to his sovereign, that
a king ought not to neglect, his affairs ; that
but few people were equal to the task of a great
undertaking, and that in no case could it be
successfully conducted without prudent management;
that the possession of a kingdom was a great acquisition,
but entailed upon the sovereign the necessity of
unceasing attention to the means of consolidating
and securing it; that in the uncertainty of its
duration it might be compared to the transitory shadow of
the leaf of the lotus, and in the quickness
with which it is lost to the passage of the wind ;
in the instability of its most flourishing state to
the casual and temporary connection which a
noble-minded man may have formed with a person of
an opposite character ; and in its rapid
decline to the bubbles of water, which are
momentarily occasioned by the falling rain.

Book: Kalila and Dimna
Author: Ibn al-Muqaffaʻ
Translation: Wyndham Knatchbull
Corrections to digitized script: Joseph Stuhlman
Copyrights: Public Domain including images.