king of
kings, sent unto thee by Seduka, I come before thee for this." The king
said, "I will give thee now whatever tribute may come to me before the
morning expire. How indeed, can I send away the man empty-handed who
hath been whipped by me." And having said this the king gave unto that
Brahmana the entire proceeds of that day and that was more than the
value of a thousand horses.'"

SECTION CLXLVI

"Markandeya said, 'One day it was resolved by the gods that they should
descend on the earth and try the goodness and virtue of king Sivi, the
son of Usinara. And addressing each other,--"_Well_"--Agni and Indra
came to the earth. And Agni took the form of a pigeon flying away from
Indra who pursued him in the form of a hawk, and that pigeon fell upon
the lap of king Sivi who was seated on an excellent seat. And the priest
thereupon addressing the king said, "Afraid of the hawk and desirous of
saving its life, this pigeon hath come to thee for safety. The learned
have said that the falling of a pigeon upon one's body forebodeth a
great danger. Let the king that understands omens give away wealth for
saving himself from the danger indicated." And the pigeon also addressed
the king and said, "Afraid of the hawk and desirous of saving my life I
have come to thee for protection. I am a _Muni_. Having assumed the form
of a pigeon, I come to thee as a seeker of thy protection. Indeed, I
seek thee as my life. Know me as one possessed of Vedic lore, as one
leading the _Brahmacharya_ mode of life, as one possessed also of
self-control and ascetic virtues. And know me further as one that has
never spoken disagreeably unto his preceptor, as one possessed of every
virtue indeed, as one that is sinless. I repeat the Vedas, I know their
prosody; indeed, I have studied all the Vedas letter by letter. I am not
a pigeon. Oh, do not yield me up to the hawk. The giving up of a learned
and pure Brahmana can never be a good gift." And after the pigeon said
so, the hawk addressed the king, and said, "Creatures do not come into
the world in the same particular order. In the order of creation, thou
mayst, in a former birth, have been begotten by this pigeon. It is not
proper for thee, O king, to interfere with my food by protecting this
pigeon (even though he might have been thy father)." And thus addressed,
the king said, "Hath any one, before this, seen birds thus speak the
pure speech of man? Knowing what this pigeon sayeth, and this hawk