end! never think thus,' said Damanaka--

'What but for their vassals,
Elephant and man--
Swing of golden tassels,
Wave of silken fan--
But for regal manner
That the "Chattra"[12] brings,
Horse, and foot, and banner--
What would come of kings?'

'I care not,' replied Karataka; 'we have nothing to do with it, and
matters that don't concern us are best left alone. You know the story of
the Monkey, don't you?'--

'The Monkey drew the sawyer's wedge, and died:--
Let meddlers mark it, and be edified.'

'No!' said Damanaka. 'How was it?'

'In this way,' answered Karataka:--

THE STORY OF THE MONKEY AND THE WEDGE

"In South Behar, close by the retreat of Dhurmma, there was an open plot
of ground, upon which a temple was in course of erection, under the
management of a man of the Kayeth caste, named Subhadatta. A carpenter
upon the works had partly sawed through a long beam of wood, and wedged
it open, and was gone away, leaving the wedge fixed. Shortly afterwards
a large herd of monkeys came frolicking that way, and one of their
number, directed doubtless by the Angel of death, got astride the beam,
and grasped the wedge, with his tail and lower parts dangling down
between the pieces of the wood. Not content with this, in the mischief
natural to monkeys, he began to tug at the wedge; till at last it
yielded to a great effort and came out; when the wood closed upon him,
and jammed him all fast. So perished the monkey, miserably crushed; and
I say again--

'Let meddlers mark it, and be edified.'

'But surely,' argued Damanaka, 'servants are bound to watch the
movements of their masters!'

'Let the prime minister do it, then,' answered Karataka; 'it is his
business to overlook things, and subordinates shouldn't interfere in the
department of their chief. You might get ass's thanks for it--

'The Ass that hee-hawed, when the dog should do it,
For his lord's welfare, like an ass did rue it.'

Damanaka asked how that happened, and Karataka related:--

THE STORY OF THE WASHERMAN'S JACKASS

"There was a certain Washerman at Benares, whose name was Carpurapataka,
and he had an Ass and a Dog in his courtyard; the first tethered, and
the last roaming loose. Once on a time, when he had been spending his
morning in the society of his wife, whom he had just married, and had
fallen to sleep in her arms, a robber entered the house, and began to
carry off his goods. T