Jataka Tale — The Water Snake
Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was the reigning king in Varanasi, the Bodhisatta — a being who would become Buddha in a future life — was born a green frog.
At that time, people set wicker cages in all pits and holes of the rivers, in order to catch fish. In one particular cage there was a large number of fish; and a water snake, eating fish, went into that trap himself. A number of the fish, thronging together fought back, and fell to biting him until he was covered in blood. Seeing no end to it, in fear for his life, he slipped out of the mouth of the cage; and lay full of pain on the edge of the water.
At the same moment, our green frog took a leap and fell into the mouth of the trap. The snake, not knowing to whom he could appeal, asked the frog what he saw there in the trap, “Frog ,my friend, are you pleased with the behavior of yonder fish?” And he quickly composed a poem:
“When I was in their cage, the fish did bite,
me, though a snake. Green frog, does that seem right?”
Then the frog answered him, “Yes, friend snake, it does; why not? If you eat fish when you have the upper hand, the fish will eat you when they have theirs. In his own feeding ground, no one is weak.”
Having heard the Bodhisatta pronounce his opinion; all the fish, observing the snake’s weakness cried, “Let us seize our foe!”, and streaming out of the cage, did him death then and there, and departed back into the river.
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This story is adapted from The Jataka, translated from the Pali Canon and edited by professor E.W. Cowell; published by the Cambridge University Press in 1895.
