THE WELL-TRAINED ELEPHANT

Once upon a time when King Magadha was ruling in Rajagaha in Magadha, the Bodhisatta was born an elephant. He was white all over and graced with all beauty. And because of his beauty the King made him his state elephant.

One festal day the King adorned¹ the city like a city of the devas and, mounted on the elephant in all its trappings, made a solemn procession round the city attended by a great retinue². And all along the route the people were moved by the sight of that peerless elephant to exclaim, “Oh, what a stately gait! what proportions! what beauty! what grace! such a white elephant is worthy³ of an universal monarch⁴.” All this praise of his elephant awoke the King’s jealousy⁵ and he resolved to have it cast over a precipice⁶ and killed. So he summoned the mahout and asked whether he called that a trained elephant.

“Indeed he is well trained, Sire,” said the mahout. “No, he is very badly trained.” “Sire, he is well trained.” “If he is so well trained, can you get him to climb to the summit of Mount Vepulla?” “Yes, Sire.” “Away with you, then,” said the King. And he got down from the elephant, making the mahout mount instead, and went himself to the foot of the mountain, whilst the mahout rode on the elephant’s back up to the top of Mount Vepulla. The King with his courtiers also climbed the mountain, and had the elephant halted at the brink⁷ of a precipice. “Now,” said he to the man, “if he is so well trained as you say, make him stand on three legs.”

And the mahout on the elephant’s back just touched the animal with his goad⁸ by way of sign and called to him, “Hi! my beauty, stand on three legs.” “Now make him stand on his two fore-legs,” said the King. And the Great Being raised his hind-legs and stood on his fore-legs alone. “Now on the hind-legs,” said the King, and the obedient elephant raised his fore-legs till he stood on his hind-legs alone. “Now on one leg,” said the King, and the elephant stood on one leg.

Seeing that the elephant did not fall over the precipice, the King cried, “Now if you can, make him stand in the air.”

Then thought the mahout to himself, “All India cannot show the match of this elephant for excellence⁹ of training. Surely the King must want to make him tumble over the precipice and meet his death.” So he whispered in the elephant’s ear, “My son, the King wants you to fall over and get killed. He is not worthy of you. If you have power to journey through the air, rise up with me upon your back and fly through the air to Benares.”

And the Great Being, endowed as he was with the marvelous powers which flow from Merit, straightway rose up into the air. Then said the mahout, “Sire, this elephant, possessed¹⁰ as he is with the marvelous powers which flow from Merit, is too good for such a worthless fool as you: none but a wise and good King is worthy to be his master. When those who are so worthless as you get an elephant like this, they don’t know his value, and so they lose their elephant, and all the rest of their glory and splendor¹¹.” So saying the mahout, seated on the elephant’s neck, recited this stanza:—
“Exalted station breeds a fool great woe¹²;
He proves his own and others’ mortal foe¹³.”

“And now, good-by,” said he to the King as he ended this rebuke¹⁴; and rising in the air, he passed to Benares and halted in mid-air, over the royal courtyard. And there was a great stir in the city and all cried out, “Look at the state-elephant that has come through the air for our King and is hovering¹⁵ over the royal courtyard.” And with all haste the news was conveyed to the King, too, who came out and said, “If your coming is for my behoof, alight on the earth.” And the Bodhisatta descended¹⁶ from the air. Then the mahout got down and bowed before the King, and in answer to the King’s enquiries told the whole story of their leaving Rajagaha. “It was very good of you,” said the King, “to come here”; and in his joy he had the city decorated and the elephant installed in his state-stable. Then he divided his kingdom into three portions, and made over one to the Bodhisatta, one to the mahout, and one he kept himself. And his power grew from the day of the Bodisatta’s coming till all India owned his sovereign sway. As Emperor of India, he was charitable and did other good works till he passed away to fare according to his deserts.

1 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

2 retinue   

n.侍从；随员

参考例句：

• The duchess arrived,surrounded by her retinue of servants.公爵夫人在大批随从人马的簇拥下到达了。
• The king's retinue accompanied him on the journey.国王的侍从在旅途上陪伴着他。

3 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

4 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

5 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

6 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。

7 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

8 goad   

n.刺棒，刺痛物；激励；vt.激励，刺激

参考例句：

• The opposition is trying to goad the government into calling an election.在野反对党正努力激起政府提出选举。
• The writer said he needed some goad because he was indolent.这个作家说他需要刺激，因为他很懒惰。

9 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

10 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

11 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

12 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

13 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

14 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

15 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

16 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。