Opening, part 17
Opening, part 17 of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame: the whole text, 137 sentences and 1174 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself.
Then said the youth: “O thou of great and noble heart!1 I cannot consent to save my own body at the cost of thine.2 Should a common stone be saved by the sacrifice of a precious stone?3 The world is full of those who, like myself, pity only themselves.4 But few in number are those who entertain sentiments of compassion for the whole world and for all the living beings that are therein.”5 At that moment the trees began to sway with the wind of the wings of the griffin, and seemed to utter a cry of dissuasion.6 And the sea, churned by the wind, seemed with the eyes of its bright-flashing jewels to be gazing in wonder and astonishment at the greatness of his courage and the depth of his compassion.7 Then came the griffin, hiding the heavens with his outspread wings.8 And swooping down, he smote the valiant hero Jīmūta-vāhana with his beak, and gripping him with his talons, carried him off from that slab of rock; and soaring aloft, flew quickly with him to a peak of the Malaya mountain, to eat him there.9 And Jīmūta-vāhana’s crest-jewel was torn from his head, and drops of blood fell from his body, as the griffin carried him through the air.10 And while the griffin was devouring his body and blood, he uttered the following Earnest Wish: “May my body and blood be offered thus in every state of my existence, and may I not obtain rebirth in heaven or deliverance from the round of existences if thereby I shall be deprived of the opportunity of doing good to my neighbor!”11
But afterwards, through the finding of his crest-jewel, his kinsfolk and friends effected his deliverance from the power of the griffin, and a goddess sprinkled him with a potion, whereupon he arose more glorious than before, with all his limbs made whole again.12 And the goddess said to him: “My son, I am pleased with this sacrifice of thy body and blood.13 Therefore I sprinkle thee king of the fairies, and thy reign shall endure for a cycle of time.”14 Thereupon a rain of flowers fell from the sky, and the drums of the gods resounded with approbation.15 And the griffin repented of his evil deeds, and said: “From this day henceforth I will not again eat snakes.16 As for those which I have already eaten, let them return to life again!”17 Then--wonderful to relate!--all the snakes that he had previously eaten returned to life again.18 Then Jīmūta-vāhana was escorted to the Himālaya, and was sprinkled king over all the kings of the fairies, and his reign endured for a cycle of time.19
_Glossary.20
_Ace.21 _ The losing throw at dice.22
_Ascetic.23 _ A man who has taken a vow to remain single, and to devote himself to fasting, bodily torture, and meditation as a means of escape from the horrors of repeated existences.24 Specifically, a monk belonging to some religious order other than the order of monks founded by Gotama Buddha.25
_Benāres.26 _ A sacred city of North India, situated on the Ganges.27 It was the capital of Kāsi.28
_Brahmā.29 _ The Supreme Being, the Invincible, the All-seeing, the Subduer, the Lord, the Maker, the Creator, the Ancient of Days, the Conqueror, the Ruler, the Father of all that are and are to be.30 Gotama ignored the question whether such a being exists.31
_Brahman.32 _ A man belonging to the priestly caste.33
_Buddha.34 _ See Introduction.35
_Casts no shadow.36 _ One of the marks of a demon.37
_Chatty.38 _ An earthenware vessel.39
_Devadatta.42 _ Cousin and enemy of Gotama.43 The Judas of Buddhism.44
_Enlightenment.45 _ See Introduction.46
_Exalted One.47 _ Title of Buddha.48
_Exalted States.49 _ Friendliness, Compassion, Sympathy, and Indifference.50
_Five Precepts.51 _ (1) Thou shalt not take the life of any living being.52 (2) Thou shalt not take that which is not given.53 (3) Thou shalt not give way to the sins of the flesh.54 (4) Thou shalt not speak falsehood.55 (5) Thou shalt avoid occasions of heedlessness through the use of liquor or spirits or other intoxicants.56
_Four Requisites.57 _ Robes, food, lodging, and medicine.58
_Fourfold Army.59 _ Infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants.60
_Future Buddha.61 _ See Introduction.62
_Ganges.63 _ A sacred river of North India, in the valley of which Buddhism took its rise.64 The Heavenly Ganges is the Milky Way.65
_Great Being.66 _ Title of a Future Buddha.67
_Heretic.68 _ A man who refuses to accept the teachings of Buddha.69
_Hermitage.70 _ Dwelling-place of a hermit or ascetic.71
_Heron’s Call.72 _ Triumphant cry of an elephant.73
_Himālaya, Himavat.74 _ Literally, Abode of Snow.75 A range of mountains, the loftiest in the world, forming the northeastern border of India.76 The foothills of the Himālaya range were a favorite resort for monks and ascetics.77
_Inconceivable.78 _ 1 followed by 28 ciphers.79
_Jaws of Rāhu.80 _ Eclipses of the sun and moon were supposed to be due to the fact that they were swallowed from time to time by a demon named Rāhu, the Seizer.81
_Jetavana.82 _ Conqueror’s Grove.83 Name of a monastery near Sāvatthi.84 The favorite residence of the Buddha.85
_Kāsi.86 _ A country of North India of which Benāres was the capital.87
_Kelāsa.88 _ One of the principal peaks of the Himālaya range.89
_Kosala.90 _ A country lying north of Kāsi, of which Sāvatthi was the capital.91
_Land of the Rose-apple.94 _ India.95 A Rose-apple (Jambu) tree is represented in the illustration to Story 15, lower right.96
_Marks of the spread hand.97 _ For good luck.98 The fingers were supposed to “point off” evil spirits.99
_Meru.100 Sineru.101 _ A vast mountain occupying the centre of each of an infinite number of worlds.102
_Monk.103 _ A man who has taken a vow to remain single, and to devote himself to meditation and good works in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha.104
_Play-ring.107 _ Before beginning play, dicers would draw a circle on the ground or floor.108 So long as the play continued, a dicer was bound to remain within the circle.109 By stepping outside of the circle, a dicer “broke” the play-ring and stopped the play.110
_Omniscience.111 _ Knowledge of all things.112 Enlightenment.113 By performing a work of merit and making an Earnest Wish thereby to attain Enlightenment in some future state of existence, a Future Buddha, as it were, sows the Seed of Omniscience.114
_Sāvatthi.115 _ A city of North India, the capital of Kosala.116
_Seven Buddhas.117 _ The oldest texts mention only seven Buddhas.118 The Jātaka Book mentions twenty-four.119 Later, the number is increased indefinitely.120
_Sprinkling.123 _ In ancient India kings were not anointed, but sprinkled.124
_Takkasilā.125 _ A city of Northwest India, the capital of Gandhāra.126 A famous seat of learning in ancient times.127
_Teacher.128 _ Title of Buddha.129
_Ten Perfections.130 _ Generosity, Morality, Renunciation, Wisdom, Energy, Patience, Truth, Resolution, Friendliness, Indifference.131
_Three Jewels.132 _ The Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Order of Monks.133
_Warrior.134 _ A man belonging to the military caste.135
_Yugandhara.136 _ One of seven vast circles of rock which surround Mount Meru.137
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/17/