THE STORY OF THE HUNTER AND THE BIRD WHOSE DROPPINGS TURNED TO GOLD

On the top of a mountain, there was a huge tree.
In the tree, lived a certain bird, by the name of Sindhuka*, whose droppings always turned to gold.
"One day, a hunter came to the spot to catch birds.
While he was watching, this bird discharged its droppings
and immediately it turned into a piece of gold. The
hunter was wonder-struck and he thought to himself,
'I have been catching birds since I was a small child,
but never have I seen the droppings of a bird turn to
gold!'
"So the hunter set a trap in the tree. The foolish bird
did not notice either the hunter or the trap and was
caught. The hunter took him out of the trap and put
him in a cage.
"Then he thought to himself, 'Now, before anyone
finds out about this strange bird and reports it to the
king, I had better go to him myself and show the bird.'
"And so, he took the bird to the king and told him
everything. The king was delighted and said to his
attendants, 'Look after this bird carefully. Give him food
and water to his heart's content.'
"But the king's ministers said to him, 'Your Majesty!
How can you trust the words of a mere hunter? Could
it ever be possible to get gold from a bird's droppings?
We advise you to take him out of the cage and release
him.' The king listened to his ministers' advice and set
the bird free. Immediately, he perched himself on top
of a nearby gate and let fall his droppings which
immediately turned to gold. And he said,
'First I was foolish, then the hunter,
Then the ministers and then the king,
We are all a pack of fools.'
"In the same way," continued Raktaksha, "we are all
fools for sparing this crow. We must kill him!"
But still the owls turned a deaf ear to Raktaksha's
advice and continued to lavish attention on the crow.
The Raktaksha called his followers together and said
to them in confidence, "Until now, we have been safe
here, but I have a foreboding of an approaching disaster.
I have done my best to convince Arimaradana of my
point of view, but in vain. So we must leave this place
and go where we shall be safe. As the jackal said,
'He who anticipates the coming of a disaster,
And acts, accordingly, is spared,
But he who fails to anticipate it,
Comes to grief:
I have grown old living in this jungle,
But I have never yet heard a cave talking!'"
"How was that?" asked his friends.
And Raktaksha told: THE STORY OF THE LION, THE JACKAL AND THE CAVE