by Ruskin Bond
JIVAKA THE BOY WONDER
A Tale from Ancient India
King Bimbisara, that mighty warrior whose fame has spread far and wide, had three sons, the youngest of whom was named Jivaka. The eldest sons resembled their father. They had great muscular strength, were skilled in the use of arms, and displayed courage whether in battle against the fierce hill tribes or when hunting lions and tigers. Jivaka was a gentle youth, who took no pleasure in warlike sports, or in the society of warriors. He loved to walk about alone, and he rarely spoke unless he was spoken to.
The king was greatly troubled about Jivaka, and spoke to him, saying: 'Have you any ambition in life? You never join your brothers either when they engage in sports or when they go into the jungle to hunt wild beasts.'
Said Jivaka: 'It is my desire, O honoured father, to become a learned man, and to earn my living as a physician.'
'It is not usual for kings' sons to become physicians.'
'But, O father, why should not the son of a king become a learned man?'
'I grant your wish,' the king said, 'but, as you do not require to earn your living, I cannot understand why you want to leave me. You are not able to take care of yourself like your elder brothers.'
Said Jivaka: 'I shall disguise myself, and go into another kingdom where no man will know who I am.'
'I shall allow you to go,' said the king. The quest of wisdom is a noble one. Wherever you go, behave modestly. Honour those who know what you do not know. Learn from everyone, observe everything, and use your intelligence.'
Jivaka bade farewell to the king, his father, to the queen, his mother, and to his brothers. He disguised himself, left the palace under cover of night, and walked a great distance until he came to the house of a Brahman. The Brahman welcomed him, and said: 'Who are you, and what do you seek?'
Said Jivaka: 'I desire to become a learned man.'
'Tarry with me for a time,' the Brahman said, 'and be my disciple.'
Jivaka abode for a year in the Brahman's house, and when he had learned everything the Brahman could teach him, he asked leave to take his departure.
Before he went away the Brahman said: 'Go to the hills and live a time among the fierce tribes that dwell there. They have great skill as trackers. Learn all they know, and you will benefit by their knowledge. Then go next to my brother, who is a great physician, and has skill in opening skulls to cure diseases of the head. When you have learned all he can teach you, go in search of the green jewel, which shines like a lamp, and will enable you to find out from what malady a sick man is suffering. I bless you and bid you farewell, O my son.'
Jivaka went away and did as the Brahman advised him. He dwelt for a time among the fierce hillmen. They received him kindly, because they saw that he was a young man of great modesty and kindly heart. In time they instructed him how to track wild beasts, and how to observe the tracks of every living creature on roadways, in the forests, and across wide plains. He spent three years among the hillmen, and he acquired great skill as a tracker.
After leaving the hillmen, who sorrowed to part with him, he dwelt with the Brahman physician, and learned how to treat wounds and open skulls. He remained with this Brahman for two years. The old physician became very fond of Jivaka because he was an excellent student, and soon became very skilful. When the young man bade him farewell, he said: 'You must now search for the green jewel, which is hidden in a young tree, the bark of which always sheds a fine dust. The wood of this tree is as heavy as iron.'
Jivaka turned his face southwards towards his father's kingdom, and travelled across wide plains and deep forests. One morning he reached the hut of an old Brahman. This holy man had just recited his morning prayers, and was sitting on the side of the roadway in front of his dwelling.
Jivaka sat down beside him, and they spoke to one another for a time regarding holy things. Then the young man told the story of his travels, but he did not tell who he was.
Said the Brahman: 'I gather from what you say that you are a keen observer. Now, I shall put your skill to test. Can you tell me if any living creature went past me this morning?'
'I shall soon tell you,' the young man said with a smile.
Jivaka walked along the road, and after a little time returned and sat down. Then he said: 'A man went past here this morning carrying wood. The burden was too heavy for him, because he was not only weak but also very thin.'
'You speak truly,' said the Brahman.
'Afterwards an elephant went past. It was a female, and a woman led it. The elephant was crippled, having injured its left hind foot, and its right eye was blind.'
'You speak truly,' said the Brahman.
'An hour went past, and then a man came driving a bullock-cart. He was in a hurry, and whipped the bullocks, and he had a dog which leapt about and barked at them.'
'If you had been sitting here beside me,' said the Brahman, 'you could not have seen more.'
'Then,' said Jivaka, 'a thief crept out of the wood. He stood still for a few minutes when he caught sight of you, but as you were praying with closed eyes he ran past, and you did not observe him. As he has been wounded he cannot have gone far.'
'I know nothing of the thief,' said the Brahman.
He had no sooner spoken than three soldiers rushed out of the wood and leapt on to the roadway. They looked first to the left and then to the right, but were unable to make up their minds which way they should go.
Jivaka watched them, and said: 'The thief entered the king's palace during the night, and these are three of the sentinels. They followed the thief, and saw him in the forest, where one wounded him with an arrow; but the fellow managed to hide himself, and lead them astray after he had bound his wound.'
Seeing the Brahman and Jivaka sitting on the side of the road, the sentinels hastened towards them and spoke, saying: 'Have you seen a man passing this way?'
The Brahman shook his head, but Jivaka said: 'He went past less than an hour ago. He is the thief you seek, and has been wounded by an arrow. How came it about that you allowed him to escape in the wood?'
'Have you spoken to him?' asked one of the sentinels.
'No,' Jivaka answered, 'I have not even seen him.'
'Then how do you know that we are pursuing a thief, and that he has been wounded?'
'I shall explain to you afterwards. Hasten onwards to the left, and you shall find him not far from here.'
'You know more about the man than you will confess to,' said one of the sentinels. 'You had better, therefore, come with us.'
'As you will,' answered Jivaka. He rose up to go with the sentinels, and, turning to the Brahman, said: 'Wait here until I return.'
Jivaka walked in front of the sentinels, gazing at the ground. They began to ply him with questions, but he said: 'Keep silent, lest the thief should hear you and take alarm. I shall answer all your questions when we find him.'
They went on together in silence after that. In time they reached the ruins of an old house. Jivaka placed his right hand over his mouth as a sign to the men not to speak. Then he pointed towards the house. The sentinels crept forward stealthily, and, entering the house, found the thief lying in a corner fast asleep. They seized and bound him, and carried him outside.
'Where is the jewel that you have stolen?' asked a sentinel.
The thief answered, saying: 'What jewel? I do not know what you mean. Why have you seized me and bound me?'
'You stole the magic jewel from the king's house.'
'Oh, no! You are mistaken. You have followed the wrong man.'
'It was you whom we pursued in the forest. You were wounded by an arrow in the thigh. I see you have bound the wound.'
'It was I whom you wounded,' the thief said, 'but I am innocent. I was sleeping in the forest when I heard you coming. Thinking you were robbers I fled away, and when you wounded me I hid myself, because I dreaded that you desired to slay me for some reason or other.'
The man seemed to be speaking the truth, and one of the s
entinels said: 'If this is not the thief, we shall be punished for our folly.'
Jivaka did not say a word. He knelt beside the man, who had been laid on a grassy bank, and examined his hands and feet. Then he undid the bandage on his thigh, and, having placed healing leaves on the wound, he bound it skilfully. The prisoner thanked him and blessed him, saying: 'My wound does not pain me now, O Physician.'
'Do you know this man?' a sentinel asked, speaking to Jivaka.
Said Jivaka: 'I have never set eyes upon him before, but I shall tell you what I know about him. He is a potter, and last night entered the palace garden and climbed an asoka tree. He concealed himself among its branches until it was nigh to midnight. Then he crept down and entered the palace through the servants' quarters, knowing his way well, because he has often sold earthenware pots to the chief cook. In the darkness he made his way to the room in which the jewel is kept. The room is covered with deerskin rugs. When he found the jewel he left the palace through a window, and, grasping a trailing plant, slipped down to the ground, but when he was near the ground the plant snapped and he fell. For a time he lay stunned on the ground. Then, hearing cries of alarm being raised within the palace, he ran through the garden, climbed the wall, and hastened towards the forest.
'By this time the moon had come out from behind the clouds, and you caught sight of him and followed him. In the forest you shot many arrows, and one wounded him in the thigh. He concealed himself amidst the undergrowth, and when you had gone past him he rose up, having bound his wound, and made his way towards the highway. He saw a Brahman praying in front of his hut and ran past him. As his bandage had become loose he readjusted it, but, having lost much blood, he found he was not able to go far. Seeing this ruined house, he made up his mind to hide in it, but before entering it he hid the jewel in a clay-hole.'
The thief gasped with wonder as Jivaka spoke. 'You are a magician,' he said.
Jivaka spoke sternly, saying: 'Now lead us to the spot in the clay-hole where you have hidden the jewel.'
The sentinels unbound the man and he rose. He led them to a clay-hole behind the ruined house, and, lifting a stone, took up a ball of wet clay, which he broke in two. The jewel dropped out, and Jivaka caught it and handed it to the chief sentinel.
The sentinels and the thief marvelled greatly to meet so wise a man as Jivaka, and they paid him great deference as they walked with him back to the place where they had left the Brahman. The Brahman greeted them and said: 'You have found the thief and the jewel also.'
Said the chief sentinel: 'You speak truly; but we should not have been successful had not this wise young man gone with us. Pray tell me,' he said, addressing Jivaka, 'what is your name?'
Jivaka gave him a strange name, and said: 'Now that I have served you well, allow me to bid you farewell.'
The sentinels bowed and took their departure. Then Jivaka sat down beside the Brahman.
Said the Brahman: 'Now tell me all that took place.'
Jivaka told him. Then the Brahman said: 'Now tell me how you knew that there passed along the roadway this morning a thin man carrying wood, a crippled elephant led by a woman, and a bullock-cart driven by a man who whipped the bullocks, and was accompanied by a dog which leapt about and barked at the slow animals?'
Jivaka answered, saying: 'It has always been my custom to make close observations. All that I told you I saw on the empty roadway. I saw the footprints of the man who carried wood. He walked heavily on his heels, and his footprints showed that his feet were thin. I knew, therefore, that he was a thin man. As he walked he swayed from side to side. I knew, therefore, that his burden was heavy; and I knew he carried wood because the dust of the bark is sprinkled along the highway in his tracks.'
'Tell me how you knew that the elephant came along after the man had passed.'
'Because, O master, some of the man's footprints had been trodden over by the elephant.'
'How did you know that the elephant was a female?'
'A male elephant leaves round footprints, and a female elephant leaves oblong footprints. The footprints of this elephant are oblong. Observe them for yourself.'
'How did you know that the elephant was crippled?'
'Because it pressed lightly with the left hind foot, which has been injured.'
'How did you know its right eye was blind?'
'The elephant cropped grass from the bank as it went along, but it cropped on the left side only, and when the woman led it to the other side of the road it did not crop at all.'
'How did you know that a woman led it?'
'A woman's footprints are different from those of a man.'
'Now tell me how you knew that the bullock-cart followed after the elephant?'
'The tracks of the cart crossed some of the footprints of the elephant.'
'And how did you know that the driver was in a hurry and that he whipped the bullocks?'
'Because the distances between the bullocks' hoof-marks were so unequal. When the driver whipped them, they sprang forward at a quickened pace; their tracks were then made deeper and they were closer together. I knew by the tracks of the dog that it leapt about and barked at the bullocks. Having pondered over the tracks, I saw, as in a vision, an angry and impatient driver who made the bullocks quicken their pace by whipping them, and also urged his dog to bark at them.'
'It seems all so simple,' said the Brahman. 'Still, I cannot understand how you knew so much about the thief. How did you find out that he had hidden in a tree, and, entering the palace through the servants' quarters, made his way to a room covered with deerskin rugs? Tell me also how you came to know that he went through a window and slid down a creeper which broke, so that he fell to the ground and lay stunned there, and how you found out that he fled through the forest, passed this spot when my eyes were closed, ran onwards towards the clay-hole, where he hid the jewel, and then concealed himself in the ruined house?'
Said Jivaka: 'I shall tell you, O Brahman, how I discovered the thief s secret. First of all I observed his footprints leading from the wood. He tiptoed across the tracks of the bullocks. Therefore I knew that he came after the bullock-cart had passed. Three times he paused because he saw you. Then he crossed the road and ran lightly. In the spots where he paused, his footprints were impressed fully and clearly. When he ran he left the marks of the forepart of his feet only. I knew, therefore, that he was a guilty man. He did not want you to see him, and I concluded you did not see him because your eyes were closed in prayer.'
'Wonderful!' exclaimed the Brahman. 'Now tell me how you came to know about his doings last night after you had tracked him to the ruined house?'
Said Jivaka: 'I examined very closely his hair, his body, his hands, and finger-nails, his legs, his toes, and his toenails. I also examined his wound and the bandage that was wrapped round it.'
'And what did you see?'
'I knew he was a potter because the palm of his right hand was smooth, while the palm of his left hand was rough. Potters turn their wheels with their left hands, and the wheel hardens the skin. I saw seeds of the asoka tree in his hair, and knowing that no asoka tree is to be found near the king's palace except in the garden, and that the seeds would not have fallen in his hair unless he had pressed his head among the branches, I concluded he had climbed the tree after scaling the wall; he would not have dared to enter through the gate, which is guarded by sentinels; therefore he must have climbed the wall. I saw red sand in his toenails. Red sand is strewn daily round the servants' quarters, and, as he is a potter, I concluded he had been in the habit of selling pots to the chief cook. By making regular visits to the palace, and hearing the conversation of the servants, he must have learned where the jewel was kept.'
'I follow your reasoning, O wise young man,' said the Brahman.
Jivaka continued: 'The potter was greatly excited when he entered the palace. Men who are excited perspire freely. As I examined his body I saw that there were hairs from deerskins on it. There were also hairs under
the upper part of his toenails. He must have lain on the rugs for a time. Hairs clung to his body-cloth and the bandage with which he had bound his wound.'
'But how did you know,' asked the Brahman, 'that he left the room through a window?'
Said Jivaka: 'There were green and purple stains on both his hands. These came from the crushed leaves and blossoms. Besides, two of his fingers on the left hand and one on the right were cut as if by a cord. He must have slipped down quickly to have so cut his fingers. Anyone who slides down so frail a thing as a creeper is sure to break it; so I examined his body carefully and saw bruises on his left hip, his left elbow, and his left ear. I concluded therefore that he had fallen, and was made certain of this when I saw black earth in his hair on the left side of his head. He must have lain for some time on the ground, because the earth was caked on his hair. That was because the earth was damp with dew. He would not have lain there unless he had been stunned.'
'Your reasoning is wonderful. It delights my heart!' said the Brahman.
Jivaka continued: 'I saw that there were scratches on his knees, and that they were inflicted after he had lain on the deerskin rugs, because some hairs had been pressed into them. I concluded he had climbed the wall hurriedly. I also noticed that three of his toenails on the right foot had been bent inward, and as there was red sand inside them I knew they had been bent after he had left the palace. Of course it was to be expected that he would climb the wall, seeing there were sentinels at the gate, but he would not have climbed hurriedly unless he had been alarmed.'
'How did you know,' asked the Brahman, 'that the moon rose after he had scaled the wall?'
'He would not have been seen otherwise. Men do not shoot arrows in the dark, and this man was wounded by an arrow.'
'No wonder the thief confessed his guilt,' the Brahman said. 'He must have thought you were a magician. The only thing that puzzles me now is, how you knew the man had hidden the jewel in the clay-hole, because you never went near it.'
'Passing along the way a few days ago,' explained Jivaka, 'I saw the clay-hole behind the ruined house. There are other ruined houses on the other side of the clay-hole. Once upon a time several potters lived with their wives and families in these houses, but finding the clay had become of inferior quality they deserted their little village and went elsewhere. This man, being a potter, was probably born in the house in which he hid himself, and being a potter he could think of no better place than a clay-hole in which to hide something of value, for no man, except a potter, ever thinks of entering a dirty clay-hole.'