and grasped the wedge, with his tail and lower parts dangling down
between the pieces of the wood. Not content with this, in the mischief
natural to monkeys, he began to tug at the wedge; till at last it
yielded to a great effort and came out; when the wood closed upon him,
and jammed him all fast. So perished the monkey, miserably crushed; and
I say again--

'Let meddlers mark it, and be edified.'

'But surely,' argued Damanaka, 'servants are bound to watch the
movements of their masters!'

'Let the prime minister do it, then,' answered Karataka; 'it is his
business to overlook things, and subordinates shouldn't interfere in the
department of their chief. You might get ass's thanks for it--

'The Ass that hee-hawed, when the dog should do it,
For his lord's welfare, like an ass did rue it.'

Damanaka asked how that happened, and Karataka related:--


THE STORY OF THE WASHERMAN'S JACKASS

"There was a certain Washerman at Benares, whose name was Carpúrapataka,
and he had an Ass and a Dog in his courtyard; the first tethered, and
the last roaming loose. Once on a time, when he had been spending his
morning in the society of his wife, whom he had just married, and had
fallen to sleep in her arms, a robber entered the house, and began to
carry off his goods. The Ass observed the occupation of the thief, and