There was a city in a certain region. In a grove near by, a merchant was having a temple built. Each day at the noon hour the foreman and workers would go to the city for lunch.

Now one day a troop of monkeys came upon the half-built temple. There lay a tremendous anjana-log, which a mechanic had begun to split, a wedge of acacia-wood being thrust in at the top.

There the monkeys began their playful frolics upon tree-top, lofty roof, and woodpile. Then one of them, whose doom was near, thoughtlessly bestrode the log, thinking: “Who stuck a wedge in this queer place?” So he seized it with both hands and started to work it loose. Now what happened when the wedge gave at the spot where his private parts entered the cleft, that, sir, you know without being told.

“And that is why I say that meddling should be avoided by the intelligent. And you know,” he continued, “that we two pick up a fair living just from his leavings.”

“But,” said Victor, “how can you give first-rate service merely from a desire for food with no desire for distinction? There is wisdom in the saying:

In hurting foes and elping friends

The wise perceive the proper ends

Of serving kings. The belly’s call

To answer, is no job at all.

And again:

When many Jives on one depend,

Then life is life indeed:

A crow, with beak equipped, can fill

His belly’s selfish need.

If loving kindness be not shown

To friends and souls in pain,

To teachers, servants, and one’s self,

What use in life, what gain?

A crow will live for many years

And eat the offered grain.

A dog is quite contented if

He gets a meatless bone,

A dirty thing with gristle-strings

And marrow-fat alone—

And not enough of it at that

To still his belly’s moan.

The lion scorns the jackal, though

Between his paws, to smite

The elephant. For everyone,

However sad his plight,

Demands the recompense that he

Esteems his native right.

Dogs wag their tails and fawn and roll,

Bare mouth and belly, at your feet:

Bull-elephants show self-esteem,

Demand much coaxing ere they eat.

A tiny rill

Is quick to fill,

And quick a mouse’s paws:

So seedy men Are grateful, when

There is but little cause.

For if there be no mind

Debating good and ill,

And if religion send

No challenge to the will,

If only greed be there

For some material feast,

How draw a line between

The man-beast and the beast?

Or more accurately yet:

Since cattle draw the plow

Through rough and level soil,

And bend their patient necks

To heavy wagons’ toil,

Are kind, of sinless birth,

And find in grass a feast,

How can they be compared

With any human beast?”

“But at present,” said Cheek, “we two hold no job at court. So why meddle?” “My dear fellow,” said Victor, “after a little the jobless man does hold a job. As the saying goes:

The jobless man is hired

For careful serving;

The holder may be fired,

If undeserving.

No haracter moves up or down

At others’ smile or others’ frown;

But honor or contempt on earth

Will follow conduct’s inner worth.

And once more:

It costs an effort still

To carry stones uphill;

They tumble in a trice:

So virtue, and so vice.”

“Well,” said Cheek, “what do you wish to imply?” And Victor answered: “You see, our master is frightened, and he does not know what to do.” “How can you be sure of that?” asked Cheek, and Victor said: “Isn’t it plain?

An ox can understand, of course,

The spoken word; a driven horse

Or elephant, exerts his force;

But men of wisdom can infer

Unuttered thought from features’ stir--

For wit rewards its worshiper.

And again:

From feature, gesture, gait,

From twitch, or word,

From change in eye or face

Is thought inferred.

So by virtue of native intelligence I intend to get him into my power this very day.”

“Why,” said Cheek, “you do not know how to make yourself useful to a superior. So tell me. How can you establish power over him?”

“And why, my good fellow, do I not know how to make myself useful?” said Victor. “The saintly poet Vyasa has sung the entry of the Pandu princes into Virata’s court. From his poem I learned the whole duty of a functionary. You heard the proverb:

No burden enervates the strong;

To enterprise no road is long;

The well-informed all pountries range;

To flatterers no man is strange”

But Cheek objected: “He might perhaps despise you for forcing yourself into a position that does not belong to you.” “Yes,” said Victor, “there is point in that. However, I am also a judge of occasions. And there are rules, as follows:

The Lord of Learning, speaking to

A false occasion,

Will meet with hatred, and of course

Lack all persuasion.

And again:

The favorite’s business comes to be

A sudden source of king’s ennui,

When he is thoughtful, trying scents,

Retiring, or in conference.

And once again:

On hours of talk or squabbling rude.

Of physic, barber, flirting, food,

A gentleman does not intrude

Let everyone be cautious

In palaces of kings;

And let not students rummage

In their professor’s things:

For naughty meddlers suffer

Destruction swift and sure,

Like evening candles, lighted

In houses of the poor.

Or put it this way:

On entering a palace,

Adjust a modest dress;

Go slowly, bowing lowly

In timely humbleness:

And sound he kingly temper,

And kingly whims no less.

Or this way;

Though ignorant and common,

Unworth the honoring,

Men win to royal favor

By standing near the king:

For kings and vines and maidens

To nearest neighbors cling.

And once again:

The servant in his master’s face

Discerns the signs of wrath and grace,

And though the master jerk and tack,

The servant slowly mounts his back.

And finally:

The brave,