OF
The trade at last became so brisk that they determined to set up a regular brewery in the city, and from the king downwards all the people took to drinking, and were completely ruined. The hunter and Varu.na thereupon removed to another city, and in course of time Benares, Mihtila, Takshasila, Kosambhi, Pataliputra, and Sakéta were visited, and the inhabitants reduced to a state of penury. From Sakéta the pair went to Savatthi, where reigned a king named Sabbamitta (the friend of all), who made much of them, and gave them all the requisites for brewing. In order to keep the mice away from the rice, they tied a cat near each of the vats, and the cats licking up what trickled from them, became drunk and went to sleep. The mice came and bit off the cats' ears, tails, and whiskers. People seeing this, told the king that his cats were all dead, and the king, thinking they had been poisoned, ordered that Varu.na and the hunter should be put to death and the pots broken; but as the cats soon woke up and began to play about, the king eame to the conclusion that the liquor must be pleasant, directed the release of the prisoners, and having erected a great booth in the midst of the city, and sitting there on his throne with all his nobles, commenced a series of drinking bouts. The god Sakka, feeling uncomfortable, roused himself to see who was in need of assistance, and seeing what was going on at Savatthi, thought that if that sort of thing were allowed, all Jambudvipa would be ruined; so, taking the form of a Brahman, with a bowl of liquor in his hand, he displayed himself in the air right in front of the king, and cried out, "Will you buy this bowl?" King
[1. What is the story of King A.n.dakava.n.na?]
Sabbamitta is now Ananda, and Sakka is now I, the Buddha.[1] [1. The Kumbha Jâtaka is No. 512 in the Pâli. The above version is adapted from one I contributed to the Indian Magazine.]