Meeting a New Friend

The crow Laghupátin and the mouse Hiranya had become good friends. But one day the crow said, “Far away from here, there is a river deep in the middle of a forest. A tortoise called Mantharaka lives in it, and he is a friend of mine. I am going to go and live near him, where food is easy to find. It is hard for me to find enough to eat here, and I am always afraid of that fowler.”

“Then let us live together,” said the mouse. “Take me with you. I have troubles of my own here, and when we get there I will tell you all about them.”

So Laghupátin picked up the mouse gently in his beak and flew off to the bank of the forest river. There he found his friend the tortoise, who gave them a warm welcome. The three of them sat down together and talked for a while. The crow explained why he had come, and how he had made friends with Hiranya. The tortoise welcomed the mouse as a friend just as dear as the crow. Then he asked what trouble had driven the mouse away from his home.

So Hiranya told his story, while the crow and the tortoise listened.

“I used to live in a big hole near the city,” said the mouse. “One night I stole a necklace from the king’s palace and hid it in my hole. Just looking at that necklace made me feel strong, and lots of other mice came to follow me because I could steal food for them.

“Now, a hermit had built a little hut next to my hole. He lived on food that people gave him when he went out begging, and he always had plenty. Every evening he put his leftovers into his begging bowl and hung it on a peg high up the wall, so that he could eat it the next day. And every night, while he slept, I crept in through a hole, leapt up, and carried the food away.

“One evening another hermit, a friend of his, came to visit. After supper they sat up talking late into the night. While they talked, I was trying to get at the food. So the hermit who lived there kept banging the pot with a piece of split cane.

“‘Why do you keep interrupting our talk to do that?’ asked his guest.

“‘There is an enemy living here,’ said the first hermit. ‘A mouse. He keeps jumping up and stealing my food, even though I hang it up high. I am trying to scare him off by rattling the pot.’

“The visitor said that greed is the ruin of every creature, and told a little story to prove it. Then he said, ‘If you have a spade, give it to me. I will put a stop to this mouse.’

“The hermit gave him a spade. I saw it all from my hiding place and dashed into my hole. But the clever visitor found the hole I had used and started to dig. The further back I ran, the deeper he dug, until at last he reached my necklace and all the food I had stored.

“‘So this is what gave the mouse his strength,’ he told his friend. And they took away everything I had, hung the necklace round their own necks, and went to sleep feeling very pleased with themselves.

“When they were asleep, I crept out to steal some food. But the hermit woke up and hit me on the head with a stick. It hurt me badly, although by luck it did not kill me, and I crawled into my hole. After that, I was never strong enough to make the big leap up to the food.

“Without my treasure, I had no strength and no spirit left. All the mice who had followed me saw that I could now only feed myself, and they left me. Servants leave a master who cannot look after them, just as bees leave a tree that has no flowers and swans leave a pond that has dried up.

“So I have been sad for a long time,” said the mouse. “But now Laghupátin is my friend, and he has brought me here to meet you, noble tortoise.”

“Make this your home,” said Mantharaka kindly. “Don’t be sad, my friend. A good person is at home in any country. A person who is content can’t be unhappy. Nothing is a disaster to someone who can bear it, and nothing is impossible for someone who keeps trying.”

Just as the tortoise was saying this, a deer came bounding into the wood. His name was Chitránga. He had run a very long way, chased by hunters, and he was trembling with fear.

The three friends looked carefully, and saw that no hunter was following him. So they made friends with the deer, and with their kindness he soon got his strength and courage back.

And from then on, the crow, the tortoise, the mouse and the deer lived there together as friends for a long time, each one doing kind things for the others.

About this tale

This is the middle part of a story told in the Kathá Sarit Ságara, the eleventh-century “Ocean of the Streams of Story” by the Sanskrit poet Somadeva, here retold from C. H. Tawney’s translation (Project Gutenberg #40588). Somadeva places it in a long chain of tales told to entertain a prince. Before this part, the crow wins the mouse as a friend. Afterwards, the four friends rescue one another from a hunter.

In a footnote Tawney explains that the mouse believed his strength came from the treasure in his hole. He also compares the mouse and the hermits with the version in the Hitopadesha.

Read the original: C. H. Tawney’s English Kathá Sarit Ságara of Somadeva (Project Gutenberg #40588)

Best for ages 6–8 — a story about making new friends and starting again after hard times.

A closer reading

Hiranya’s former followers leave when he can no longer feed them; the crow and tortoise welcome him while he has little to offer. The contrast distinguishes a relationship dependent on provision from one that can continue through loss. It does not make stealing the necklace or the hermit’s food harmless.

The tortoise’s sweeping promises are words of encouragement from a friend, not guarantees that contentment prevents every sorrow. His most concrete help is simpler: he offers a home and listens. The frightened deer receives the same pattern of attention and welcome, extending the friendship beyond the original pair.

Try this with the story

Compare the mouse’s two groups of companions. Record what each group receives from him and how each responds when he is vulnerable. Then rewrite one of the tortoise’s absolute promises as a realistic offer of help.

Think about it

• Why do the old followers leave, and why do the new friends stay?
• What does the tortoise actually do beyond giving advice?
• How does the deer’s arrival repeat the mouse’s welcome?

Related stories

• The Crow-Rat Discourse — how the crow and the mouse first became friends
• The Rescue of a Deer — how the four friends saved the deer and the tortoise