"You have such,"--This story the Master told during a stay in Jetavana, how a quarrel was made up between two magnates of the king's court in Kosala. The circumstances have been told in the Second Book.

"Once, when Brahmadatta was king of Banares, the Bodhisattava was reborn into a Brahman family in Kasi. After finishing his education at Taxila, he decided to give up sense pleasures and ordain as an ascetic. He established an ashram in the Himalayas on the banks of the Ganges and there attained spiritual powers and the jhanas. In this birth, it seems, the Bodhisattva was exceptional impartial, having developed equanimity to perfection. One day, while he was sitting at the door of his leaf hut, a mischievous and naughty monkey crept up on him and tried to put its penis in his ear. The Bodhisattva resisted this and being equanimous continued to calmly sit there. Then on another day, it happened that a tortoise, having come out of the water onto the bank of the river, went to sleep in the sun with its mouth open. Spying this, that lusty monkey stuck his penis in the tortoise’s mouth. Waking up, the tortoise snapped its mouth shut (like someone banging) a chest, causing the monkey great pain and gripping its penis tightly. Unable to bare the pain the monkey thought, 'Who can free me from this pain? Only that ascetic. I will go to him.' Carrying the tortoise in his hands the monkey approached the Bodhisattva and he, teasing the naughty monkey, spoke this first verse--

"'You have such a great meal (in that bowl),
Like a Brahmin with a big handful of rice.
Where did you go for alms?
What funeral did you attend?'

On hearing this, the naughty monkey spoke the second verse--

"'I am truly a foolish monkey,
In that I have touched the untouchable.
If you can release me
I will go back to the mountains.'

"The Bodhisattva, having compassion for him and addressing the tortoise, spoke this third verse

"'The Kassapa tribe are tortoises.
The Kondanna are monkeys.
Kassapa, please free Kondanna,
From having sex with you.'

"'The tortoise, having heard the Bodhisattva’s words and pleased with his reasoning, let go of the monkey’s penis. The moment the monkey was free, he bowed to the Bodhisattva, then ran away so fast he didn’t even look back. The tortoise worshiped the Bodhisattva and returned to his own place. As for the Bodhisattva, without ever having fallen from the jhanas, he eventually passed away and was reborn in the Brahma world."

When this discourse was ended, the Master declared the Truths and identified the Birth: "The two magnates were the Monkey and Tortoise, and I was the hermit."