27a: The 9th Rains Retreat (Ghosaka and Māgaṇḍiya) – 927 

 

opportunity for the baby to suck her milk. She left the baby only after feeding 
him in the manner just described. On departure from the pasture in the evening, 
she went to feed the baby again, in the same manner. The goat-herd’s attention 
was drawn by the strange movements of that she-goat on that day, and he saw 
for himself that the she-goat was feeding the baby as if it was her own babe. The 
goat-herd thought to himself: “This baby must be a favoured child of fortune, 
even animals seem to know his attributes,” and so he brought the baby to be 
looked after in his own house. 

On the next morning, the rich man sent his men to find out what had happened 
to the baby. When he was told that the baby was safe under the care of a goat-
herder, he sent his men to redeem the baby in exchange for 1,000 pieces of 
money and commanded them to place the baby on the cart-track, in the busy 
part of the town, so that he might be killed by being trodden by the carts of a 
passing trader on the following day. 

His servants did as they were told. A train of carts came into the town as 
expected but the oxen that drew the first cart saw the baby in their track, so they 
stood still with their legs fixed like four pillars. The leader of the traders saw the 
strange spectacle and was greatly moved by it, so much so that he picked up the 
babe and looked after him himself, as the baby appeared to be a favoured child 
of fortune with a bright future. 

The rich man sent out his men to find out if the baby had been killed, by being 
trodden on by the carts of the traders, and was told that the boy was safe under 
the care of the leader of the traders. He again asked them to redeem the child in 
exchange for 1,000 pieces of money and to throw the baby down a steep cliff at 
a distance from the town. 

The baby was thrown upside down by the servants, but the child fell right on top 
of a workshop of those who manufactured mats from reeds. The mats made of 
reeds proved to be as soft as cotton that had been ginned 1,000 times due to his 
deeds of merits in the past. The leading workman opined that the baby was a 
favoured child of fortune with a bright future, and so he brought the child to his 
house for adoption. 

The rich man sent out his men again to enquire into the state of the child. When 
he came to know all about the babe, he asked his servants to recover the baby in 
exchange for 1,000 pieces of money, and to bring him to his house.