..續本文上一頁nes and shapes. The forester asked them, "Would you buy tusks that come from living elephants

　　"

　　The ivory carvers replied, "What a question! Everyone knows the tusks from a live elephant are much more valuable than from a dead one." "Then I will bring you some live elephant tusks," said the forester.

　　Caring only for money, ignoring the safety of the elephant king, and without any gratitude towards the one who had saved his life – the man put a sharp saw in with his other provisions, and set out towards the home of King Goodness.

　　When he arrived the elephant king asked him, "Oh my dear human friend, what brings you back again

　　" Making up a story, the greedy man said, "My lord elephant, I am a poor man, living very humbly. As these times are very difficult for me, I have come to beg from you just a little piece of tusk. If you can give it to me, I will take it home and sell it. Then I will be able to provide for myself, and survive for a while longer."

　　Pitying the man, the Elephant King Goodness said, "Of course my friend, I will give you a big piece of tusk! Did you happen to bring a saw with you

　　" "Yes lord," said the forester, "I did bring a saw." "All right then," said the generous King Goodness, "cut from both my tusks!"

　　As he said this, the elephant bent down on his knees and offered up his spectacular silvery-white tusks. Without the slightest regret, the man sawed off big pieces of ivory from both tusks.

　　The Enlightenment Being picked up both pieces with his trunk. He said, "Good friend, I am not giving you my lovely tusks because I dislike them and want to get rid of them. Nor is it because they are not valuable to me. But a thousand times, even a hundred thousand times more lovely and valuable are the tusks of all knowable wisdom, which leads to the realisation of all Truth."

　　Giving the wonderful tusks to the man, it was the elephant”s wish that his perfect generosity would eventually lead him to the greatest wisdom.

　　The man went home and sold both pieces of ivory. But it didn”t take long for him to spend all the money. So again he returned to the Elephant King Goodness. He begged him, "My lord, the money I got by selling your ivory was only enough to pay off my debts. I am still a poor man, living very humbly. Times are still hard in Benares, so please give me the rest of your tusks, oh generous one!"

　　Without hesitation, the elephant king offered what was left of his tusks. The man cut off all that he could see of them, right down to the sockets in the elephant”s skull! He left without a word of thanks. The wonderful kind elephant meant no more to him than a bank account! He took the ivory back to Benares, sold it, and squandered the money as before.

　　Once again the forester returned to the Himalayan home of the Elephant King Goodness. And again he begged him, "Oh noble elephant king, it is so very hard to make a living in Benares. Have pit on me and let me have the rest of your ivory – the roots of your tusks."

　　Perfect generosity holds nothing back. So once again the elephant king bent down on his knees and offered his remaining stumps of ivory. The ungrateful betrayer did not care at all for the elephant. He stepped onto the magnificent trunk – like a thick silver chain. He climbed up and sat between the pure white temples, on top of the great head – like a snowy Himalayan dome. Then he roughly dug in with his heels, rubbing and tearing away the tender flesh from the stumps of the once-beautiful tusks. He used his dull worn-down saw to cut and hack the ivory roots out of the noble skull!

　　It is said there are many worlds – the hell world of torture, the worlds of hungry ghosts, of animals and of mankind, as well as many heaven worlds – from the lowest to the highest. In all these worlds there are millions of beings who, at one time or another, have been born and lived as elephants. And some who tell this story say, that although they knew not why, all those one-time elephants felt the pain of the Great Being – the Elephant King Goodness.

　　The forester departed carrying the bloody ivory stumps. Thinking there was no reason to see the elephant again, the didn”t bother to show any sign of gratitude or respect.

　　The vast solid earth, which is strong enough to easily support great mountains, and is able to bear the worst filth and stench, could not bear and support this cruel man”s enormous unwholesomeness. So, when he could no longer be seen by the suffering elephant, the mighty earth cracked open beneath him. Fire from the lowest hell world leaped up, engulfed him in bright red flames, and pulled him down to his doom!

　　The moral is: The ungrateful stops at nothing, and digs his own grave.

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