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There was a poor man
who wanted some money; and somehow he had heard that if he could get hold of
a ghost, he might command him to bring money or anything else he liked; so he
was very anxious to get hold of a ghost.
He went about
searching for a man who would give him a ghost, and at last he found a sage
with great powers, and be sought his help. The sage asked him what he would
do with a ghost. "I want a ghost to work for me; teach me how to get
hold of one, sir; I desire it very much," replied the man.
But the sage said,
"Don't disturb yourself, go home." The next day the man went again
to the sage and began to weep and pray, "Give me a ghost; I must have a
ghost, sir, to help me." At last the sage was disgusted, and said,
"Take this charm, repeat this magic word, and a ghost will come, and
whatever you say to him he will do. But beware; they are terrible beings, and
must be kept continually busy. If you fail to give him work, he will take
your life." The man replied, "That is easy; I can give him work for
all his life."
Then he went to a
forest, and after long repetition of the magic word, a huge ghost appeared
before him, and said, "I am a ghost. I have been conquered by your
magic; but you must keep me constantly employed. The moment you fail to give
me work I will kill you." The man said, "Build me a palace,",
and the ghost said, "It is done; the palace is built." "Bring
me money," said the man. "Here is your money," said the ghost.
"Cut this forest down, and build a city in its place." "That
is done," said the ghost, "anything more?"
Now the man began to
be frightened and thought he could give him nothing more to do; he did
everything in a trice. The ghost said, "Give me something to do or I
will eat you up." The poor man could find no further occupation for him,
and was frightened. So he ran and ran and at last reached the sage, and said,
"Oh, sir, protect my life!" The sage asked him what the matter was,
and the man replied, "I have nothing to give the ghost to do. Everything
I tell him to do he does in a moment, and he threatens to eat me up if I do
not give him work." Just then the ghost arrived, saying, "I'll eat
you up," and he would have swallowed the man. The man began to shake,
and begged the sage to save his life.
The sage said, "I
will find you a way out. Look at that dog with a curly tail. Draw your sword
quickly and cut the tail off and give it to the ghost to straighten
out." The man cut off the dog's tail and gave it to the ghost, saying,
"Straighten that out for me." The ghost took it and slowly and
carefully straightened it out, but as soon as he let it go, it instantly
curled up again.
Once more he
laboriously straightened it out, only to find it again curled up as soon as
he attempted to let go of it. Again he patiently straightened it out, but as
soon as he let it go, it curled up again. So he went on for days and days,
until he was exhausted and said, "I was never in such trouble before in
my life. I am an old veteran ghost, but never before was I in such
trouble." "I will make a compromise with you;" he said to the
man, "you let me off and I will let you keep all I have given you and
will promise not to harm you." The man was much pleased, and accepted
the offer gladly.
This world is like a
dog's curly tail, and people have been striving to straighten it out for
hundreds of years; but when they let it go, it has curled up again. How could
it be otherwise?
One must first know
how to work without attachment, then one will not be a fanatic. When we know
that this world is like a dog's curly tail and will never get straightened,
we shall not become fanatics. If there were no fanaticism in the world, it
would make much more progress than it does now. It is a mistake to think that
fanaticism can make for the progress of mankind.
On the contrary, it is
a retarding element creating hatred and anger, and causing people to fight
each other, and making them unsympathetic. We think that whatever we do or
possess is the best in the world, and what we do not do or possess is of no
value. So, always remember the instance of the curly tail of the dog whenever
you have a tendency to become a fanatic.
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