Yet it was shown to him in dreams that it was a matter not to be undertaken with any hope of success unless that seeker had with him the one chela appointed to bring the event to a happy issue, and versed in great wisdom--such wisdom as white-haired Keepers of Images possess.

For example (here came out the snuff-gourd, and the kindly Jain priests made haste to be silent): 'Long and long ago, when Devadatta was King of Benares--let all listen to the Tataka!--an elephant was captured for a time by the king's hunters and ere he broke free, beringed with a grievous legiron.

This he strove to remove with hate and frenzy in his heart, and hurrying up and down the forests, besought his brother-elephants to wrench it asunder.

One by one, with their strong trunks, they tried and failed.
At the last they gave it as their opinion that the ring was not to be broken by any bestial power.

And in a thicket, new-born, wet with moisture of birth, lay a day-old calf of the herd whose mother had died.