0114. The Hawk and the Osprey

From Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock, online at: Baldwin Project.

Notes. Compare this version which features a kingfisher instead of an osprey: The Hawks and their Friends.

Summary: The hawks call upon their friends to protect their nest from dangerous humans.

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THE HAWK AND THE OSPREY

(osprey)

THERE lived once, on the shores of a natural lake, a Hawk on the south shore, a She-Hawk on the west shore, on the north a Lion, the king of beasts, on the east the Osprey, the king of birds, in the middle a Tortoise on a small island.

Now the Hawk asked the She-Hawk to become his wife. She asked him: "Have you any friends?"

"No, madam," he replied.

"But," she said, "we must have some friends who can defend us against any danger or trouble that may arise. Therefore I beg of you to find some friends."

"But," said the Hawk, "with whom shall I make friends?"

"Why, with King Osprey, who lives on the eastern shore, with King Lion on the north, and with the Tortoise who lives in the middle of the lake."

And he took her advice. And all these creatures formed a bond of friendship, and promised to protect each other in time of danger.

Now in time the Mother-Hawk had two sons. One day when the wings of the young birds were not yet callow, some of the country-folk went foraging through the woods all day and found nothing.

They went down to the lake to catch fish or a tortoise, and, in order to drive away the gnats, they made a fire by rubbing sticks together. The smoke annoyed the young birds, and they uttered a cry. The men said: " 'Tis the cry of birds—we will make a fire and eat their flesh." They made the fire blaze and built it up.

But the Mother-Bird heard the sound, and thought: "These men will eat our young ones. I will send my mate to the Great Osprey." This she did, and the bird promised to help.

He sat upon a tree-top near that in which the Hawks had built their nests, and no sooner did the men begin to climb up the tree than the Osprey dived into the lake, and from wings and back sprinkled water upon the brands and put the fire out. Down came the men and made another fire, but again the Osprey put it out, and this went on until midnight.

And the bird was tired out and his eyes were bloodshot. And the Mother-Bird whispered to her mate: "My Lord, the Osprey is worn out! Go and tell the Tortoise, that this weary bird may have a rest."

But the Osprey in a loud voice said he would gladly give his life to guard the tree. And the grateful Hawk said: "I pray thee, friend Osprey, rest awhile."

Then he went for help to the Tortoise, who said he would gladly help, but his son said: "I would not have my old father troubled, but I will gladly go in his stead."

And the Tortoise collected mud and quenched the flame. Then said the men: "Let us kill the Tortoise: he will be enough for all." But when they plucked creepers to bind him and tried to turn him over, he dragged them into the water.

And they said: "What strange things have happened to us! Half the night the Osprey has put out our fire, and now the Tortoise has dragged us in after him and made us swallow water. Let us light another fire, and at sunrise we will eat these young Hawks."

The Hen-Bird heard the noise and said: "My husband—sooner or later these men will devour our young and depart. You go and tell our friend the Lion."

At once the Hawk went to the Lion, who asked him why he came at such an unreasonable hour. But when the whole matter was put before him, he said: "Go and comfort your young ones, for I will save them." And then he came forth with a mighty tread, and the men were terrified.

"Alas!" they cried. "The Osprey hath put out our fire. The Tortoise dragged us into the water. But now we are done for: the Lion will destroy us at once." They ran this way and that, and when the noble beast stood at the foot of the tree, no trace could be found of the frightened men.

Then the Osprey, the Hawk, the She-Hawk, and the Tortoise came up to greet him, and they discoursed for a long time on the value of friendship. And this company of friends lived all their lives without breaking their bond. And they passed away according to their deeds.

0140. The Pious Wolf

From The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse with illustrations by W. Robinson, online at: Internet Archive.

Notes. The traditional title of this story is Vaka Jataka. In this jataka, the Buddha has taken birth as Sakka, king of the devas, although Rouse changes that to a "fairy" in his retelling; here is Rouse's translation which includes Sakka.

Summary: A wolf declares that he will be fasting, but he cannot resist the sight of a tempting young goat.

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THE PIOUS WOLF

(W. Robinson)

Once there was a flood, and there was a large rock with a Wolf sleeping on the top. The water came pouring around the rock, and when the Wolf awoke he found himself imprisoned, with no way of getting off, and nothing to eat.

“H’m!” said he to himself, “here I am, caught fast sure enough, and here I shall have to stay yet awhile. Nothing to eat, either! Well,” he thought, after a pause, “it is Friday to-day, when people say you ought to fast. Suppose I keep a holy fast to-day? A capital idea!”

So he crossed his paws, and pretended to pray, and thought himself very good and pious to be fasting.

A fairy saw this, and heard what he said; and she thought she would just see how much was real and how much was sham. So she changed herself into the shape of a pretty little Kid, and jumped down out of the air on to the rock.

The Wolf opened an eye to see what the noise could be, and there was a tender little Kid, standing on the rock. He forgot his prayers in a minute. “Aha!” said he. “A Kid! I can keep my Friday fast to-morrow. Now for the Kid!” He smacked his lips, and jumped at the Kid.

But the Kid jumped away, and, try as he would, he could not come near it. You know it was the fairy, and the fairy did not let herself be caught.

After trying to catch the Kid for some time the Wolf lay down again. “After all,” said he, “it is Friday; and perhaps I had best keep my fast to-day.”

“You humbug!” said the fairy, who had gone back to her proper shape; “you are a nice creature to pretend that you are keeping fast! You fast because you can’t help it, not because you are really good. As a punishment, you shall stay on this rock till next Friday, and fast for a week!”

So saying, she opened her wings and flew far away.

0137. The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Prince

From The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse with illustrations by W. Robinson, online at: Internet Archive.

Notes. See the notes to this version of the story: Prince Wicked.

Summary: When a poor man rescues a wicked prince along with some animals, the animals show their gratitude, but the prince hates the man; in the end, gratitude triumphs.

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THE GRATEFUL BEASTS AND THE UNGRATEFUL PRINCE

(W. Robinson)

Once upon a time there was a King, and he had a son. And this son was so cruel and disagreeable, that he took a delight in hurting people, and never spoke to anybody without an oath or a blow. He was a thorn in the flesh to everybody he came across; he was like grit in the porridge, like a fly in the eye, like a stone in the shoon. And they called him the Wicked Prince.

One day the Wicked Prince went down to the river to bathe, along with a number of servants. By-and-by a great storm came on, and the clouds were so thick that it became pitch-dark. However, this Prince was obstinate, and would not give up his bathe; and as he was too lazy even to bathe himself, he swore at his servants, and said: “You lazy beasts! Bathe me, and look sharp about it, or I’ll tickle you with a cat-o’-nine-tails!”

Now the servants had had enough of this young bully; and thought they, “What if we pitch him into the river, where the current is strong, and just leave him there! We can easily pretend he was carried away where we could not reach him; and if the King finds us out, and puts us to death—anyhow, death is better than his eternal bullying.”

So they pitched him head over heels into the water, though he screamed and struggled, and then they went home and told the King that he had gone in to bathe, and a flood carried him away. I daresay it was wicked of them to tell such a lie, but it was more the Prince’s fault than theirs.

Meanwhile the Prince had got hold of a tree that had been torn up by the roots, and climbing upon it, went floating down the river.

Now on the banks of this river lived a Snake. This Snake had once been a very rich man, and he had buried a vast treasure on the river bank; and he loved his riches more than he loved his own soul, so when he died, he was born again as a Snake, and had to live for ever close to his buried hoard. And a Rat that lived close by had also been a man once, and buried his money as the Snake had done, instead of using it in doing good; so he was born as a Rat, and made a hole where his money lay. These two creatures were caught by the flood, and it so happened that they saw the tree where the Wicked Prince was, and swimming to it, each got on one end, while the Prince was in the middle. And a young Parrot flying through the air, was beaten down by the rain; for in that country the drops of rain are as big as pigeons’ eggs, and no birds can fly through it. Then it so happened that this Parrot dropped down upon the same tree where the Snake was, and the Rat, and the Wicked Prince; and so there were four of them on the tree, floating down the river.

As the tree came near to a bend in the river, it was washed close to the bank. And on the bank a man was sitting. He did not mind the rain a bit, because he was a Hermit, who thought the world so wicked that he left it and went to live in the jungle all by himself. He built himself a little hut by the riverside, and, wet or fine, he cared not a jot.

This man saw the tree, and managed to catch hold of it and pull it ashore. Then he got the four creatures off it, and took them into his hut, and dried them and warmed them by the fire. But he began with the Parrot, because she looked the most miserable of them all; and then he dried the Rat; and next the Snake; and only attended to the man when he had comforted the other three. This made the Wicked Prince very angry. If he abused even those who made much of him, you may imagine how he cursed and swore in his heart at this man who left him to the last! But he said nothing, because he was afraid that if he did the man might turn him out in the storm again.

In a day or two the rain stopped, and the flood went down; and the creatures were all right again as they took their leave of the Hermit. The Snake thanked him for his kindness and said: “You have saved my life, good Hermit! What can I do for you? You seem to be a poor man; I am rich, and if you ever want money just come to my hole and call ‘Snake,’ and you shall have all my treasure. Good-bye!”

The Rat said the same.

The Parrot was very sorry to think that she had no money, so she said: “Silver and gold have I none; but if you ever are hungry, and want some rice, come to my tree and call ‘Parrot,’ and I’ll get you as much rice as ever you like.”

But the Wicked Prince hated this kind Hermit, because he had been left to the last. However, he pretended to be grateful, and said to the Hermit: “I hope you will pay me a visit soon. I am a Prince, and I shall be glad of a chance to repay you for all you have done for me.” Then he went away, chuckling to think how he would torment the poor Hermit, if ever he got him into his power.

This Hermit had all his wits about him, and he knew that people often promise what they never mean to do; so after a while he thought he would put them all to the test. So first he took his stick, and journeyed to the city where the Wicked Prince lived. The Prince, who was King himself now, saw him coming, and thought to himself: “Aha! here’s that rascal that left me to the last. Wants me to pay him for it, I suppose! Well, I’ll pay him! I’ll pay him out!” So he called to his men: “Hi there, brutes! Do you see that fellow? He tried to rob me the other day—just catch him and give him a flogging, and then stick a stake through his body, and leave him to die!”

Then the servants caught the Hermit, and flogged him well. But the Hermit did not cry out or grumble, only kept on saying to himself quietly: “The proverb’s true, the proverb’s true!”

“What proverb do you mean?” they asked him.

“It’s unlucky to save a drowning man,” said the Hermit.

Then he told them the whole story, and very angry they were when they heard it. They stopped beating the Hermit at once, and seizing the Wicked King, they beat him instead, and stuck a stake through his body, and left him to die. Then they made the Hermit King instead of the Wicked Prince.

And the Hermit took them a walk into the country, and when they came to the Snake’s hole he called out “Snake!” Out came the Snake, and curled up against his feet, and showed him the hole where his treasure was; and the Hermit gave it all to his servants.

And then they went to the Rat’s hole, and he called out “Rat!” And the Rat ran up, and rubbed his nose against the King’s hand, and gave him all his treasure, which the King gave to his servants as well as the other.

And last of all they went to the Parrot’s tree, and called “Parrot!” And the Parrot flew up and gave a call, and instantly all the air was black with Parrots. And all the Parrots carried a grain of rice in their beaks, and dropped it on the ground; and there was such a heap of rice, that it was enough to feed all the people for the rest of their lives.

So the grateful beasts kept their promise, and the ungrateful Prince was killed, and the Hermit ruled over his people kindly, and they all lived happily until they died. And when they died they all went to heaven; and the Snake and the Rat and the Parrot went there too, because they had at last overcome their love of money, and given it away to show how grateful they were to the Hermit for being kind to them.

0083. The Golden Goose

From More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt with illustrations by Ellsworth Young, online at: Internet Archive.

Notes. In the traditional Buddhist version, Suvannahamsa Jataka, the golden goose in this story is the reincarnation of the father of the family (which adds to the drama!), and the bird is a hamsa. You can compare this story with the Aesop's fable about the goose that laid the golden egg.

Summary: A goose with golden feathers helps a poor woman and her daughters, but the mother is greedy.

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THE GOLDEN GOOSE

(Ellsworth Young)

Once upon a time there was a Goose who had beautiful golden feathers. Not far away from this Goose lived a poor, a very poor woman, who had two daughters.

The Goose saw that they had a hard time to get along and said he to himself: “If I give them one after another of my golden feathers, the mother can sell them, and with the money they bring she and her daughters can then live in comfort.”

So away the Goose flew to the poor woman’s house. Seeing the Goose, the woman said: “Why do you come here? We have nothing to give you.”

“But I have something to give you,” said the Goose. “I will give my feathers, one by one, and you can sell them for enough so that you and your daughters can live in comfort.”

So saying the Goose gave her one of his feathers, and then flew away. From time to time he came back, each time leaving another feather. The mother and her daughters sold the beautiful feathers for enough money to
keep them in comfort.

But one day the mother said to her daughters: “Let us not trust this Goose. Some day he may fly away and never come back. Then we should be poor again. Let us get all of his feathers the very next time he comes.”

The daughters said: “This will hurt the Goose. We will not do such a thing.”

But the mother was greedy. The next time the Golden Goose came she took hold of him with both hands, and pulled out every one of his feathers.

Now the Golden Goose has strange feathers. If his feathers are plucked out against his wish, they no longer remain golden but turn white and are of no more value than chicken-feathers. The new ones that come in are not golden, but plain white.

As time went on his feathers grew again, and then he flew away to his home and never came back again.

0045. The Wise Physician

From Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock, online at: Baldwin Project.

Notes. The story of Kisagotami is a famous Buddhist parable; you can read more about the story at Wikipedia. The verses at the end are not part of the original story; instead, Marie Shedlock added them to the story, as she explains in her note: "The following lines, ascribed to some of her Sisters in the Order and given in the Psalms (translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids), would apply to Kisagotami."

Summary: A woman named Kisagotami who is grieving for her dead child goes to Gautama Buddha for help.

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THE WISE PHYSICIAN

(statue of Buddha in Ladakh, by J. Choe)

Kisagotami is the name of a young girl whose marriage with the only son of a wealthy man was brought about in true fairy-tale fashion. She had one child, but when the beautiful boy could run alone, it died. The young girl in her love for it carried the dead child clasped to her bosom, and went from house to house of her pitying friends asking them to give her medicine for it.

But a Buddhist mendicant, thinking, "She does not understand," said to her: "My good girl, I myself have no such medicine as you ask for, but I think I know of one who has."

"Oh, tell me who that is!" said Kisagotami.

"The Buddha can give you medicine: go to him," was the answer.

She went to Gautama and, doing homage to him, said: "Lord and Master, do you know any medicine that will be good for my child?"

"Yes, I know of some," said the Teacher.

Now it was the custom for patients or their friends to provide the herbs which the doctors required, so she asked what herbs he would want.

"I want some mustard-seed," he said; and when the poor girl eagerly promised to bring some of so common a drug, he added: "You must get it from some house where no son, or husband, or parent, or slave has died."

"Very good," she said, and went to ask for it, still carrying her dead child with her.

The people said: "Here is mustard-seed, take it."

But when she asked, "In my friend’s house has any son died, or a husband, or a parent, or slave?" they answered: "Lady! what is this that thou sayest; the living are few, but the dead are many."

Then she went to other houses, but one said: "I have lost a son"; another, "We have lost our parents"; another, "I have lost my slave."

At last, not being able to find a single house where no one had died, her mind began to clear, and, summoning up resolution, she left the dead body of her child in a forest, and returning to the Buddha paid him homage.

He said to her: "Have you the mustard-seed?"

"My Lord," she replied, "I have not; the people tell me that the living are few, but the dead are many."

Then he talked to her on that essential part of his system—the impermanency of all things, till her doubts were cleared away, and, accepting her lot, she became a disciple and entered the first Path.

"Lo! from my heart the hidden shaft is gone,

The shaft that nestled there hath he removed;

And that consuming grief for my dear child,

Which poisoned all the life of me, is dead.

To-day my heart is healed, my yearning stayed,

Perfected the deliverance wrought in me."

0034. The Lion and the Crane

From Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, with illustrations by John D. Batten, online at: Project Gutenberg.

Notes. In a lengthy discussion which you can find at the end of the book, Jacobs discusses the parallels between this story and the Aesopic fable of the wolf and the stork (crane, heron), and he argues that the story originated in India, and was later adopted into the Aesopic tradition in ancient Greece and Rome. You can also compare this jataka with the jataka of the lion and the woodpecker.

Summary: The Buddha tells the story of his previous incarnation as a crane who, cautiously, offered help to a lion. (This version includes the frametale in which the Buddha himself tells the story and identifies the past incarnations.)

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THE LION AND THE CRANE

(John D. Batten)

The Bodhisatta was at one time born in the region of Himavanta as a white crane; now Brahmadatta was at that time reigning in Benares.

Now it chanced that as a lion was eating meat a bone stuck in his throat. The throat became swollen, he could not take food, his suffering was terrible.

The crane seeing him, as he was perched on a tree looking for food, asked, "What ails thee, friend?"

He told him why.

"I could free thee from that bone, friend, but dare not enter thy mouth for fear thou mightest eat me."

"Don't be afraid, friend, I'll not eat thee; only save my life."

"Very well," says he, and caused him to lie down on his left side.

But thinking to himself, "Who knows what this fellow will do," he placed a small stick upright between his two jaws that he could not close his mouth, and inserting his head inside his mouth struck one end of the bone with his beak. Whereupon the bone dropped and fell out.

As soon as he had caused the bone to fall, he got out of the lion's mouth, striking the stick with his beak so that it fell out, and then settled on a branch.

The lion gets well, and one day was eating a buffalo he had killed.

The crane thinking "I will sound him," settled on a branch just over him, and in conversation spoke this first verse:

A service have we done thee
To the best of our ability,
King of the Beasts! Your Majesty!
What return shall we get from thee?

In reply the Lion spoke the second verse:

As I feed on blood,
And always hunt for prey,
'Tis much that thou art still alive
Having once been between my teeth.

Then in reply the crane said the two other verses:

Ungrateful, doing no good,
Not doing as he would be done by,
In him there is no gratitude,
To serve him is useless.

His friendship is not won
By the clearest good deed.
Better softly withdraw from him,
Neither envying nor abusing.

And having thus spoken the crane flew away.

And when the great Teacher, Gautama the Buddha, told this tale, he used to add: "Now at that time the lion was Devadatta the Traitor, but the white crane was I myself."

0027. The Monkeys and the Hollow Canes

From Hindu Fairy Tales by Florence Griswold with illustrations by Helen Jacobs, online at: Internet Archive.

Notes. The wise king who recognizes the clue provided by the footprints might remind you of a fox in Aesop's fables: The Fox and the Lion in the Cave. You can find out more about the nature spirit of the lake, a yaksha, at Wikipedia. Compare also the story of the three princes and the yaksha.

Summary: The wise monkey king and his monkey troop confront a fierce water-ogre who refuses to let them drink the water of his lake.

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THE MONKEYS AND THE HOLLOW CANES

(Helen Jacobs)

Frametale: The Buddha and his Brethren

One evening during a pilgrimage through the country of Kosala, Buddha and the Brethren were sitting beside a pool around which grew cane-sticks. A Brother broke one off, and after looking at it carefully asked, "Master, why are these cane-sticks hollow?"

"Listen, my Brother, and you shall hear, for such were my orders in times gone by," replied Buddha. Thus he told them this story:

The troop of monkeys and their king

In years long past, all about us was a thick forest in the center of which was a lake of clear cold water. In this lake dwelt a wicked water-ogre who devoured every one that went to the water to bathe or drink.

In the forest also dwelt a troop of eighty thousand monkeys. Their king was the largest and strongest of them all, a mighty monkey as big as the fawn of a red deer. He shielded his subject monkeys from harm, and they gave him in return their love and confidence. Desiring to let them roam at will through the forest, and yet fearing for their safety, one day he cautioned them, saying: "Friends, we have about us trees that are poisonous and lakes that are haunted by ogres. Beware of fruit you have not eaten, and of water you have not drunk. Ask me before you eat or drink."

Readily they assured him that they would do his bidding, and they kept their word, else today we should have no story.

The monkeys at the lake

One warm day when they had wandered far from their home trees, they came upon a lake which was unknown to them. Very thirsty were they, but remembering the words of their wise and good king they sat down to await his coming.

When he came up and found them sitting down, very patient, he said, "Friends, why do you not drink?"

"This lake, dear king," said the spokesman, "we have never seen before. We could not drink without your good word."

"Quite right, my friends," replied the king, for he would have grieved sadly to lose even the least of his subjects. Then he went carefully around the lake examining every foot of ground. At last he came upon a very strange thing. He found the footprints of many animals going towards the lake, but there were no footprints to show that an animal had ever returned.

"Aha," he thought, "this is undoubtedly the haunt of an ogre," and turning to his followers said, "Your caution, friends, has saved you from a terrible death. This lake is haunted by an ogre. Those who go to its brink to drink never return to tell of its waters. Rest you here a while."

Suffering and parched with thirst, they did the bidding of their king, knowing well that in time they would be refreshed.

The ogre and the monkey-king

The ogre, who had been watching them greedily from the bottom of the lake, became angered when he saw the king with his eighty thousand subjects peacefully surround his lake. Such a feast had never before been thrust before his ever-hungry eyes. When he could no longer stand the suspense, he assumed the shape of a monster with a blue belly and the most horrible bright red hands and feet, and went to the top of the water crying, "Why are you all seated here like senseless idiots? When you are so thirsty after your day's walk, why do you not go down to the lake and drink of its cool water?"

Then he added in the sweetest voice he could assume, "Come, come, my friends, come cool yourselves with a long drink out of the most beautiful lake in all India. Its waters are fed from mother-springs hidden deep down in its rocky bottom. Those who drink shall never more know either sorrow or unhappiness."

"Well may you say those who drink shall never more know sorrow or unhappiness," answered the king. "Are you not the ogre of the lake, and do you not take as your prey all who are so unfortunate as to drink of your waters?"

"You are right, O Wise One. I am the ogre of the lake. You are right, I eat every one who comes to drink in my lake. Yes," he went on ferociously for he saw that his words of honey had been of no use, "I eat every one from the smallest of birds upwards, and I shall eat you and every one of your eighty thousand monkeys sitting like toads on the ground."

"Not a monkey seated here shall ever go to fatten your ugly body," said the king.

"If you do not drink, you will die as you sit. You and your eighty thousand monkeys are now near to death for want of water. You see you are mine whether or not you drink of my water."

"Yes, O ogre of the water, water we must have, for faint and weary we are. Yes, water we will have, yet we shall not fall into your power."

"How can you drink without coming to the water's edge? All must do that," said the wicked ogre, not knowing that the king of the monkeys was Buddha the All-Knowing One.

The canes transformed

"Ah," said the king, "you will soon see. You think, poor monster, that we shall have to go to the brink of the lake to drink? If you will wait you will see the lake come to the monkeys as they sit far up on its banks."

These words said, he had a cane brought to him and repeated solemnly the following words: "With canes we'll drink; you shall not take my life." He then blew with all his might down the cane and straightway it became hollow; not even a single knot was left throughout its entire length. Thus he blew through another and yet another, but his eighty thousand subjects would have died of thirst before he could have finished one for each, and not one monkey was he willing to lose. Knowing this he wasted no more time on single sticks, but walked around the lake saying: "Let all the canes growing here become hollow throughout! Let all the canes around here become hollow throughout!"

Immediately all the canes became hollow. The king then commanded each monkey to grasp one cane in his hands and follow him to the lake. He sat down on the banks the length of his cane-stick from the water. One end he put in his mouth, the other in the water, then he began slowly to suck up the water, which came through the cane as easily as though it were the hollow stalk of a lotus. Eighty thousand monkeys did likewise. In this way every one drank his fill from the waters of the lake, yet never a one did that wicked water-ogre catch.

After their thirst was quenched, the obedient monkeys, grateful to their king for having saved their lives from the ogre, began to praise and thank him. The king bade them keep their words and follow him back to the home trees deep in the forest.

When the water-ogre saw that he had been outwitted by the king of the monkeys, he crept in a great rage back to his home at the bottom of the lake, there, as before, to await the com- ing of the unwary traveler who looked not before he drank. As years passed on, the hollow canes growing on the banks of the lake of the ogre became the parents of other hollow canes and they spread and spread to all parts of the world.

That is why we have hollow canes today.

0016. The Three Princes and the Water-Sprite.

From Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, online at: Sacred Texts Archive.

Notes. For a literal English translation from the ancient Buddhist version, see this post: Devadhamma-Jātaka. The water-sprite referred to here is a yaksha; you can find out more about these supernatural beings at Wikipedia.

Summary: Living in the forest, three princes face danger at a pool that belongs to a malicious water-sprite.

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THE PRINCES AND THE WATER-SPRITE

(Ellsworth Young)

Once upon a time a king had three sons. The first was called Prince of the Stars. The next was called the Moon Prince and the third was called the Sun Prince. The king was so very happy when the third son was born that he promised to give the queen any boon she might ask.

The queen kept the promise in mind, waiting until the third son was grown before asking the king to give her the boon. On the twenty-first birthday of the Sun Prince she said to the king, "Great King, when our youngest child was born you said you would give me a boon. Now I ask you to give the kingdom to Sun Prince."

But the king refused, saying that the kingdom must go to the oldest son, for it belonged by right to him. Next it would belong by right to the second son, and not until they were both dead could the kingdom go to the third son.

The queen went away, but the king saw that she was not pleased with his answer. He feared that she would do harm to the older princes to get them out of the way of the Sun Prince. So he called his elder sons and told them that they must go and live in the forest until his death. "Then come back and reign in the city that is yours by right," he said. And with tears he kissed them on the foreheads and sent them away.

As they were going down out of the palace, after saying good-by to their father, the Sun Prince called to them, "Where are you going?"

And when he heard where they were going and why, he said, "I will go with you, my brothers."

So off they started. They went on and on and by and by they reached the forest. There they sat down to rest in the shade of a pond. Then the eldest brother said to Sun Prince, "Go down to the pond and bathe and drink. Then bring us a drink while we rest here."

Now the King of the Fairies had given this pond to a water-sprite. The Fairy King had said to the water-sprite, "You are to have in your power all who go down into the water except those who give the right answer to one question. Those who give the right answer will not be in your power. The question is, 'What are the Good Fairies like?'"

When the Sun Prince went into the pond the water–sprite saw him and asked him the question, "What are the Good Fairies like?"

"They are like the Sun and the Moon," said the Sun Prince.

"You don't know what the Good Fairies are like," cried the water-sprite, and he carried the poor boy down into her cave.

By and by the eldest brother said, "Moon Prince, go down and see why our brother stays so long in the pond!"

As soon as the Moon Prince reached the water's edge the water-sprite called to him and said, "Tell me what the Good Fairies are like!"

"Like the sky above us," replied the Moon Prince.

"You don't know, either," said the water-sprite, and dragged the Moon Prince down into the cave where the Sun Prince sat.

"Something must have happened to those two brothers of mine," thought the eldest. So he went to the pond and saw the marks of the footsteps where his brothers had gone down into the water. Then he knew that a water-sprite must live in that pond. He girded on his sword, and stood with his bow in his hand.

The water-sprite soon came along in the form of a woodsman.

"You seem tired, Friend," he said to the prince. "Why don't you bathe in the lake and then lie on the bank and rest?"

But the prince knew that it was a water-sprite and he said, "You have carried off my brothers!"

"Yes," said the water-sprite.

"Why did you carry them off?"

"Because they did not answer my question," said the water-sprite, "and I have power over all who go down into the water except those who do give the right answer."

"I will answer your question," said the eldest brother. And he did. "The Good Fairies are like the pure in heart who fear to sin — the good, kindly in word and deed."

"O Wise Prince, I will bring back to you one of your brothers. Which shall I bring?" said the water-sprite.

"Bring me the younger one," said the prince. "It was on his account that our father sent us away. I could never go away with Moon Prince and leave poor Sun Prince here."

"O Wise Prince, you know what the good should do and you are kind. I will bring back both your brothers," said the water-sprite.

After that the three princes lived together in the forest until the king died. Then they went back to the palace. The eldest brother was made king and he had his brothers rule with him. He also built a home for the water-sprite in the palace grounds.