The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-07-15

In the happy days when Karha-
than Parah was King Of the Burmese
a potter formed in his heart an evil
plot against the prosperity of his
neighbor, a wealthy washerman who
lived in the same village. The enyi-
Gus potter, bent on injuring his good
neigbor, went to the palace OF the
king, and thus addressed him:
40 illustrious prince! is it not well
known in the mountains and valleys
of our land that all the calamities
which have come so severely and
suddenly upon your kingdom Of late
years have arisen from the fact that
your Majesty has no longert the charm
of the white elephant, since the un-
fortunate death Of the lucky white
elephant which belonged to your faith
or, who now reposes in rapture in the
seventh heaven Of the blessed immor-
tails? Do you not know, o king, that
the elephant which now carries you
is but q common black beast, which
brings only black luck to Us! Hav-
ing, therefore, your prosperity and
glory at heart, o king and kissing the
dust from your golden feet, | venture
to propose the following plan to your
Majesty: There is a washerman IN
this city Of extraordinary skill in
washing or dyeiDg white everything
brought to him, however black 1t
NAV be, and however difficult to make
white and beautiful. Let, now, my
lord the king consider well the
word of his servant, and bid this
skillful washerman to wash yourroy-
al elephant white, so that the white
DAYS of prosperity may once more
dawn upon your blessed Males
ty."
The king who was week in mind,
heard the potter's project with de-
and readily assented to 1t. He
summond the skillful washerman,
fame was great, and thus ad-
dressed him.
al command thee, most loyal sub
iect, to use thy skill in washing my
elephant white, that l may enjoy
days Of prosperity even as my
before me-"
But the washerman, who was a
shrewed man, suspecting the plot to
ruin him by so vain a project, thus
spoke to the king:
ooh, my lord king that l may
wash my lords royal elephan. white,
a suitable westinghouse must be
erected, and also a pot of correspond
ing size must be constructed, and
then l will wash your Majesty's
respected elephant white, and
feel myself thrice blessed in having
carried out my lord the kings wish
es."
On this the king summoned the
potter, and enjoined him, on pain of
bis royal displeasure, to construct q
vast pot, Of sufficient dimensions to
hold the royal elephant, as well as a
sufficient quantity of water and other
constituents for the ablution. The
potter, in fear and trembling, collect
ed a mass of clay, out of which he
constructed a pot large enough to
hold the royal elephant.
When, however the elephant step
ped into this huge pot, it broke into
several pieces. Another pot was
Of considerable thickness, by
The potter, who, do as he would,
could not, even by his largest fires,
bake it thoroughly, so as to make 1t
both compact and strong. So the
Unfortunate potter was in this dilem-
ma: if he made a thin pot, it was
broken by the weight of the elephant,
and if he made it thick enough to re-
sist such a weight, he could not, with
all his efforts, get the pot sufficiently
and was obliged at last to
give up the task as beyond his pow
er, and to bravethe royal displeasure,
which consigned him to q prison for
the rest Of his life, and c%oniscated his
goods.
"Plot not against thy neighpor," "
says the Burmese proverb, least
thine own property suffer by the
plot"-a proverb which is here well
onco~ooI