and the seed fell into the eye of a wild chicken, and the pain of the seed in the eye of the chicken caused it to fly up against a nest of red ants. Alarmed, the red ants flew out to do battle, and in their haste, bit a mon-goose. The mon-goose ran into a vine of wild fruit and shook several pieces of it on the head of a hermit, who sat thinking under a tree.
"Why didst thou, O fruit, fall on my head," cried the hermit.
The fruit answered: "We did not wish to fall; a mon-goose ran against our vine and threw us down."
And the hermit asked, "O mon-goose, why didst thou throw the fruit?"
The mon-goose answered: "I did not wish to throw down the fruit, but the red ants bit me and I ran against the vine."
The hermit asked, "O ants, why did ye bite the mon-goose?"
The red ants replied: "The hen flew against our nest and angered us."
The hermit asked, "O hen, why didst thou fly against the red ants' nest?"
And the hen replied: "The seed fell into my eyes and hu