Folk-lore of the Telugus/King Sibi
XXXIX
KING SIBI.
By far the best of monarchs that wielded sway over the Nishada country was King Sibi, who was the type of virtue, a well-wisher of his subjects. He would even forego his life to protect the refugee. Once upon a time the Gandarvas began praising his talents and virtuous qualities at the Court of their king Devendra, who heard them, and, coming to a resolve to put them to test, assumed the form of a hawk and called upon his friend Agni to take the form of a dove. The hawk, then pursuing the dove, reached the earth. The dove came to King Sibi and said:—"O King! there comes a hawk to put an end to me, and make me its prey. Shield me." So saying, he took refuge. Not long after, the hawk approached the king and said:—"It is unfair of you to protect my prey, for that will lead to my certain death. Refrain, therefore, from protecting the dove." To which the king replied that he would give the dove's weight of flesh from his body, instead of the dove itself. The hawk consented to the proposal. The king thereupon brought scales, put the dove on one pan and his flesh on the other, and seeing that even a great quantity of his flesh did not equally balance the dove's, the king himself sat in one of the pans, when the scales were rendered equal. Whereupon the hawk and the dove thought very highly of the king, assumed their own forms, stood before the king, praised him, conferred certain boons on him and went to their respective worlds.
Moral:—Good men will even forego their lives in order to protect those who trust in them.