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[Source: Kah-gyur, iv. ff. 213, 214.]

A very long time ago, it once rained unseasonably seven days long, and an ichneumon took refuge in a mouse-hole. Into the same hole came, after wandering to and fro, a snake, alarmed by the rain. Now the ichneumon was preparing to kill the mouse, but the snake said, “O honoured ones, as we have all suffered from the agony of intolerable woe, therefore we ought to remain here without exposing each other to danger and free from disturbance.â€� The snake was named Nandasena, the ichneumon Nanda, and the mouse ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹.

Nandasena and Nanda said to ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹, “Go stealthily, and try to find some food for us.â€� As the mouse was honest and well-disposed, it zealously began to look for food for those two, but could not find any. Nanda said to Nandasena, “If ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹ comes back without food, I shall eat ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹.â€� But Nandasena thought, “Even during the anguish of intolerable woe did this ichneumon intend to kill that mouse; there is no need to say, then, what will happen if the mouse returns without bringing food. I had better give it notice beforehand.â€�

So the snake informed the mouse, saying, “Nanda has spoken thus: ‘If ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹ comes back without bringing food, I will eat ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹.’â€� ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹, who, after seeking for food, had found none, thought, “Without doubt he will devour me,â€� and said to Nandasena, “Ās one who is weakened and oppressed by hunger becomes merciless, therefore say to the ungrateful creature that ³Ò²¹á¹…gÄå»å²¹³Ù³Ù²¹ will return no more.â€�