The ocean of story, being C.H. Tawney's translation of Somadeva's ...

THE GOLDEN SWANS 135
and then you will be able to gaze on them continually : do
not be despondent."
When King Brahmadatta's minister said this to him, he
had that great lake made according to his directions, and it
was ready in a moment. The lake was frequented by swans,
sdrasas and chakravdkas, 1 and after a time that couple of
swans came there, and settled down on a clump of lotuses
in it. Then the guards set to watch the lake came and informed
the king of the fact, and he went down to the lake
in a state of great delight, considering that his object had
been accomplished. And he beheld those golden swans, and
worshipped them from a distance, and ministered to their
comfort by scattering for them grains of rice dipped in milk.
And the king took so much interest in them that he spent his
whole time on the bank of that lake watching those swans,
with their bodies of pure gold, their eyes of pearl, their beaks
and feet of coral, and the tips of their wings of emerald, 2
which had come there in perfect confidence.
Now, one day, as the king was roaming along the bank
of the lake, he saw in one place a pious offering made with
unfading flowers. And he said to the "
guards there : Who
made this offering ? " Then the guards of the lake said to
the king :
" Every day, at dawn, noon and sunset, these
golden swans bathe in the lake, and make these offerings,
and stand absorbed in contemplation : so we cannot say,
King, what is the meaning of this great wonder." When
the king heard this from the guards he said to himself :
" Such a proceeding is quite inconsistent with the nature
of swans ; surely
there must be a reason for this. So I will
perform asceticism until I find out who these swans are."
Then the king and his wife and his minister gave up food,
1 The sarasa is a large crane ; the chakravdka the Brahmany duck, for
which see Vol. VI, p. 7ln3 . n.m.p.
2 I.e. Tarkshyaratna. I have no idea what the jewel is. B. and R. give ein
bestimmter dunkelfarbiger Edelstein. In Jataka No. 136 there is a golden goose
who had been a Brahman. He gives his feathers to his daughters to sell,
but his wife pulls out all the feathers at once ; they become like the feathers
of a baka. Afterwards they all grow white. See Rhys Davids' Buddhist Birth
Stories, p. ix, note. In si. 4, 1, I read tadrasad for tatra sada, with MSS.
Nos. 1882 and 2166; No. 3003 has tatrasad.