Note 4 — XII. SUŚROṆĪ.1

The jackal answered, “When the Ganges flows upwards, when the raven has the colour of curdled milk, then shalt thou be virtuous. When the snake and the ichneumon dwell in the same hole, and put up with each other, then shalt thou be virtuous. When a man, making clothes out of the hair of a tortoise, shall be able to provide himself thereby with a winter garment, then shalt thou be virtuous. When one shall have made a ladder out of the feet of flies, and climbed up it into heaven, then shalt thou be virtuous. When a bridge shall have been made out of the stalk of the jessamine, and an elephant shall have walked across it, then shalt thou be virtuous. When fire shall burst forth in the middle of the sea, and men shall enter therein, then shalt thou be virtuous. O Suśroṇī! now that I have scoffed at thee enough, I ask thee what reward wilt thou give me if I restore thee to thy former position?”4