| Trust Not Your Known Enemy There was an old tree in a forest which had a hole in its trunk. In that hole lived a sparrow. Every day, the sparrow went out in the morning to eat the grain from the fields around and returned to the tree in the evening. Once it went away as usual but did not return to the tree for several days. In the meantime a hare came, and seeing the sparrow's hole empty, made its home there. After some days, however the sparrow returned to the tree. The sparrow had become quite fat. It had been eating a lot of new grain from the field. Seeing the hare in its hole, the sparrow said to the hare, "This is my house. You have occupied it in my absence. Since I have come back, you should now leave." The hare said, "In wells, lakes and temples, there is no such thing as permanent living place for anyone. Once a person leaves, anyone else can occupy his place. If you don't believe me you may ask anybody." The sparrow suggested, "Let us go to a wise man and ask him if it is so." The hare agreed. A cat was listening to their talk all the time. So, it put on the dress of a pious person. It wore the sacred ash and beads on its body, and sat on a grass mat across their path. When it saw them coming, it closed its eyes, and started telling the beads. The hare and the sparrow saw the pious cat. Said the hare, "Why shouldn't we ask this cat? He seems to be a learned person." The sparrow cautioned, "Is he not our common enemy?" The cat, on hearing this, opened his eyes and said, "I have given up my evil nature. I will not kill anybody. I do not eat meat. I speak only the truth. I want to find God." Hearing these words, the hare and sparrow were impressed. But, they sat at some distance from him and told him about the case. The cat said, "My dear friends, I am a little deaf. If, I do not hear what you say properly, I may give a wrong judgment. Then I shall have to go to hell. Please therefore, come nearer and state your case more clearly. I promise I shall do no harm." The hare and sparrow shed their suspicion and went and sat near the cat. At once the cat pounced upon them, and caught one with his mouth and the other with his sharp paws and ate them up. Moral: Old habits die hard, one should not trust a known enemy.
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