'The Garnered Harvest'

BY THE POET PISIR-ANDAI

(Rendered from Tamil by P. N. Appuswami)

[This poem of eleven lines is from the Purananooru. an ancient anthology of Tamil verse.]

The garnered harvest of a tiny field can keep an elephant for many a day.

But let the brute step into the field and trampling eat, even a hundred acres will not suffice–for, the feet do spoil more than the mouth doth eat.

So, if a king, being wise, gathers his taxes justly, his kingdom will yield him millions and still greatly prosper.

But, if a weak and thoughtless king, day after day, gathers round him a crowd of foolish, flattering courtiers, and avidly wrings his uttermost, losing his people's love,–

Then, like the elephant-trampled field, his kingdom is ruined, and he too will starve.