A Herdsman, tending kine in a forest, lost a Bull-calf¹ from the fold. After a long and fruitless search, he made a vow² that, if he could only discover the thief who had stolen the Calf he would offer a lamb in sacrifice to the Guardian³ Deities⁴ of the forest. Not long afterwards, as he ascended⁵ a small hillock, he saw at its foot a Lion feeding on the Calf. Terrified at the sight, he lifted his eyes and his hands to heaven, and said: "Just now I vowed⁶ to offer a lamb to the Guardian Deities of the forest if I could only find out who had robbed me; but now that I have discovered the thief, I would willingly add a full-grown Bull to the Calf I have lost, and give them both to the guardians⁷ of the forest, if I may only secure my own escape from this terrible Lion in safety."

That which we are anxious to find, we are sometimes even more anxious to escape from, when we have succeeded in finding it.