VaṭṭakajātakaJātaka 394 · Volume 3, translated by H. T. Francis and R. A. Neil (1897)

Public domain. H. T. Francis and R. A. Neil’s translation was published in 1897. The Pali is the Mahāsaṅgīti edition published by SuttaCentral under CC0. The canonical Pali Jātaka consists of the verses only (6 verses here); the prose story around them comes from the later commentary, which the English translates in full. So the verses are shown beside the whole English story, not verse by verse.

Pali verses

“Paṇītaṁ bhuñjase bhattaṁ,
sappitelañca mātula;
Atha kena nu vaṇṇena,
kiso tvamasi vāyasa”.

“Amittamajjhe vasato,
tesu āmisamesato;
Niccaṁ ubbiggahadayassa,
kuto kākassa daḷhiyaṁ.

Niccaṁ ubbegino kākā,
dhaṅkā pāpena kammunā;
Laddho piṇḍo na pīṇeti,
kiso tenasmi vaṭṭaka.

Lūkhāni tiṇabījāni,
appasnehāni bhuñjasi;
Atha kena nu vaṇṇena,
thūlo tvamasi vaṭṭaka”.

“Appicchā appacintāya,
adūragamanena ca;
Laddhāladdhena yāpento,
thūlo tenasmi vāyasa.

Appicchassa hi posassa,
appacintasukhassa ca;
Susaṅgahitamānassa,
vuttī susamudānayā”ti.

English Francis and Neil 1897

"Oil and butter," etc.—The Master told this while dwelling in Jetavana, concerning a greedy Brother. Finding that he was greedy the Master said to him, "This is not the first time you are greedy: once before through greed in Benares you were not satisfied with carcases of elephants, oxen, horses and men; and in hopes of getting better food you went to the forest;" and so he told an old tale.

Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born as a quail and lived in the forest on rude grass and seeds. At the time there was in Benares a greedy crow who, not content with carcases of elephants and other animals, went to the forest in hopes of better food: eating wild fruits there he saw the Bodhisatta and thinking "This quail is very fat: I fancy he eats sweet food, I will ask him of his food and eating it become fat myself," he perched on a bough above the Bodhisatta. The Bodhisatta [313], without being asked, gave him greeting and spoke the first stanza:—

Oil and butter are your victuals, nuncle; rich your food, I trow:
Tell me then what is the reason of your leanness, master crow.

Hearing his words the crow spoke three stanzas:—

I dwell in midst of many foes, my heart goes pit-a-pat
In terror as I seek my food: how can a crow be fat? Crows spend their lives in fear, their wits for mischief ever keen;
The bits they pick are not enough; good quail, that's why I'm lean.
Rude grass and seeds are all your food: there's little richness there:
Then tell me why you're fat, good quail, on such a scanty fare.

The Bodhisatta hearing him spoke these stanzas, explaining the reason of his fatness:—

I have content and easy mind, short distances to go,
I live on anything I get, and so I'm fat, good crow. Content of mind, and happiness with little care of heart,
A standard easily attained: that life's the better part.

[314] After the lesson, the Master declared the Truths, and identified the Birth:—At the end of the Truths the Brother was established in the fruition of the First Path: "At that time the crow was the greedy Brother, the quail was myself."

English source