sent
one day by their father to find a turtle for a sacrifice which he had
begun.

So the brothers went to the ocean and there they found a turtle. Then
the eldest said to the two younger: "One of you take this turtle for
Father's sacrifice. I cannot carry a slimy thing that smells raw."

But when the eldest said this, the two younger said: "Sir, if you feel
disgust, why shouldn't we?"

When the eldest heard this, he said: "You take the turtle, otherwise
Father's sacrifice will be ruined on your account. Then you and Father
too will surely go to hell."

When they heard him, the two younger brothers laughed and said: "Sir,
you seem to know our common duty, but not your own."

Then the eldest said: "What? Are you not aware that I am a connoisseur
in food? For I am a specialists in foods. How can I touch this
loathsome thing?"

When he heard these words, the second brother said: "But I am even more
of a connoisseur. I am a specialist in women. So how can I touch it?"

After this speech, the eldest said to the youngest: "Do you then, being
younger than we, carry the turtle."

Then the youngest frowned and said to them: "Fools! I am a great
specialist in cotton."

So the three brothers quarrelled, and arrogantly leaving the turtle
behind them, they went to have the matter decided at Pinnacle, the
capital of a king called Conqueror. When they came there, and had been
announced and introduced by the door-keeper, they told their story to
the king. And when the king had heard all, he said: "Stay here. I will
examine you one after another." So they agreed and all stayed there.

Then the king invited them in at his own dinner hour, seated them on
magnificent seats, and set before them sweet dishes of six flavours,
fit for a king. While all the rest ate, one of the Brahmans, the
specialist in food, disgustedly shook his head and refused to eat. And
when the king himself asked him why he would not eat food that was
sweet and savoury, he respectfully replied: "Your Majesty, in this food
there is the odour of smoke from a burning corpse. Therefore, I do not
wish to eat it, however sweet it may be."

Then at the king's command all the rest smelt of it and declared it the
best of winter rice, and perfectly sweet. But the food-critic held his
nose and would not touch it. Now when the king reflected and made a
careful investigation, he learned from the commissioners that the dish
was made of rice grown near a village cremato