Rivals

A specific guru had two pupils who were always at loggerheads with each other. The guru had a hard time seeing that their duties did not clash. The boys were habitually massaging the guru’s legs when he lay down to sleep. Even here, the poor teacher had to earmark the right portion to one boy and the left leg to the other:

Once, one of the boys, the one in charge of the guru’s left leg, had gone home for a while. The other boy massaged the right portion of the guru and went out. The teacher called him, begging him to rub the other leg too. But the boy who hated his rival hated “his” leg too. So he brought a stone and hit the left portion of the guru instead of massaging it. The poor guru shrieked with pain and cursed the stupid pupil. The doctor was called for, and he bandaged the injured leg.

In a few days, the boy who had been away returned and saw the bandaged leg of his guru. “O guru!” he said in agony. “What happened to my leg?”

The guru told him what had happened.

“The scoundrel!” said the boy in rage. “See what I shall do to his leg!”

Before the unfortunate guru could guess what would happen, the enraged boy brought a much bigger stone and severely injured the other leg, saying, “That will teach him!”