[758] On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Sumbhas, where there was a town of the Sumbhas named Sedaka. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus, once in the past a caṇḍāla bamboo-acrobat (caṇḍālavaṃsika), having set up his bamboo pole, addressed his apprentice Medakathālikā: 'Come, friend Medakathālikā, climb up the bamboo pole and stand upon my shoulders.' 'Yes, teacher,' the apprentice Medakathālikā replied to the bamboo-acrobat, and having climbed up the bamboo pole, stood upon the teacher's shoulders. Then, bhikkhus, the bamboo-acrobat said this to the apprentice Medakathālikā: 'You, friend Medakathālikā, protect me, and I shall protect you. Thus, guarding one another, protecting one another, we shall display our skills, obtain our gain, and come down safely from the bamboo pole.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.