[2244]
"For a secret thing, secrecy alone is good;
the disclosing of a secret is not praised.
While his aim is not yet accomplished, the wise one should forbear;
only when his aim is accomplished may he speak at his ease.
One should not lay open a secret matter;
one should guard it as one guards a treasure;
for a secret matter laid bare
is not good for one who understands.
A wise man should not confide a secret to a woman,
nor to one who is no friend,
nor to whoever can be lured away by material bait,
nor to the man who is a thief of hearts.
The man who makes another aware of a secret matter till then unknown
must, through fear of the betrayal of his counsel,
endure that one, as though he had become his slave.
As many as know a man's secret counsel,
so many are his terrors;
therefore one should not let a secret go.
By day one should speak of a secret only having withdrawn into seclusion;
by night one should not let one's voice pass beyond bounds;
for eavesdroppers listen in upon counsel;
therefore counsel swiftly comes to betrayal."
The Pañcapaṇḍita Jātaka, the twelfth.
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13. The Hatthipāla Jātaka
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.