[2498] "Journeying on trade, O ruler of the realm (raṭṭhādhipa),
I saw upon the road hunters' sons (bhojaputtā)
bearing along a huge serpent, full-grown of body,
as they went along rejoicing.
Coming up with them, O lord of men (janinda),
terrified, my hair standing on end, I asked:
'Where is this creature of dreadful body being taken?
What will you do with this nāga, hunters' sons?'
'This nāga is being taken for the sake of food —
this huge serpent, full-grown of body;
sweet, plump, and tender is its flesh:
you do not know its savor, son of Videha!
Going from here to our own home,
we shall take knives and cut it up,
and eat its flesh rejoicing;
for we indeed are the foes of serpents.'
'If this huge serpent, full-grown of body,
is being taken for the sake of food,
I give you sixteen oxen —
set this nāga free from its bonds.'
'Truly this is fare agreeable to us,
and many a serpent have we eaten before;
yet we will do as you say, Aḷāra —
and be a friend to us, son of Videha.'
Then they loosed him from his bonds —
from the noose of the fastening strung through his nose;
and freed from bondage, the nāga king
set out, facing east, for a little while.
Having gone facing east a little while,
he looked back at me with brimming eyes;
and I followed along behind him,
lifting my joined hands, ten fingers raised:
'Go, now — go with all haste,
lest your enemies seize you once again;
for painful is a second meeting with hunters:
go beyond the sight of the hunters' sons!'
He went to a limpid lake,
gleaming blue, delightful, with lovely fords,
overhung with rose-apple (jambu) and vedisa trees,
and, his peril crossed, rejoicing, he entered in.
Not long after entering it, O lord of men,
the nāga appeared to me in divine splendor;
he waited upon me as a son upon his father,
speaking words that reach the heart, pleasing to the ear:
'You, Aḷāra, are to me both mother and father,
my intimate friend, the giver of my life, my comrade;
and I have regained my own power (iddhi).
Aḷāra, behold my dwellings,
with plentiful fare, abounding in food and drink,
like Masakkasāra, the abode of Vāsava.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.