Mahāhaṅsajātaka

Suttapiṭaka · Khuddakanikāya · Jātaka (2) · Vol. 28 · Section 200

[200] "Not even when beset by suffering (dukkha), O Dhataraṭṭha, would I abandon you; my life or my death shall be together with you. Not even when beset by suffering, O Dhataraṭṭha, would I abandon you; you ought not to yoke me to a deed conjoined with what is ignoble. I am your comrade from boyhood, and I have stood firm within your own mind (citta); I am known as your general (senāpati), O most excellent and supreme of geese (haṃsa). Having gone from here, how could I vaunt myself in the midst of my kin? Having forsaken you, O best of those that fly, what shall I say to them, gone from here? Here will I give up my life; I cannot bring myself to do what is ignoble." #1 Burmese ed.: baddhe. 2 Burmese ed.: sacitte casmi. 3 European (PTS) ed.: vikattissaṃ.

English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.