Then one day, the swans invited the Swan King to go with them to the pond. The
Swan King did not wish to go but the others repeated their request over and over.
So the Swan King also flew to the pond to find food and enjoy the day.
Unfortunately, the Swan King was caught in the hunter's trap, which had iron
chains attached to it. The Swan King struggled and struggled to escape but
whenever he dragged the chain; his leg got cut and started bleeding. Now, the
Swan King did not want to let others know this danger because then they all would
become afraid. Silently bearing pain and sorrow, he let others eat enough and
enjoy. Finally, all the other swans flew away from the pond except the Swan King.
There was another swan named "Sumukha", a close friend of the Swan King. When,
as he was flying back, realized that the Swan King is not with the group. So
he flew back to the pond; only then seeing that the Swan King was entrapped.
As the best friend of the Swan King, he could never go back leaving his friend
to the hunter and so made the decision to stay. The Swan King repeatedly asked
him to go otherwise the hunter would kill him too. Then Sumukha said, "It is all
right, if the hunter wants to kill both of us he may do so,
I will never fly back without you". So he also remained.
After a while, the hunter came to the site and seeing two swans, he was quite
surprised. When he closer, he understood that only one was caught and the other
one was not. Seeing this unthinkable thing he asked, "Why are you here with this
swan?" Sumukha explained, "He is my close friend, he is like my life, I cannot
leave him to die alone. If you want to kill him, kill me too, otherwise, please
let us fly back home". However, the hunter was not yet ready to free the Swan
King, so Sumukha had to talk further. He described their friendship and reiterated
that he would never fly back without him. On hearing this sympathetic expression,
the hunter's heart became very soft and he released them both. They both appreciated
this unexpected and wholesome act of the hunter and
thanked him again and again. The Swan King in that life was the Buddha.
Moral: Associate with good friends who [will] never depart [from] you both in happy and sorrowful moments.