"Well," said the fourth, "we have no choice. I am sure the animals will be too busy to notice us at this time of the day. Just the same, we should move very fast and very quietly."
They were halfway through the forest when they came upon a pile of bones beneath a large tree.
"Hey, look at that," cried the first scholar, considered to be the most intelligent of them all. "Let's use our knowledge and put these bones back together, to bring this animal back to life."
"Oh no, don't do that. You don't know what it is," said the fourth Brahmin.
"Why don't you keep quiet and let us do the thinking?" said the third scholar to the fourth. "You are the always afraid of something, because you are not learned as we are. You had better sit back quietly and let us do the right thing."
"All right," said the fourth Brahmin. "If you are so determined to bring life into these bones, let me first climb up a tree. I do not wish to stand by and watch a ferocious animal taking shape before my eyes." And, he quickly climbed up a nearby tree while the others stood and laughed at him.
"You are stupid and ignorant," jeered the first scholar after him.
But the fourth Brahmin ignored them. He sat on a branch and watched in silence as the first scholar collected the bones and arranged them into a skeleton. The second one added the skin, blood and flesh into the skeleton with his mystical powers. The third was about to put life into the body when the fourth called from the tree, "Watch out. It's the body of a lion. He will kill us all if you bring him to life."
But the others only laughed at him. "You just sit there and watch the magic of our skill and knowledge. It is a great thing to bring a dead creature to life," laughed the first scholar. "Only the learned can do so. You cannot understand the joy of mastering this skill."
The three then proudly carried on with their work. But as soon as the third scholar brought the lion to life, it sprang upon the three and killed them all. After making a great feast of his foolish creators, the created walked away for a deep slumber beneath the shade of a tree.
The fourth Brahmin watched it all, and when the lion went away, he cautiously climbed down the tree and ran home. He told everyone what had happened and added, "It is not knowledge but wisdom that is great. Alas, my learned friends did not understand this, in spite of being so well educated."
