Living Like a Pig

One day, a guru foresaw in a flash of vision what he would be in his next life. So he called his favourite disciple, and asked him what he would do for his guru in return for all he had received. The disciple said he would do whatever his guru asked him to do.

Having received this promise, the guru said, 'Then this is what I'd like you to do for me. I've just learned that when I die, which will be very soon, I'm going to be reborn as a pig. Do you see that sow eating garbage there in the yard? I'm going to be reborn as the fourth piglet of its next litter. You'll recognise me by a mark on my brow. When that sow has littered, find the fourth piglet with a mark on its brow, and with one stroke of your knife, slaughter it. I'll then be released from a pig's life. Will you do this for me?'

The disciple was sad to hear all this, but he agreed to do as he had promised.

Soon after this conversation, the guru did die. And the sow did have a litter of four little pigs. One day, the disciple sharpened his knife, and picked out the fourth little pig, which did indeed have a mark on its brow. Just as he was about to bring down his knife to slit its throat, the little pig suddenly spoke. 'Stop! Don't kill me!' it screamed.

the disciple could recover from the shock of hearing the little pig speak in a human voice, it said, 'Don't kill me. I want to live on as a pig. When I asked you to dispatch me, I didn't know what a pig's life would be like. It's great. Just let me go.'
From Folktales from India, Penguin. Compiled by A K Ramanujan.