A Giant In the Town
In the dense forest of Vindhyachala lived a lone giant. He was gifted with the power to assume any form at his sweet will. But he was disgusted with life. He desired to put an end to it. But how to do it? Whenever he wished to die, he had to assume his own form. That was the law. In his own form, he was so tall that a jump from a hilltop meant hopping down from verandah. The water of the deepest river did not touch his neck. But as days passed, his disgust for life grew more and more acute. He wept and howled. But that only scared away the beasts and birds, did not solve his problem. One day he met a sage and narrated his sorrow to him. The sage said, "I can understand your disgust for life. The age of giants is over. I wonder if there would be even half a dozen giants left in all the forests and hills of the world. But, you are blessed with a long life. All I can do is to let you take birth as some other creature. Till the end of that life - which will cover the remaining span of your life as a giant - you will remember that you are a giant's soul. But that is no problem, for you won't feel so desolate and disgusted. Tell me whether you would like to be born as an elephant, or a lion, or a tiger, or a human being." "What do you suggest?" asked the giant. "Take a human birth. Human beings are the foremost of all the creatures," said the sage.