Prince Five-Weapons
Also known as Pancavudha Jataka
- 3 minute read
- Ages 8-12
- Jataka Tales
A prince finished his training and his teacher gave him five weapons and a name to go with them: Prince Five-Weapons.
He set out for home, and on the road people warned him not to go through a certain forest.
There was a demon in it called Sticky-Hair, they said, and nobody who went in came out.
The prince went in.
The demon
Sticky-Hair was the size of a house and covered head to foot in matted hair, and he came out of the trees onto the path.
The prince did not run.
He fitted an arrow and shot it, and the arrow went into the demon's hair and stuck there. He shot all fifty of his arrows and every one of them stuck fast in the hair and hung there.
He drew his sword and struck. The sword stuck.
He threw his spear. It stuck. He swung his club. It stuck.
Hands and feet
So the prince attacked with his right hand, and his right hand stuck fast in the hair.
He struck with his left hand, and it stuck.
He kicked with his right foot, and it stuck. He kicked with his left, and it stuck too.
Now he was held against the demon by both hands and both feet with every weapon he owned hanging uselessly in the hair around him, and he had one thing left.
He butted the demon with his head.
His head stuck.
The question
The demon looked at him, hanging there by five points, entirely helpless.
"You should be terrified," he said. "Everyone else is by now. Why are you not?"
"Because I have one weapon left," said the prince, "and you have not touched it."
"You have nothing left. I have counted."
"You have counted the things you can see," said the prince. "The weapon I have left is inside me, and if you eat me it will still be there, and it will cut its way out of you from the inside for as long as you exist."
And the demon, who had eaten a great many people and had never once had a conversation like this, felt something he had not felt before, which was doubt.
He set the prince down.
"What is it?"
"Knowledge," said the prince. "Which is the only weapon that does not stick to anything, and the only one you cannot take off me."
And they talked for a long time on that path, and the demon let him go, and afterwards the demon stopped eating travellers and lived quietly at the edge of the forest, and the road through it became safe.
Moral of the story
You can lose every tool you brought and still not be defeated. What you know cannot be taken off you.
Questions and answers
- Why was the prince called Five-Weapons?
His teacher gave him five weapons when he finished his training, and the name went with them.
- What happened to each weapon he used?
Every one — arrows, sword, spear, club — stuck fast in the demon's matted hair.
- What did he do after his weapons were gone?
He attacked with both hands, both feet and finally his head, and all five stuck to the demon.
- What did the prince claim he still had?
Knowledge, which he described as a weapon inside him that the demon could not touch or take away.
- How did the story end?
The demon let him go, and afterwards stopped attacking travellers, making the forest road safe.
Word meanings
- demon
- An evil spirit or monster in a story.
- matted
- Tangled together in a thick mass.
- butted
- Hit something with the head.
- doubt
- Being unsure about something you had believed.
Questions about Prince Five-Weapons
What is the moral of Prince Five-Weapons?
That losing your tools is not the same as being beaten. The prince's courage and his mind survived when everything else was stuck fast.
Why does the demon give up?
Because the prince is the first person to remain calm and reason with him, and that unsettles him more than any weapon had.
Is this story frightening?
There is a monster and a fight, but nothing gruesome is described and the ending is peaceful. It suits ages eight and above.
What is this tale called in the original?
The Pancavudha Jataka, meaning 'five weapons'. It is one of the best known tales in the collection.