Three men who were ploughing on the outskirts of a forest were mistaken for bandits and taken before the king. While they were being tried a woman came to the palace and with loud lamentations begged for "wherewith to be covered." The king ordered a shift to be given to her but she refused, saying that that was not what she meant. The king's servants came back and reported that what the woman wanted was a husband. When the king had her summoned and questioned, she admitted that it was so. Being pleased with the woman, the king asked in what relationship the three prisoners stood to her. She answered that one was her husband, one her brother and one her son. When the king asked which of the three she wished to have released, she chose the brother, because, she said, the two others were replaceable. Well pleased with her, the king released all three.
The story was related in reference to a woman in a village in Kosala who obtained, from the king of Kosala, the release of three men in similar circumstances and in the same way. J.i.306-8.