The people of Bārāṇasī once held a sacrifice to the yakkhas, placing meat and liquor in their courtyards. A jackal, who entered the city through a sewer, regaled himself with food and drink and then went to sleep in some bushes in the city. He did not awake until morning, and then, looking for a way of escape, met a brahmin. Promising to show him a spot where lay hidden two hundred pieces of gold, he persuaded the brahmin to carry him out of the city in his waist cloth. Arrived at the cemetery, he asked the brahmin to spread his robe and dig under a tree. While the brahmin dug, the jackal fouled the robe and ran away. The Bodhisatta, then a tree sprite, advised the brahmin to wash his robe and cease being a fool.

The story was told in reference to Devadatta, who is identified with the jackal. J.i.424-26.