The Bodhisatta was once a leader of five hundred ascetics. One day, a talkative ascetic approached a jaundiced colleague who was chopping wood and worried him by giving him directions on how to do it. The ill man killed him with one blow of the axe. Soon after, a partridge, who used to sing on an anthill nearby, was killed by a fowler. The Bodhisatta pointed out to his followers how the death of both was due to their talking too much.

The story was told in reference to Kokālika, who is identified with the chattering ascetic. J.i.431 f.