129. Riding Shiva's Bull
One night a man saw Shiva's bull descend from heaven. He grabbed the tail and rode up Mount Kailash where Shiva served him heavenly cakes cooked by Parvati herself.
He then rode the bull down and told his friend.
"Take me there!" his friend said.
So the next night he grabbed the tail, his friend grabbed onto his feet, and up they went.
The friend shouted, "How big were those cakes?"
"This big!" the man replied, letting go of the bull's tail to show him, and so the fools both fell down to earth.
They never saw Shiva's bull again.
Inspired by: The Ocean of Story by Somadeva, translated by C.H. Tawney: Volume 5.
Notes: This is Story 152. In the original story, there is a whole chain of friends, with each man holding onto the feet of the man above him, and the whole chain falls. You can read more about Shiva's bull Nandi at Wikipedia. The story does not mention Shiva's consort, Parvati; I added her into the story.
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