[EDIT: Be warned that this does not appear to be the canonical version of this story.]
I found the the full text of one (apparently non-canonical) historical version of Jâtaka 541: the Temiya Jâtaka also known as Mûgapakkha ("The dumb cripple") Jâtaka. The translation is from 1893, so hopefully the language isn't too inaccurate. My thanks to Christopher M. Weimer who scanned the printed text and edited it.
Information on this version:
The Burmese version here translated was written in the year A.D. 1787, during the reign of Bo-Dawe, or Badun-min, the grandson of Aloung-pharâ, when he was engaged in building the huge unfinished pagoda at Mingun (vide Phayre's Hist. p. 218). It was printed in Rangoon, at the Hanthâwati Press, in A.D. 1888.
If you read the last post you'll know this was the main Jataka tale mentioned which highlights, among other things, the difficulties in being a ruler.
THIS Jâtaka stands No. 541 in the Ceylon list under the title of Mûgapakkha or "The dumb cripple." The Burmese, however, prefer to call it by the name of the Prince, he is the hero of the story. It is the first of the ten greater Jâtaka, and, unlike the Bhûridatta, contains little or no folk-lore, but illustrates the value of asceticism.
One of the main parts referred to previously:
About one month after this, [his naming day] the nurses, after washing and dressing the prince, carried him to the King, who took him in his arms and sat under the palace portico. Just then four thieves who had been arrested were brought before the King, and he, in order to terrify evil-doers, said: "As for you, thorns of the country, you villains, one of you shall receive a thousand stripes with rods covered with shark's teeth; one shall be sent to prison in irons; the third shall be done to death by gashing with spears; and the fourth shall be impaled."
The little prince, on hearing this order given in a terrible voice, thought thus: "This manner of deciding cases is not right. I have evidently not freed myself from the fringe of my third existence. If through enjoying my father's royal estate I again fall into Hell by doing some bad act, the burden will be too heavy for me."
On the third day after the passing of this decision Prince Temiya was put to sleep under the shade of a white umbrella, and after a little woke up. Turning his eyes upwards he gazed at it and saw that it was a royal umbrella. Thereupon remembering that he had been obliged to undergo the pains of Hell through having been King, he was filled with dread, and, with the sound of the terrible decision still ringing in his ears, fearing that he would have to become king, he thought thus: "How is it that I have been born in the house of this cruel thief-slaughterer?" Then, by means of his accumulated knowledge of former existences, having looked back and cleared away the haze, he saw that he had come from Tâvatimsâ, and again, considering as to what existences he had passed through, he saw that he had been boiled in Hell, and remembered that it was for bad actions done when he was once King of Bârâ.nasi; fearing that he should constantly be born again amongst men, on account of those deeds which he would be obliged to perform when king, he thought, "I see that I am not free from the five dangers. On account of having enjoyed the pleasures of royalty for twenty years, I had to undergo that number multiplied by 4000, even 80,000 years in misery, and since in the unpeaceful state of kingship one has to put down robbers with a harsh and cruel hand, how can one be pure? How can one cleanse one's self from impurity? Born in this powerful thief-killer's house, which I have lighted upon, even I, at the tender age of hardly thirty days, have seen enough to crush my very heart's flesh, and have heard my father utter words not fit to be heard. If through a desire to inherit my father's estate I again become king, I shall a second time fall into the whirlpool and revolve like a stick of firewood."
Prince Temiya being thus troubled by his meditations whilst lying half comatose under the umbrella, the fairy who guarded it, with the affection of one who had been a mother in long past ages, seeing the Bodhisat in this pitiable condition took the form of his mother and said: "My little darling, by what thoughts are you disturbed? Do not be troubled by thinking about dreadful things; your mother is watching, and will not every wish be fulfined? Darling, if you p. 366 really desire to escape from this pomp and vanity do not disclose your abilities, but simulate feebleness. Though you are not weak, appear to be so; though not deaf, feign deafness; and though your mouth is perfect, pretend to be dumb. Keep up these appearances with determination."
Anyway, I don't have anything to say about this at the moment but mostly posted this just to let people know that the full text is available. It took me a bit to find it.
There is a forum thread here which is useful for locating other Jataka stories.
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