Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales Part A

The Monkey-Bridge
I read the same story in an earlier week written by Ellen C. Babbit. This story was much more detailed and had the Monkey-King end up dying to save his people, which inspired the king to treat his people well. Interesting change in the storyline.

The Guilty Dogs
A group of dogs in the palace ate the royal saddle during the night. The king was furious and commanded that every dog in the city was to be killed. The chief of the city dogs marched up to the palace and showed the king that they were all innocent and that the royal dogs were to blame.

Banyan
Ellen C. Babbit wrote a similar story. This one was much more detailed. Two deer kings and their herd were rounded up into the king's area. One was killed each day until a mother with a newborn doe was up to be killed. One of the deer kings went to give his life instead and the human king was overcome with emotion and promised to never kill another animal again.

The Tortoise and the Geese
This was one of the first Jakatas that I read in this class. A tortoise was being carried by two geese by biting onto a stick. Some children started taunting him, so the tortoise lost his cool and yelled back at them. This caused him to fall to his death. In this story though, the lesson learned from speaking too often was imparted to a king who spoke too much.

The Fairy and the Hare
A hare and his friends gathered food to give to others one day. The three other friends found what they wanted, but the hare couldn't find anything so he offered himself to a fairy that was testing him. He passed the test and the fairy rewarded him. Kind of a weird story honestly.

The Young Parrot
A young and strong parrot gathered rice for his old parents every day. One day, he was caught by the rice farm's owner. The parrot explained his situation and the farmer told him that he and all the other parrots would be allowed to eat from his fields forever.

The Swan Kingdom
The King of Benares wanted to see the King of the swans, Dhritarashtra. He created a lake and invited all the swans to it. He ended up catching the swan king. But instead of hurting them like the swan king feared, he instead just wanted to talk and then let him go. The swan king returned to his original lake with the rest of the sixty-thousand swans and lived happily ever after.


Bibliography
The Monkey-Bridge by Noor Inayat
The Guilty Dogs by Noor Inayat
Banyan by Noor Inayat
The Tortoise and the Geese by Noor Inayat
The Fairy and the Hare by Noor Inayat
The Young Parrot by Noor Inayat
The Swan Kingdom by Noor Inayat

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