Reading Notes: Jataka Tales (Babbitt) A
The Monkey and the Crocodile:
The main characters in this story are a monkey and an adolescent crocodile. The crocodiles mom said she wanted to eat monkey heart for dinner, and sent her son off to go capture one. The crocodile went to the edge of the river and told the monkey that he would take him to an island where the fruit is very ripe and delicious. The monkey fell for it and jumped on the croc's back because the monkey could not swim. When they were in the water, the croc began to dive into the water and the monkey asked what he was doing and the croc told him why he had captured him. The monkey was clever, and told the croc that he hadn't brought his heart with him, but left it in his tree and requested that the croc swim back to his tree so that he could get the heart for the mother croc. The croc did as the monkey requested, and upon arrival, the monkey jumped for the tree and didn't come down. The monkey was able to out whit the croc.
How the turtle saved his own life:
A turtle was presented to a King for a meal. When the King's men asked how they should prepare the meal for him, the king gave them options on how to kill it and prepare it, but one man said, throw it into the lake that has a waterfall, and let the turtle fall onto the rocks below. The turtle heard this and cleverly poked his head out and exclaimed that he had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be thrown into the lake because it was so cruel. The King heard this and gave the order, but when the turtle was thrown into the lake, he laughed because he was actually safe in the water.
The ox who won the forfeit:
This story tells us about a man and his ox. One day, a man took his ox to the city to pull carts for money and when he had hooked his ox up to the carts he began yelling at it and whipping it and calling it names. The ox decided he would not pull the carts because of the inhumane treatment and just stayed still. The man was laughed at by the city folk and when they returned home, the man asked his ox why it had embarrassed him like so. The ox said that he didn't like being called names or being whipped, as he had never had this treatment before. The ox told the man that if they were to return the next day, and the man were to treat him better, he would get the man's money back. So the next day they returned, and instead of yelling profanity at the ox after tying him to the carts, he gave motivation and positive energy, and the ox pulled the carts with ease. The man and his ox won back the money, and went home happy.
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit:
There was once a rabbit who laid under a palm tree who asked himself what he would do if the earth started to break up? Then all of a sudden, he heard the earth start to tremble and he began running as quick as he could. When other animals would see him running, they would ask what he was running for, and once he told them that the earth was breaking up they would join him. Eventually a wise lion who had joined in the running of all the animals wondered if there was any proof of this earth breaking up story, and did some investigating to find out who the source of this story was. He found the rabbit and asked him what the rabbit had seen, and when the lion heard his story, he called the rabbit foolish and took him back to the tree. When they returned to the tree, he showed the rabbit that all he has felt was the thud of a coconut falling from the tree, and that everything was fine.
Bibliography: Ellen C. Babbitt, The Jakata Tales, Jakata Tales Babbitt
The main characters in this story are a monkey and an adolescent crocodile. The crocodiles mom said she wanted to eat monkey heart for dinner, and sent her son off to go capture one. The crocodile went to the edge of the river and told the monkey that he would take him to an island where the fruit is very ripe and delicious. The monkey fell for it and jumped on the croc's back because the monkey could not swim. When they were in the water, the croc began to dive into the water and the monkey asked what he was doing and the croc told him why he had captured him. The monkey was clever, and told the croc that he hadn't brought his heart with him, but left it in his tree and requested that the croc swim back to his tree so that he could get the heart for the mother croc. The croc did as the monkey requested, and upon arrival, the monkey jumped for the tree and didn't come down. The monkey was able to out whit the croc.
How the turtle saved his own life:
A turtle was presented to a King for a meal. When the King's men asked how they should prepare the meal for him, the king gave them options on how to kill it and prepare it, but one man said, throw it into the lake that has a waterfall, and let the turtle fall onto the rocks below. The turtle heard this and cleverly poked his head out and exclaimed that he had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be thrown into the lake because it was so cruel. The King heard this and gave the order, but when the turtle was thrown into the lake, he laughed because he was actually safe in the water.
The ox who won the forfeit:
This story tells us about a man and his ox. One day, a man took his ox to the city to pull carts for money and when he had hooked his ox up to the carts he began yelling at it and whipping it and calling it names. The ox decided he would not pull the carts because of the inhumane treatment and just stayed still. The man was laughed at by the city folk and when they returned home, the man asked his ox why it had embarrassed him like so. The ox said that he didn't like being called names or being whipped, as he had never had this treatment before. The ox told the man that if they were to return the next day, and the man were to treat him better, he would get the man's money back. So the next day they returned, and instead of yelling profanity at the ox after tying him to the carts, he gave motivation and positive energy, and the ox pulled the carts with ease. The man and his ox won back the money, and went home happy.
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit:
There was once a rabbit who laid under a palm tree who asked himself what he would do if the earth started to break up? Then all of a sudden, he heard the earth start to tremble and he began running as quick as he could. When other animals would see him running, they would ask what he was running for, and once he told them that the earth was breaking up they would join him. Eventually a wise lion who had joined in the running of all the animals wondered if there was any proof of this earth breaking up story, and did some investigating to find out who the source of this story was. He found the rabbit and asked him what the rabbit had seen, and when the lion heard his story, he called the rabbit foolish and took him back to the tree. When they returned to the tree, he showed the rabbit that all he has felt was the thud of a coconut falling from the tree, and that everything was fine.
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| The coconut tree credit: GoodFreePhotos |
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