"The Elephant Girly-Face" - There was once a elephant named Girly-face who was called Girly-face because she was kind and has never hurt anyone before. However, one night Girly-face was negatively influenced by a band of robbers who were talking outside her gate one night. It was because of what he learned from the robbers that Girly-face became this way and began killing whoever came near him. Therefore, the king sent his one of his wise men to check on Girly-face to which he determined that it was because of the robbers that he was acting this way. So the next night, a group of nice men talked about being kind around Girly-face and from then on he was nice again. I believe the moral of this story is that people are susceptible to the influence of those around us. Therefore, we must make sure we are leaving a good impression and impact because we never know who may be listening to and watching us.
"The Banyan Deer" - There were two herds with two kings respectively. There was also another king who enjoyed hunting deer so much that the people of kingdom made an enclosed park of deer so that the king can hunt whenever he so pleased. The king granted the two deer kings their lives but not their respected herds. Many deers were being killed that the two deer kings began to be concerned. One day it was a mother who just had her child that was supposed to die, but instead the Banyan king too her place and bravely faced his death. When the king saw the kindness of the Banyan king he was drawn by that compassion and did not kill anymore deer.
"The Princes and the Water-Sprite" - There was once three princes, Prince of the Stars, Moon Prince, and Sun Prince that were sent to safely live in the forest until the day that their father, the king, dies. While in the forest, both the Moon Prince and Sun Prince were dragged into the river of the water-sprite because they could not answer his riddle correctly. When the oldest prince, Prince of the Stars came looking for them, he ran into the water-sprite and correctly answered his riddle, which prompted the water-sprite to give back one of the brothers. When the water-sprite realized how kind the oldest prince was, he decided to give back both the brothers.
"The King's White Elephant" - The king bought a beautiful white elephant from the merchants who took care of him and his father. The king took care of the white elephant for as long as he lived.
"The Ox Who Envied the Pig" - The oxen ate only grass and straw but did most of the work on the farm. However, the pig does nothing to contribute to the farm but gets fed delicious food. One day a young ox asked his older brother why it was like that and the older brother replied that the pig is eating the food of death. The young ox saw this to be true and did not envy the pig anymore.
"Granny's Blackie" - An elephant named Blackie helps his owner, Granny, who is becoming old and feeble find work so they he can support himself and Granny. Blackie never had to work a day in his life but realized he needed to find a job. Therefore, he did find a job and got paid two silver coins, which allowed him to start working for himself and Granny, his beloved owner.
"The Crab and the Crane" - The crab tricks the crane which became payback for what the crane did too all the fish. (We read this one earlier this semester).
"Why the Owl is Not King of the Birds" - The owl is not the king of the birds because the crows did not like them and testified against the owls. Therefore, the turtle dove became the king of the birds instead.
Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Babbitt (link)
Elephant. Source: Flickr.
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