How the Turtle Saved his Own Life - The sons of a king thought that the turtle was a demon and were extremely frightened by the turtle. Therefore, the king asked his men to think of ideas on how to kill the turtle. One day was that the turtle be thrown out in the water, which the turtle tricked the men making it seem like that was the worse idea ever when in actually the turtle was most safe in the water.
The Merchant of Seri - There were two merchants both selling the same products. One was nice and the other was greedy. One day, in a village the two were selling at lived a poor grandmother and her granddaughter. The granddaughter badly wanted something that the merchants were selling to which the grandmother unwilling agreed to. They were first visited by the greedy merchant to which the grandmother gave him a bowl to trade which was made of gold but unbeknownst to her or her granddaughter. The greedy man figured this out but pretended it was worth nothing so he could trick them. He left acting like he did not want the bowl. Next, the nice merchant visited the poor family and treated them with respect by telling them the truth about the bowl. He did not feel right to take it from the family but the grandmother insisted so in exchange he gave them all the money and product he had. In the end, it was the rich man who received blessings and the poor man who was left with nothing. The message of this story is that being kind reaps its reward.
The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking - The turtle ended up losing his life because he could not keep quiet and could not keep from talking. If only he stopped talking like he was asked to, his life would have been safe from harm. Even to this day, this lesson is important because in situations when we have no right to speak or should not speak, we should just hold our tongue because it is for the best.
The Ox Who Won the Forfeit - A man who owned an ox placed a bet with the people of a village that his ox could move a hundred wagons. The man called his ox names and treated him with disrespect that the ox did not do as his owner asked him of, therefore, losing the bet. However, the next day, when the ox and the owner went back to village and placed another bet, a different outcome happened. The owner showed respect and love to the oxen to which the ox successfully won the bet and the two were happy. I believe the main lesson of this tale is to treat others with respect and that respect will be given back to you.
The Sandy Road - A group of traveling merchants can only travel the road by night because in the day, the road was too hot to travel. The merchants were doing great on the journey and one day they were so close to their destination that the pilot said that they could throw away all their water to which they did. However, that night as they were traveling, the pilot fell asleep and did not make their destination. The merchants were getting worried but miraculously they found some water and made it to their destination. The moral of the story is to never be too confident and save your resources until one is for sure they do not need it.
The Quarrel of the Quails - When the quails worked together, they saved their lives. However, when they quarrel and bicker with one another, they end up losing their lives to the fowler. The moral of the story is that quarreling never solves one's issues.
The Measure of Rice - A greedy king wanted to gain riches so he fired an honest Valuer in replace of a peasant and dumb Valuer. The not-so-smart Valuer tricked people and were setting unreasonable prices for various goods. Therefore, one day a horse-dealer talked to the honest Valuer and asked what he should do to set the prices straight and fair. The horse-dealer ended up showing the true colors of the bad Valuer who said that a measure of rice is worth the whole king's kingdom. The dumb Valuer was laughed at and did not show his face again.
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit - Once upon a time a timid rabbit lived in the forest. One day a coconut dropped to the ground and the rabbit thought the world was breaking. That one single rabbit got a whole bunch of rabbits, a deer, and a fox to believe that the world was breaking. It was not until when the pack of animals ran into the lion that the lion was able to prove the timid rabbit wrong and saved the animals.
Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Babbitt (link)
Turtle. Source: Flickr.
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