Reading Notes: Jataka Tales (Babbitt), Part A

The Monkey and the Crocodile - The crocodile tried to trick the Monkey through several attempts, first by telling the monkey that there is ripe fruit across the river and the other time saying hello to the monkey while he was trying to be a rock. The monkey was wise, clever, and outwitted the crocodile, which ended up saving his own life.

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. 

Week 11 Story: Love Bug

Krishna and Radha have been dating for the past ten years and have been living together for the past year. Their love for each other was evident and it gave them this glowing aura. Krishna and Radha were childhood friends who grew up right across the street from one another. They never imagined that their friendship would blossom into something as significant and beautiful as their compassionate love for each other. However, throughout the years their love was never perfect and they experienced their fair share of trials and tribulations. The relationship has been strong and steady since they moved in together, but in the last couple of months, Radha has had this feeling stirring within her that her relationship with Krishna was not going in the direction she desired... 

Radha finally just got home to her and Krishna's apartment after a busy day at work and a long commute home. She was not yet quite used to extreme hustle and bustle of the New York City lifestyle, but she was doing her best to get accustomed to it. Radha had just moved to NYC because Krishna got a new job at a law firm. Radha left her stable life in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be with Krishna in New York. The decision was difficult and she spent days before leaving going back and forth between the two options. However, she ultimately decided to make that sacrifice and moved to New York City with Krishna because she deeply loved him and knew that he was the one for her. She could not dare loose Krishna so she packed her bags and moved to the East coast. She was an elementary school teacher in Ann Arbor and she loved her students so, but ultimately made that decision to leave with Krishna. Her friends, family, and fellow teachers were skeptical of her decision but did not tell her so because they did not want to worry Radha.

Well, a year has passed and Radha was still feeling unsure of the choice she made to move to New York. As Krishna spent long nights at the law firm, she barely got to see him anymore, which allowed her to be alone with her thoughts and truly think about everything.

Author's Note: In the original story, I learned about how Krishna and Radha first met and the many sacrifices they made for their love for one another. The two meet when they were young and grew up together in the city of Vrindavan. Krisha would play his flute when he let his cows out to the field to graze and in the field were gopis, one of which was Radha. Krishna and Radha made many sacrifices for one another because they cared and loved one another. One of these sacrifices was Radha drank scolding hot milk to prove to the gopis that she loved Krishna, but it was Krishna's tongue that was red with blisters while Radha suffered no pain. Another instance of sacrifice was when Radha healed Krishna when he felt ill by letting him drink water off of her feet. The gopis thought that that act of kindness would bring them to hell, but Radha did not care and only wanted to heal Krishna.

Bibliographies: Krishna by Epified (link) and Radha Krishna: A Divine Love by Dolls of India (link)

Krishna and Radha. Source: Flickr.

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales (Babbitt), Part B

"The Wise and The Foolish Merchant" - In this tale, there are two merchants both ready to sell the goods throughout the country. The wise merchant knew that they both could not travel and sell similar goods at the same time so he asked the foolish merchant who shall travel first. The young and not as wise merchant decided that he shall go first and the wise one allowed it. Just as his journey began, the foolish one was tricked and deceived by a demon and his demon friends, which ultimately led to the foolish man's death. Next, is the wise merchant's turn to go into the country and the same demon attempted to trick him just as he successfully accomplished with the other merchant. However, as wise as this merchant was, the demon could not trick him; therefore, he was able to sell all his goods and make a substantial profit.

"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.