Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales A
Bibliography: Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat
The Monkey Bridge:
There once was a tree filled with mangoes that a bunch of monkeys there loved eating. Their chief warned the monkey to make sure none of the fruit falls into the river or else the people downstream will taste it and want to steal all the fruit from this tree. One day, a fruit accidentally fell into the river and the king happened to be bathing there. He ate the fruit and was instantly smitten so he called for a troop of people to sail upstream to seize the fruits. When he went to the tree, he saw a ton of monkeys too and ordered for their execution so he can have monkey meat and fruit. The monkey chief then tried to save his followers by tying a reed to his foot and jumping to the other tree to create a bridge but the reed was too short so the chief had to act as part of the bridge too. All the monkeys crossed and this one evil monkey jumped on the chief's back before he crossed thus breaking it. This made the king super sad so he brought the chief down and asked why he did it. The chief says the mark of a good ruler is love. The king then stopped the siege on the tree and started ruling his people with love.
The Guilty Dogs:
There were some royal dogs that chewed on the king's harness to his chariot and ruined them. The king was furious and ordered the execution of every dog in the city. The dog chief, seeing this unfairness, went to the king and asked him why he would do this. The king said because they ruined my harness and the dog chief showed the king that it was his royal dogs that ate the harness, not these random dogs in the city. The chief realized his mistakes and made sure every dog was fed nicely from then on.
Banyan:
Read this one already about the golden deer and the mother.
The Tortoise and the Geese:
Read this one already about the tortoise that was biting a branch that was flown by two geese.
The Fairy and the Hare:
These couple animals decided to save some food to give to someone if they need it. The jackal stole some meat and curdled milk, the weasel stole a fish, the monkey picked some fruits, and the rabbit couldn't find any food so it was willing to offer itself to anyone that needed food. This fairy named Sakka decided to test these animals by transforming into an old beggar looking for food. She went up to each of the animals and they gave them her food but she declined. Finally she went to the rabbit and the rabbit offered itself. It tried to jump into the fire the fairy created but the fairy revealed that it was only a test and drew a picture of the rabbit on the moon to commend its kindness.
The Golden Feathers:
This dad and his family was very poor so he decided to go out and look for a fortune. While in the forest, a fairy turned him into a goose with golden feathers so every day he went to his family so that they can pluck a golden feather from him and sell it for money. One day, though, the wife thought that she needed to pluck all the feathers from the goose next time it comes cause she doesn't know when it'll decide to leave. The goose came and she did that and then threw the goose into a barrel but the fairy made a charm to where if someone did that, all the feathers would turn white. Eventually the goose got all of its feathers back and flew away from that family forever.
The Young Parrot:
There is a young parrot that looked super cool and he had really old parents. So everyday he would go to the rice field and bring some rice to its parents. The farmer noticed that the parrot kept on taking food so he trapped the cool looking parent. The farmer was like why do you take rice with you everyday and he said I have to help my parents cause they're old. The farmer was touched and allowed the parents to take food.
The Empty Lake:
There once was a lake with a King fish. The queen of rain forgot to cause rain so the lake eventually dried up but the king fish called for the queen of rain and she filled up the lake again.
The Swan Kingdom:
There was a lake in Manasa that housed 60,000 swans and a really beautiful swan king. A neighboring human king wanted to see this swan king so they created a plan to create a super beautiful lake in Benares even prettier than the one in Manasa to draw the king swan over. A lot of the other swans went to Benares and eventually the swan king and his helper was persuaded to go there too. While there, the swan king gets captured but his helper, instead of flying away, decided to stay with the king. The guards, seeing this was touched, and told them that the king only wanted to see the swan king. So they met and talked and the king let them go and they lived happily ever after.
The Master's Test:
A master was super old and poor so he told his young pupils to steal for him. He told them of a spot where no one is watching and to go there and steal a rich guy's purse. One of his pupils refused to go and said there is always someone watching, himself. He can't allow himself to steal. The master was delighted that one of the pupils got his message.
Jataka Tales
The Monkey Bridge:
There once was a tree filled with mangoes that a bunch of monkeys there loved eating. Their chief warned the monkey to make sure none of the fruit falls into the river or else the people downstream will taste it and want to steal all the fruit from this tree. One day, a fruit accidentally fell into the river and the king happened to be bathing there. He ate the fruit and was instantly smitten so he called for a troop of people to sail upstream to seize the fruits. When he went to the tree, he saw a ton of monkeys too and ordered for their execution so he can have monkey meat and fruit. The monkey chief then tried to save his followers by tying a reed to his foot and jumping to the other tree to create a bridge but the reed was too short so the chief had to act as part of the bridge too. All the monkeys crossed and this one evil monkey jumped on the chief's back before he crossed thus breaking it. This made the king super sad so he brought the chief down and asked why he did it. The chief says the mark of a good ruler is love. The king then stopped the siege on the tree and started ruling his people with love.
The Guilty Dogs:
There were some royal dogs that chewed on the king's harness to his chariot and ruined them. The king was furious and ordered the execution of every dog in the city. The dog chief, seeing this unfairness, went to the king and asked him why he would do this. The king said because they ruined my harness and the dog chief showed the king that it was his royal dogs that ate the harness, not these random dogs in the city. The chief realized his mistakes and made sure every dog was fed nicely from then on.
Banyan:
Read this one already about the golden deer and the mother.
The Tortoise and the Geese:
Read this one already about the tortoise that was biting a branch that was flown by two geese.
The Fairy and the Hare:
These couple animals decided to save some food to give to someone if they need it. The jackal stole some meat and curdled milk, the weasel stole a fish, the monkey picked some fruits, and the rabbit couldn't find any food so it was willing to offer itself to anyone that needed food. This fairy named Sakka decided to test these animals by transforming into an old beggar looking for food. She went up to each of the animals and they gave them her food but she declined. Finally she went to the rabbit and the rabbit offered itself. It tried to jump into the fire the fairy created but the fairy revealed that it was only a test and drew a picture of the rabbit on the moon to commend its kindness.
The Golden Feathers:
This dad and his family was very poor so he decided to go out and look for a fortune. While in the forest, a fairy turned him into a goose with golden feathers so every day he went to his family so that they can pluck a golden feather from him and sell it for money. One day, though, the wife thought that she needed to pluck all the feathers from the goose next time it comes cause she doesn't know when it'll decide to leave. The goose came and she did that and then threw the goose into a barrel but the fairy made a charm to where if someone did that, all the feathers would turn white. Eventually the goose got all of its feathers back and flew away from that family forever.
The Young Parrot:
There is a young parrot that looked super cool and he had really old parents. So everyday he would go to the rice field and bring some rice to its parents. The farmer noticed that the parrot kept on taking food so he trapped the cool looking parent. The farmer was like why do you take rice with you everyday and he said I have to help my parents cause they're old. The farmer was touched and allowed the parents to take food.
The Empty Lake:
There once was a lake with a King fish. The queen of rain forgot to cause rain so the lake eventually dried up but the king fish called for the queen of rain and she filled up the lake again.
The Swan Kingdom:
There was a lake in Manasa that housed 60,000 swans and a really beautiful swan king. A neighboring human king wanted to see this swan king so they created a plan to create a super beautiful lake in Benares even prettier than the one in Manasa to draw the king swan over. A lot of the other swans went to Benares and eventually the swan king and his helper was persuaded to go there too. While there, the swan king gets captured but his helper, instead of flying away, decided to stay with the king. The guards, seeing this was touched, and told them that the king only wanted to see the swan king. So they met and talked and the king let them go and they lived happily ever after.
The Master's Test:
A master was super old and poor so he told his young pupils to steal for him. He told them of a spot where no one is watching and to go there and steal a rich guy's purse. One of his pupils refused to go and said there is always someone watching, himself. He can't allow himself to steal. The master was delighted that one of the pupils got his message.
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