When I saw that children's stories were an option for reading, I immediately clicked on the link. What I love about children's stories is how straightforward they are and how every one (for the most part) has a moral of the story. And I was able to note that for every Jataka Tale I read. Some tales had clear morals while others were more open to interpretation about what they could be. Either way, every tale had a take away message of some sort, which I really enjoyed. Also, reading Babbitt's Jataka Tales, it noting and comparing/contrasting details between these versions and the Jataka Tales we read the beginning of the semester. Most stories were the exact same, other than syntax, while others had varying details. The most obvious one for me was "The Monkey and the Crocodile" - the crocodiles were mates in the first version we read, but in this version they were mother and son. A more subtle variation was the exclusion of the Buddha and his story in these tales. However, there were also some tales that I had not read before, so I wanted to summarize them in my reading notes.
- Summary: Two merchants travelled together selling brass and tinware. One man was kind and honest while the other was greedy. When they arrived in town to sell their goods, they split up. In this town was a grandmother and her granddaughter, both of whom had been wealthy but lost their fortunes. They wanted to trade what was unbeknownst to them a golden bowl for a merchant's goods. When they tried to trade with the greedy merchant, he threw the bowl on the ground and dismissed them. He tricked them into thinking the bowl was worthless. Then the honest merchant came around the sell and trade goods. The women tried again, and this time the man informed them of the bowl's worth. He gave them all the money he had in exchange for the bowl, which was worth far more, and left town. The greedy merchant came back to try and swindle the women, but they told him the other merchant already bought their bowl. He lost a small fortune while the other merchant lived in comfort for a while.
- Summary: A man had a very strong ox, so he bet 1000 pieces of silver that his ox could move 100 carts. The villagers he made the bet to accepted the bet. When it was time, the man whipped his ox and called him mean things to get him to move. But the ox did not move and the man lost his silver. When they got home later that day, the man asked the ox why he embarrassed him in front of the village people. The ox said it was because the man treated him badly. The man apologized and promised never to whip or name-call the ox again. The next day, they went back to the village to make another bet 2000 pieces of silver for the same challenge. This time the man encouraged the ox, and the ox succeeded in moving all 100 carts.
Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, Part A. Links to each tale above.
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