Reading Notes: Jatakas Anthology


  • Rabbit: The foolish and the wise, and the perils of not distinguishing between them.
  • Turtle: One turtle takes advantage of the lack of knowledge found in others. The other turtle is foolish, and cannot stand the mockery of others, and it causes his death.
  • Crane and Crab: Bit dark. Crane eats all the fish, then the crab chops his head off. Yet another trickster tale.
  • Monkey: Crocodile tries to eat the monkey by drowning him in the river. Monkey tells him his heart is in a tree. Crocodile has no heart to give his wife. The monkey is Buddha.
  • Crocodile: The crocodile pretends to be a rock, and the monkey Buddha knows how tall all the rocks are. Crocodiles close their eyes when they open their mouths.
  • Lotus: The ogre carries the monkey Buddha's flowers because the monkey Buddha is the most cleverest. Devadatta is the one that always tries to kill him.
  • Unruly Monks: If you're an unruly deer, you die. If you're a rooster and you don't crow at the right times, you die.
  • Goblins: She-goblins eat sailors, and a random fairy rescues some of them on her horse.
by Helena Jacoba

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