UnTextbook Reading Diary

Jataka's Tales Shedlock : Link

Note: I had a tough time narrowing down my selections, and although I read the whole unit, my favorites were all from the first half.

Tree spirit
First, I thought it was interesting that Buddha took form as a tree spirit instead of an animal like in Babbitt's tales.I wonder if people worshiping the Sal tree ever thought of the presence of Buddha possibly being there. I know that I would never worship a tree for certain, although the level of decoration around Christmas time at my house might lead you to believe otherwise :) What other deities might be present in all of the trees that mankind has shredded for its own consumption? The world may never know!

The Hare Don't Care!
I'm not sure how I feel about these creatures being in charge of keeping moral law. Two of them clearly stole someone else's catch. Now tell me, Otter. How do you think those fish got buried in the sand while being properly preserved? Last time I checked, fish use water as their mode of transport and not sand. It's cool that the hare was willing to give himself up like that as a test of his moral compass, but I think a smarter option in the future would be to try to catch something whenever grass isn't a viable offering.

The Man who Worked to Give Alms
Alms - giving oneself to another as an act of virtue, like providing someone education willfully,
I'm not sure why Sakka chose to teach him this lesson, or maybe he wasn't. The way I read the story was that the riches were taken by some greater power and then restored. But this man was clearly pure in his reason for alm-giving. I want to write about the man doing something unnecessarily in order to teach Sakka a stinkin' lesson.

The Bull that Proved his Gratitude
This is honestly one of the most beautiful super-short stories I've ever read. Something about seeing that cast iron Bodisat really made the ending great, too. Thought: If you are crazy enough to agree to pay an animal for its work, I don't think you should be attempting to short-change it, especially a bull. And the way that the caravan owner reacted, it sounded like he was literally just trying to test the bull's persistence. Caravan owners, man.

The Monkey that Saved the Hero
Shrek is a jerk in this tale, and he is also patriotic with his blue belly, white face, and red hands. What I found funny about this story was that the ogre was so nonchalant about inviting them down to the shore. It sounded like a nice sit down where he's just inviting them over for some warm stew. He even readily admits he plans to eat them and that they won't get away. It's all business for this relative of Shrek.

That Ripened Pachyderm
I had never heard leagues used as a measurement outside of nautical terms. Am I supposed to believe that this elephant can traverse the oceans and lakes? Because that sounds awesome. I'm pretty sure that this story is an allegory about how you should treat your elders, and was probably written by an old person! That's not to say I don't agree with it, but I think someone was looking out for themselves when it was contrived.