WOW, if the rest of the tales in this class are going to be as amusing and attention-grabbing as the Jatakas, I already know I am going to enjoy reading them. Overall, I liked that each story had a little bit of comedy intervened with some sort of lesson to take away. Both stories are very well formulated, clear, and offer teachings to the students. My personal favorite was the Two Turtle Jatakas. Both these tales included an entertaining storyline but proved to have strong messages in the end.
(Image shows the Geese carrying the Turtle with a stick as the village people watch; image provided by- Wikipedia)
The Turtle and the King written by Ellen C. Babbitt are focused on the story of a King who loves his sons very much. When they discover, what seems to them a demon, but is actually a turtle, they get very frightened. To alleviate his children's fear, the King asks for the Turtle to be killed. After many suggestions of ways to kill the Turtle, an old man suggested the Turtle be thrown into the water to drown. The Turtle, who is a very clever individual, acts like this is the worst punishment possible so that is what is given to him. In the end, the Turtle survives since he is actually safer in the water. In this story, I think the turtle portrays qualities of wisdom and thinking outside the box. If the Turtle has reacted more causally to the idea of being thrown in the water, he may have received another punishment that would have actually killed him. He was smart to utilize his skills to manipulate the King. My biggest question from this story is whether the old man knew the Turtle would survive and that is why he recommended throwing him in the water? Or was the old man just making a simple suggestion but it ended up favorable for the Turtle? I want to believe that the old man knew the Turtle was not a demon and therefore saved him.
The second part of this story was The Turtle and the Geese, also written by Ellen C. Babbitt. When I started reading this story, I expected the Geese to manipulate the Turtle in a way to harm him, however, that is not actually what happened. In the story, the Geese ask the Turtle to accompany them to their home, but since the Turtle can not fly they come with an alternative to take him. They tell him to hold onto a stick with his mouth and not talk until they reach their home. However, midflight, the Turtle chooses to engage in a conversation with the village children, leading him to let go of the stick that was in his mouth. Evidently, the Turtle fell to his death. This is very interesting because I think the moral of the story is that sometimes for the best outcomes, it is better to keep our mouth shut. For the Turtle, this was extreme because he died as a consequence, however, for us, this would be different. I think for people, we need to be more conscious of what we say because we do not know how our words can impact other people. This is also the same for social media, where we should monitor our posts for them to not be disruptive or something that could cause harm to ourselves and to the people.
The second part of this story was The Turtle and the Geese, also written by Ellen C. Babbitt. When I started reading this story, I expected the Geese to manipulate the Turtle in a way to harm him, however, that is not actually what happened. In the story, the Geese ask the Turtle to accompany them to their home, but since the Turtle can not fly they come with an alternative to take him. They tell him to hold onto a stick with his mouth and not talk until they reach their home. However, midflight, the Turtle chooses to engage in a conversation with the village children, leading him to let go of the stick that was in his mouth. Evidently, the Turtle fell to his death. This is very interesting because I think the moral of the story is that sometimes for the best outcomes, it is better to keep our mouth shut. For the Turtle, this was extreme because he died as a consequence, however, for us, this would be different. I think for people, we need to be more conscious of what we say because we do not know how our words can impact other people. This is also the same for social media, where we should monitor our posts for them to not be disruptive or something that could cause harm to ourselves and to the people.
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