Reading Notes: The Giant Crab and Other Tales from Old India, Part B

The jataka tale that I enjoyed the most from this collection, from the set which was assigned for part B, was "The Jackal Would A-Wooing Go." Such a fun title! There are a few reasons I liked this story in particular. First, a quick summary: 

A jackal lives in a crystal cave near a family of lions -- three brothers and a sister -- and the jackal falls madly in love with the female lion. He goes to propose to her while her brothers are out hunting, and she does not say anything in response to his proposal, leading him to go home, very sad. The lioness tells her brothers what had happened and how she felt as though she should die because of how insulted she felt that a jackal would think himself worthy of her. Each brother, one by one, heads to the crystal cave in a rage, determined to kill the jackal. The eldest two brothers die when they arrive and crack their heads against the clear crystal wall of the jackal's home. The third and youngest brother recognizes the glasslike walls and instead decides to coax the jackal out with a roar. This scares the jackal -- who, it is pointed out, isn't so bad and was just a poor guy who fell for a girl out of his league (mood) -- and the jackal has a heart attack because the lion's roar scared him so much. Then the youngest brother buries his older brothers and tells his sister what happened. Curiously, the sister is not sad at all to hear that her older brothers had died; she just needs one to feed her.

Lesson? Don't fall for a girl who wouldn't care if two of her brothers died.

I really enjoyed this story because it was a little unconventional. Making the lioness so selfish and uncaring was a little jarring. Also, the poor jackal didn't get the ending I hoped he would (just that he would at least survive the story). The jackal dying was surprising for another reason -- since this jataka starts out with the jackal's feelings and actions, the reader assumes it is 'the jackal's story.' It's the jackal in the title, after all. However, after he proposes, he is almost entirely written out of the story, and the bulk of the narrative belongs to the lioness. Poor guy.

All the jackal wanted. The guy can dream, right? Source.

Bibliography: Rouse, W. H. D. The Giant Crab and Other Tales from Old India.