Alex's Epics of India Blog

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 gl...

The jataka tale that I enjoyed the most from this collection, from the set which was assigned for part A, was "The Dishonest Friend." There are a few reasons I liked this story in particular. First, however, a quick summary:  A man asks his friend to watch his plough while he went away, and his friend acted decidedly un-friendly when he sold the plow and pocketed the money, cheating the man. When the man returned, the friend told him that a very large rat ate the plow. The man went along with this explanation, despite knowing it was false. He then took his friend's son for a walk and hid him at another person's house. The man told his friend that a hawk had swooped down and taken his son. When the friend took the man to court for murder, the man mentions that if a rat can eat a plow, a hawk can carry off a boy. The judge notices the trickery of the man, and tells the friend to find the plow in order to get his son back. The story ends with a moral that lying is ...