Week 11 EC Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales Part A

The Monkey-Bridge: From the beginning I'm struck with how articulate the verbs are in these Jatakas- in paragraph one alone: ruled, streamed, bubbling, bore, destroyed, plucked. I can utilize this insight in my own writing by making use of an online thesaurus and doing my best to avoid re-using the same words. The King "played with the little sunrays" and even if he ends up being a villain that sentence alone made me love him a little bit more. I also like how a similar dream sequence is used to heighten the tension- now that I think of it, this is done very frequently in books and movies, probably because of how effective it is. (and because the director/writers can get away with anything by putting it in a dream- they can explore the impact of killing a main character, only to write it off as a terror of the night). Moral Time: "It is not your sword which makes you a king; it is love alone. Forget not that your life is but little to give if in giving you secure the happiness of your people." Beautiful.
The Guilty Dogs: A lesson in justice.
The Tortoise and the Geese: I've read the basic version of this before, with just the Tortoise and the Geese, but this time there was another layer of the Tortoise's untimely demise being used to teach a lesson to an over-talkative king. It's almost meta, to have the moral of the story used inside of the story to teach someone at the same time the tale can be used to learn the lesson of the value of holding your tongue. Also, this one ends with a happy ever after, an ending which evidently never goes out of style.
Banyan Deer: "Jewel eyes, piercing shadows, silver crescents, pearl hoofs" at this point in the class I've encountered many tales describing the Golden Deer, but this one certainly ranks up there in terms of sheer gorgeous imagery from the start. Numberless is a new word. I've read a version of this one before, and again I'm struck by how selfless the leader of the deer was to sacrifice himself for the sake of a mother in the other herd. I'm also surprised still that the King essentially vowed that his entire kingdom would become vegetarians.
The Fairy and the Hare: This story addresses the reader as "My Children", which is simultaneously familiar and warm. It sets a tone of the tale being told by a wise elder or someone similar, and gives the lesson aspect more credibility. I appreciate the lesson in this one: it boils down to selflessness but I felt it was a double of both not getting too caught up in your own achievements and being willing to give all you have (also it cautions against mooching off of other people). I hadn't yet encountered a fairy in a Jataka tale, but enjoyed the inclusion of this one, and also appreciated the friendship of animals which in other stories/situations would feast upon each other instead. Also, this tale had the natural facet of explaining the shape of a moon crater (a rabbit?). I love it when these stories do that- it reminds me of First Peoples' creation myths.
The Golden Feathers: Moral: Don't be greedy! (I'd read this one before).
The Young Parrot: This tale included a single stanza of poetry as an explanation towards the end- it was cute but almost not enough to justify the change to rhyme and back (I thought). The moral of caring for your elders is still present from the last time I encountered this jataka,and the side moral of caring for others/not abandoning your leader maybe deserves more emphasis.
The Empty Lake: This was a short one, but noteworthy because it was written in the form of a story inside a story- fishes are telling a myth inside a myth, and it was an interesting read because of it. This way to start might be a fun diversion from my standard single-layer weekly storytelling.
The Swan Kingdom: I know the intended moral of the story includes an emphasis on the value of loyalty and companionship, but as I was reading it I saw more of a lesson in how better communication could resolve issues before they start- if the King had just gone to the lake and asked to meet the swan instead of setting a trap, he could have avoided traumatizing the entire 60,000.
The Master's Test: This was a good moral: remember that you must always watch yourself.

Image Info: A picture of the author, Noor Inayat Khan, in her British Special Operations Executive uniform.
Source: Wikipedia. Link.

Bibliography: Inayat (Khan), Noor. Twenty Jataka Tales. 1939.