Reading Notes: Jatakas Anthology

While I will get more in depth per story, all of the stories within the Anthology that I read wasted no time in developing the characters themselves as the moral of the story was often far more important. As opposed to using humans that would have to have traits built in and developed, animals that have connotations attached to them are favored. For example, a smart character is casted to be a monkey, a gullible character is casted to be a fish, and a sinister character is casted to be a crocodile.

Three stories that stuck out as a writer are:

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit by Ellen C. Babbitt
This one is interesting because as the stories draws on, you can feel the urgency and rush of the stampede. It slowly starts with one character running, then many of a character, then a few more species, then many species, each new specie of animal being larger than the last to note some kind of animalistic divergence from the norm.

The Cunning Crane and the Crab by W. H. D Rouse
This one stands out because the Crane is not a static character. Generally the characters are just cast as being one kind of character, never changing in their traits throughout the story. At the end, the crane feels remorse for his actions, and regrets being fooled by the crab. This results in a desire to change; however, for the crane it is too late.

Goblin City by W. H. D Rouse
I found this one most interesting out of all of them, because it does not seem to have the clearest moral to the story. Those that stayed behind were eaten. So would the moral be, don't trust goblins? This seems to be contra to the story, because the author spends time writing in how the people had reason to believe and trust the goblins. So what exactly is the purpose of this story? Rely on a fairy? It would be of value to go back and re-read this story in the future.

The One Hundred Jatakas Tales. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography:

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit by Ellen C. Babbitt

The Cunning Crane and the Crab by W. H. D Rouse
Goblin City by W. H. D Rouse

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