Extra Reading Notes: Reading A: Jataka Tales

I was hoping to find more tales about animals that could possibly be rewritten to go into my portfolio. I came across the Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbit, which closely resemble the Aesop Fables by Milo Winter, one of my favorite reading units. I really like the short tales about animals that give lessons, so I was curious to see how the Indian culture might differ on the tales. I was pleased to find that they were very similar to the Aesop Fables but had happier endings. I have found that for my particular writing style I like to change the sad or bad ending to stories and give them a happy ending. There were a couple of stories that could be changed to reflect an even happier ending. In the first tale, The Monkey and the Crocodile, I became very sad that the crocodile was never able to catch the monkey to give to his mother. Even though a crocodile can be seen as a villain, a writer can create a tale where the reader is more affectionate towards the villain. It would be fun to recreate the tale where the readers want the crocodile to catch the monkey, which at the end of the tale he is able to do. In the tale of The Ox Who Envied the Pig, we learn about an Ox that is jealous of how a big gets fed all the "good" food, while he is only fed straw. Later, the ox learns that the family only feeds the pig good food because he is going to be their dinner soon, so they want to fatten him up. The ox learns to appreciate what he is given but the story does not end very happy for the pig. I think a story could be written from the perspective of the pig, wishing that he was only given straw to eat like the Ox so he could live. A tale that could have more information to it is the tale of The King’s White Elephant. In the tale, a King buys a white elephant from some carpenters who have had the elephant help them work in the day and then plays with the children at night. At the end of the tale the elephant seems sad to leave his only family he knows to go live with the King, but the tale does say that he is given the best care. I think the story leaves a gap about what the King does for the elephant and even though he is given everything he needs, is he truly happy in the palace?

A brave monkey examining the teeth of a crocodile. Source: Flickr by firman wibowo