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| Jataka Tales Animals |
Part 1 and Part 2 tell the story of a very smart monkey and a young, gullible, not-so-smart crocodile. Part 1 is a story of the crocodile’s desire to trick the monkey in order to get his heart for his mom to eat. The crocodile thinks he has fooled the monkey when monkey accepts a ride on his back to an island full of ripe fruit. However, the monkey convinces the croc that he left his heart back at his tree, the croc returns the monkey to the bank to get his heart and the monkey escapes. Part 2 involves the same characters, but a different island of ripe fruit that is accessible via a rock. Again, the croc feels certain that he has tricked the monkey as he lies on top of the rock while the monkey is at the island. The monkey notices the odd looking rock and speaks to the rock. Believing this is commonplace, the croc answers. The monkey pretends he is trapped and begs the croc to open his mouth so he can jump in. Knowing that a croc’s eye shut when their mouth is open, the monkey jumps on the croc’s head and safely to his tree.
Many similarities and differences to The Tortoise and the Two Ducks in the Aesop fables unit. The geese, rather than ducks, have a friendship with the tortoise and their warning seems more dire. The children remarking about the ridiculousness of the sight and the exclamation by the tortoise seem to present an easy platform for the understanding of the lesson to be learned.
Rather than the typical use of the word forfeit which has to do with giving something away because of wrongdoing, the word in this tale is, according to Wikipedia, something deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine as part of a game.
The Water-Sprite is a central character in this tale. According to Wikipedia, “a water sprite (also called a water fairy or water faery) is a general term for an elemental spirit associated with water, according to alchemist Paracelsus. Water sprites are said to be able to breathe water or air and sometimes can fly. They are mostly harmless unless threatened.” In this story the power is taken away from the water sprite if a person correctly answers, “what are the Good Fairies like?” Luckily, the oldest Prince knows and saves his two younger brothers. Later, he rules the kingdom with his brothers and rewards the water-sprite.
A simple tale about three fishes oddly named Very-Thoughtful, Thoughtful, and Thoughtless. Very-Thoughtful, the hero of the story, saves the other two fishes when they were caught in the fisherman’s net. The two saved fishes agree with Very-Thoughtful and return to the safety of the wild. Obviously, Very-Thoughtful’s mom was very wise in her choice of names.
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