Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

A turtle that could either be wise or foolish according to the Jatakas. Image Source

Two Turtle Jatakas
The people were afraid of what they did not know and the turtle took advantage of their ignorance. The turtle did not plead with them when they were brainstorming what they should do to it but once he realized how stupid the king and his men were he took his chance. The story is simple enough to understand in one read but complex enough to force some continued thinking long after finishing the story. I think the theme could be relatively easy to transform into my own story.
Bibliography: "Jataka Tales" by Ellen C. Babbitt. Source

Almost all of the stories are very similar to each other in my opinion. It sometimes seems the animals and the situations changed but not the underlying theme. Do not be sly and evil hearted because it will eventually catch up to you in some way. The smart, clever ones win in the end. I don't think most people are so clever to get out of the bad situations but that is probably why the most clever one is the Bodhisatta.

There are also many different ways to tell the same story such as the few Jatakas featuring monkeys. It is helpful though to read these very similar stories, the slight differences make it to where I am able to understand the story behind the story a little better than I would have just reading it once.