Reading Notes; Babbitt's Jataka Tales, Part B

The Princes and the Water-Sprite was an interesting tale because it sounded so much like the Ramayana, when Rama is exiled! The reason he was exiled was due to Kaikeyi wanting King Dasharathra to make her son, Bharata, king (instead of Rama). In this story, the queen asked the King to let Sun Prince be the king, instead of the Prince of Stars (who was the oldest). Both Sun Prince and Bharata realized what was happening later, and both offered to go with the other sons to live in exile. In the Ramayana, however, Rama convinced Bharata to stay. In this story, the Sun Prince convinced the brothers to let him go with them into exile. I thought this was super interesting since both the Ramayana and this tale told a similar story, although with different styles and characters. 

If I do a rewrite of one of these stories, I might do Why the Owl is Not King of the Birds, and give different reasons as to why the owl and the crow are enemies. 

I also could do the Princes and the Water-Sprite and retell it in yet another way! There are so many stories with exiles, so I could either write another one or do one where nobody is exiled.

I could also write a story about the Crab and the Crane, except make the crane the victim and the crabs/fishes the predators.

Reading Notes; Babbitt's Jataka Tales, Part A

I really love stories like these! They're short, simple, and always have a great underlying theme incorporated into it. The moral of the story is always something relatable. 

Many of these were about creatures outsmarting the other animal in the story, but they each had their own twist and plot. I really liked The Ox Who Won the Forfeit because it showed how a person can act like two different people when around two different groups. The owner of the Ox had always been nice, but as soon as he had to show him off, he was very rude to the Ox to show he was powerful to the other bystanders. I feel like this happens a lot with people nowadays; they want to look good in front of others so they leave some of their moral and principles behind for a little bit and act completely different from what they are usually like. If someone wants to impress someone else, he/she oftentimes changes. I, for one, do not like when people do this because I believe everyone should be themselves 24/7. Obviously we all have a sense of how to act in an interview setting and with our friends, but our overall personality should not change. Our morals and principles should not change. So I think I'll rewrite my story based off of this Jakata tale. It's one of my favorites and I think the underlying theme is very perceptive and relatable.  

Source: The owner and the ox, after the owner has realized he should always respect his ox.

Bibliography: Ellen C. Babbitt's Jataka Tales.