Reading Notes: Jataka Anthology

Young Hare, a watercolour, 1502, by Albrecht Dürer. Source

The foolish, Timid Rabbit: thoughts

As the first story I read this helps me get a feeling of how the rest of them will be. They remind me a lot of parables like in the Jewish and Christian faith.

This particular story is a great example of a parable. It is a story that works to convey a moral message to the audience. In this stories case that message appears to be, don't freak out over something you don't understand. You are supposed to see this from the main character, the rabbit. I feel like there is a stronger message to be gained from the rest of the characters however. I feel like there is an undercurrent of "check your sources" or "don't rely on blind faith". I wish the story had focused on a different character to get these stronger messages across better.

That being said I did enjoy it, it is a story that got me thinking about my own life and that really is its goal.

The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart: Thoughts

This story like the last is a parable. Almost a retelling at times of "The grass is always greener on the other side", the story definitely ventures to say that you should be satisfied with what you have.

The story telling in this one and the last one both strike me in that the audience is privy to all knowledge of the "evil". The dangers are always known in the stories and what we are left to find out is how the "good" will overcome them. As a device this gives the audience a feeling of omniscience in the world and makes the good seem far more clever for overcoming the bad.