Reading Notes: Foolish Rabbits, Crafty Crabs, and Sensible Monkeys


Illustration by W. Robinson.
   
       I found the concept of the Jataka to be fascinating. That each "Jataka" is a different life of the Buddha is highly interesting, and I want to continue reading these stories. They are almost exactly like Aesop's fables, which are always short, fun, and have an important lesson at the end. Many of the Jataka followed similar structure, were the same length, and some began with "Once on a time". I like these consistencies, because each piece has almost the same feeling, but a different truth to be learned at the end. I chose the stories of the Rabbit and the Crab for their similarities, although the main characters reach different ends. In the tale of the Rabbit, the Rabbit it a fool who gets other animals to blindly follow him. The King Lion thinks this is ridiculous, and uses logic to solve the problem. This one character who stands out saves the other animals from running forever. In the tale of the Crab, a Crane has tricked all of the fish into being eaten. When the Crab is the only character to see the true ways of the Crane, he is the only one to survive. I find the Lion and the Crab to be very similar, rational creatures. The two stories of the Buddha as Monkey were the most identical tales, so I thought I would insert my notes for each into this blog post. In each, the Buddha uses his brains over physical strength to overcome the crocodile.
       I always take notes the same way, whether on the computer or by hand. I like to use as few words as possible to remind myself of key aspects of whatever I am reading. Taking notes this way allows me to easily find similarities between these tales. For theses stories, I was struck by the lessons contained in each, and that each short tale can contain many. It shows that we do not need to be reading novels to gain something from a tale. Sometimes, I will use direct quotes in my note taking. I did not do that here, but it might be useful to me in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit
- "Sky is Falling" story
- don't be a lemming
- don't believe something without evidence
- one person can change the world
- focus on logic and problem solving
- no substantial paragraphs

The Cunning Crane and the Crab
- "Once upon a time"
- lengthy tale
- many foolish fish and one intelligent crab
- don't be a lemming
- similar to the tale of the foolish Rabbit

Monkey tales
The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart
- "Once upon a time"
- poem at end by Buddha
- brains over strength

The Crocodile in the River
- story of the past inside story of the present
- "Once on a time"
- similar to last story
- poem at end by Buddha









Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 31, 2017 at 7:27 PM

    Hey Bridget,

    My name is Leigh, and I hope to keep in contact with your blog as this class continues! I also loved the Jatakas; they reminded me so much of the stories we read as children. I took some notes on a few stories that you did as well. One in particular, the Monkey's Heart, was especially interesting for me: it was a very clever way to tell the story about trustworthiness. Also, The Foolish, Timid Rabbit was so similar to "Chicken Little," and I loved reading the original story with the different characters. I feel as if we have the same taste in stories and writing style.

    Have a great semester!

    ReplyDelete

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