Reading Notes 2.1 Jatakas

Two Turtle Jatakas by Ellen C. Babbitt

Out of all the Jatakas my favorite was the "Two Turtle Jatakas" was my favorite. This story reminds me of the lessons my parents always used to say to me and my brother. Not only that, but the turtle's action made me think of a child who acts in the opposite direction to irritate a parent. Both stories are written very well, I appreciate how both short, but the underlying message is not lost. For me it has always been had to something short and to the point. 

In the Turtle and the King, the affection for the sons is something that is very common partly due to the fact that they will succeed him. While the king could have thought of other options for the turtle, such as releasing him in a stream away from the palace, he did not and immediately decided to have the innocent killed. When you think about it the turtle could have had multiple outbursts, while plans were being formulated, but he chose to stay quiet and seized his opportunity to return home safely. Portraying the turtle as a quick thinker and one to understand that when a man is set to kill, whatever the victim says will be exactly what the man is going to do, because he wants to victim to suffer. 

I think I liked the second story a tad bit more than the first one, because it has such an important lesson in it, the ability of  a person to remain quiet no matter what happens. We may not consciously think about it, but if you have ever tried making yourself sit quiet for an hour (classrooms, lectures, meeting don't count!) it is actually quite hard. It's in the human nature that people desire to voice their opinions or comment even though it may not be necessary. This story of the birds offering the turtle a ride was impactful, in that we see the thought process of birds and how smart they are. If only the turtle had been as that smart he would not have had that horrible fate, not only that but it also shows that he did not take the time to think twice before he responded. Had he taken the time to think he would have realized that there was a stick between his mouth, which was what was his lifeline.

You know the saying, "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak," by Epictetus, a Greek philosopher.

Ah the Demon (aka the Turtle) has been discovered

The Turtle who could not stay quiet