Reading Notes: Week 6, Part B (Jataka Tales – Babbitt)

The Golden Goose: This is a story about a goose that had golden feathers who loved close to a very poor woman and her two daughters. The goose wanted to help them out, so he decided to give them one of his feathers over a period of days to help them get money. One day, the mother became greedy and told her daughters that the next time the goose comes by, they were going to take all of his feathers instead of just the one he had been giving them each time. The daughters did not want to do this, but their mother was greedy. The thing with the goose was that if he did not voluntarily give up his feathers like he had been, they would only be white, not gold, and have no value to them. Without knowing this, the mother plucked all of his feathers. Over time, the goose's feathers did grow back, but he flew home and never came back to the family again.

The Stupid Monkeys: This is a story about a gardener, a king, three monkeys and the holiday that was being given to all the people of the town. One day, the king gave a holiday to all the people who lived in his town, except for somehow the gardener. In those days, there was a tribe of monkeys who lived in the king's garden, and the gardener thought he would ask the monkeys to cover watering the trees for him that day so he could enjoy the holiday with his friends. The monkeys agreed to water the trees for the day, but they did not seem to listen to the gardener's instructions. The gardener told them at sundown to make sure the trees have plenty of water, but not too much. When it was sundown, the monkeys were unsure about how much water to give to the young trees. The King of the monkeys instructed his other monkeys to pull up each young tree and look at the length of its roots and to give a great deal of water to those with long roots, but only a little to those trees that have short roots. So, the monkeys pulled up all of the young trees, killing them all. 

Picture of a forest 

(Taken by Olena Sergienko on Unsplash)

1. "The Golden Goose," More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

2. "The Stupid Monkeys," More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt