More Jataka tales

Foreword

The continued success of the ‘Jataka Tales/’ as retold and published ten years ago, has led to this second and com¬ panion volume. Who that has read or told stories to children has not been lured on by the subtle flattery of their cry for “more”?

Dr. Felix Adler, in his Foreword to “Jataka Tales,” says that long ago he was “captivated by the charm of the Jataka Tales.” Little children have not only felt this charm, but they have discovered that they can read the stories to them¬ selves. And so “More Jataka Tales” were found in the vol¬ ume translated from the Sanskrit into English by a group of Cambridge scholars and published by the University Press.

The Jataka tales, regarded as historic in the Third Cen¬ tury B. c., are the oldest collection of folk-lore extant. They come down to us from that dim for-off time when our forebears told tales around the same hearthfire on the roof of the world. Professor Rhys Davids speaks of them as

FOREWORD

‘'a priceless record of the childhood of our race. The same stories are found in Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, and in most European languages. The Greek versions of the Jataka tales were adapted and ascribed to the famous story¬ teller, .^sop, and under his name handed down as a con¬ tinual feast for the children in the West,—tales first in¬ vented to please and instruct our far-off cousins in the East.’^ Here East, though East, meets West!

A "‘Guild of Jataka Translators,” under Professor E. B. Cowell, professor of Sanskrit in the University of Cam¬ bridge, brought out the complete edition of the Jataka be¬ tween 1895 and 1907. It is from this source that “Jataka Tales” and “More Jataka Tales” have been retold.

Of these stories, spread over Europe through literary channels. Professor Cowell says, “They are the stray waifs of literature, in the course of their long wanderings coming to be recognized under widely different aspects, as when they are used by Boccaccio, or Chaucer, or La Fontaine.”

Contents

OHAPTEB PAGE

I The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls 3

II The Three Fishes. 8

II The Three Fishes

O NCE upon a time three Fishes lived in a far-away river. They were named Thoughtful, Very- Thoughtful, and Thoughtless.

One day they left the wild country where no men lived, and came down the river to live near a town.

Very-Thoughtful said to the other two: ‘There is dan¬ ger all about us here. Fishermen come to the river here to catch fish with all sorts of nets and lines. Let us go back again to the wild country where we used to live.’^

But the other two Fishes were so lazy and so greedy that they kept putting off their going from day to day.

But one day Thoughtful and Thoughtless went swimming on ahead of Very-Thoughtful and they did not see the fisher¬ man’s net and rushed into it. Very-Thoughtful saw them rush into the net.

‘T must save them,” said Very-Thoughtful.

So swimming around the net, he splashed in the water in 8

THE THREE FISHES front of it, like a Fish that had broken through the net and gone up the river. Then he swam back of the net and splashed about there like a Fish that had broken through and gone down the river.

The fisherman saw the splashing water and thought the Fishes had broken through the net and that one had gone up the river, the other down, so he pulled in the net by one cor¬ ner. That let the two Fishes out of the net and away they went to find Very-Thoughful.

‘‘You saved our lives, Very-Thoughtful,” they said, “and now we are willing to go back to the wild country.”

So back they all went to their old home where they lived safely ever after.

Ill

THE TRICKY WOLF AND THE RATS

O NCE upon a time a Big Rat lived in the forest, and many hundreds of other Rats called him their Chief.

A Tricky Wolf saw this troop of Rats, and began to plan how he could catch them. He wanted to eat them, but how was he to get them? At last he thought of a plan. He went to a corner near the home of the Rats and waited un¬ til he saw one of them coming. Then he stood up on his hind legs.

The Chief of the Rats said to the Wolf, ‘Wolf, why do you stand on your hind legs?’’

“Because I am lame,” said the Tricky Wolf. “It hurts me to stand on my front legs.”

“And why do you keep your mouth open ?” asked the Rat. “I keep my mouth open so that I may drink in all the air I can,” said the Wolf. “I live on air; it is my only food day after day. I can not run or walk, so I stay here. I * II

THE TRICKY WOLF AND THE RATS try not to complain.’* When the Rats went away the Wolf lay down.

The Chief of the Rats was sorry for the Wolf, and he went each night and morning with all the other Rats to talk with the Wolf, who seemed so poor, and who did not com¬ plain.

Each time as the Rats were leaving, the Wolf caught and ate the last one. Then he wiped his lips, and looked as if nothing had happened.

Each night there were fewer Rats at bedtime. Then they asked the Chief of the Rats what the trouble was. He could not be sure, but he thought the Wolf was to blame.

So the next day the Chief said to the other Rats, “You go first this time and I will go last.”

They did so, and as the Chief of the Rats went by, the

Wolf made a spring at him. But the Wolf was not quick enough, and the Chief of the Rats got away.

^‘So this is the food you eat. Your legs are not so lame as they were. You have played your last trick, Wolf,’* said the Chief of the Rats, springing at the Wolf’s throat. He bit the Wolf, so that he died.

And ever after the Rats lived happily in peace and quiet.

IV The Woodpecker, Turtle, And Deer

O NCE upon a time a Deer lived in a forest near a lake. Not far from the same lake, a Woodpecker had a nest in the top of a tree; and in the lake lived a Turtle. The three were friends, and lived together happily.

A hunter, wandering about in the wood, saw the foot¬ prints of the Deer near the edge of the lake. *‘l must trap the Deer, going down into the water,” he said, and setting a strong trap of leather, he went his way.

Early that night when the Deer went down to drink, he was caught in the trap, and he cried the cry of capture.

At once the Woodpecker flew down from her tree-top, and the Turtle came out of the water to see what could be done.

Said the Woodpecker to the Turtle: ‘‘Friend, you have teeth; you gnaw through the leather trap. I will go and see to it that the hunter keeps away. If we both do our be§t our friend will not lose his life.”

IS

So the Turtle began to gnaw the leather, and the Wood¬ pecker flew to the hunter’s house.

At dawn the hunter came, knife in hand, to the front door of his house.

The Woodpecker, flapping her wings, flew at the hunter and struck him in the face.

The hunter turned back into the house and lay down for a little while. Then he rose up again, and took his knife. He said to himself: ‘‘When I went out by the front door, a Bird flew in my face; now I will go out by the back door.*' So he did.

The Woodpecker thought: “The hunter went out by the front door before, so now he will leave by the back door.^* So the Woodpecker sat in a tree near the back door.

When the hunter came out the bird flew at him again, flapping her wings in the hunter’s face.

Then the hunter turned back and lay down again. When the sun arose, he took his knife, and started out once more.

This time the Woodpecker flew back as fast as she could fly to her friends, crying, “Here comes the hunter!”

By this time the Turtle had gnawed through all the pieces of the trap but one. The leather was so hard that it made his teeth feel as if they would fall out. His mouth was all covered with blood. The Deer heard the Woodpecker, and saw the hunter, knife in hand, coming on. With a strong pull the Deer broke this last piece of the trap, and ran into the woods.

The Woodpecker flew up to her nest in the tree-top.

But the Turtle was so weak he could not get away. He l8

THE WOODPECKER, TURTLE, AND DEER

lay where he was. The hunter picked him up and threw him into a bag, tying it to a tree.

The Deer saw that the Turtle was taken, and made up his mind to save his friend’s life. So the Deer let the hunter see him.

The hunter seized his knife and started after the Deer. The Deer, keeping just out of his reach, led the hunter into the forest.

When the Deer saw that they had gone far into the for¬ est he slipped away from the hunter, and swift as the wind, he went by another way to where he had left the Turtle.

But the Turtle was not there. The Deer called, '‘Turtle, Turtle!”; and the Turtle called out, “Here I am in a bag hanging on this tree.”

Then the Deer lifted the bag with his horns, and throw¬ ing it upon the ground, he tore the bag open, and let the Turtle out.

The Woodpecker flew down from her nest, and the Deer said to them: “You two friends saved my life, but if we stay here talking, the hunter will find us, and we may not get away. So do you. Friend Woodpecker, fly away. And you. Friend Turtle, dive into the water. I will hide in the forest.”

The hunter did come back, but neither the Deer, nor the Turtle, nor the Woodpecker was to be seen. He found his tom bag, and picking that up he went back to his home. The three friends lived together all the rest of their lives.

V

THE GOLDEN GOOSE

O NCE upon a time there was a Goose who had beautiful golden feathers. Not far away from this Goose lived a poor, a very poor woman, who had two daughters. The Goose saw that they had a hard time to get along and said he to himself:

‘Tf I give them one after another of my golden feathers, the mother can sell them, and with the money they bring she and her daughters can then live in comfort.’^

So away the Goose flew to the poor woman’s house. Seeing the Goose, the woman said: “Why do you come here? We have nothing to give you.”

“But I have something to give you,” said the Goose. “I will give my feathers, one by one, and you can sell them for enough so that you and your daughters can live in com¬ fort.”

So saying the Goose gave her one of his feathers, and then flew away. From time to time he came back, each time leaving another feather.

The mother and her daughters sold the beautiful feathers for enough money to keep them in comfort. But one day the mother said to her daughters: ‘'Let us not trust this Goose. Some day he may fly away and never come back.

Then we should be poor again. Let us get all of his feath¬ ers the very next time he comes.”

The daughters said: “This will hurt the Goose. We will not do such a thing.”

But the mother was greedy. The next time the Golden

THE GOLDEN GOOSE

Goose came she took hold of him with both hands, and pulled out every one of his feathers.

Now the Golden Goose has strange feathers. If his feathers are plucked out against his wish, they no longer re¬ main golden but turn white and are of no more value than chicken-feathers. The new ones that come in are not golden, but plain white.

As time went on his feathers grew again, and then he flew away to his home and never came back again.

VI The Stupid Monkeys

O NCE upon a time a king gave a holiday to all the people in one of his cities.

The king’s gardener thought to himself: “All my friends are having a holiday in the city. I could go in¬ to the city and enjoy myself with them if I did not have to water the trees here in this garden. I know what I will do. I will get the Monkeys to water the young trees for me.” In those days, a tribe of Monkeys lived in the king’s garden.

So the gardener went to the Chief of the Monkeys, and said: “You are lucky Monkeys to be living in the king’s gar¬ den. You have a fine place to play in. You have the best of food—nuts, fruit, and the young shoots of trees to eat. You have no work at all to do. You can play all day, every day. To-day my friends are having a holiday in the city, and I want to enjoy myself with them. Will you water the young trees so that I can go away ?”

“Oh, yes!” said the Chief of the Monkeys. “We shall be glad to do that.”

THE STUPID MONKEYS

‘‘Do not forget to water the trees when the sun goes down. See they have plenty of water, but not too much,’’ said the gardener. Then he showed them where the water¬ ing-pots were kept, and went away.

When the sun went down the Monkeys took the wateringpots, and began to water the young trees. “See that each tree has enough water,” said the Chief of the Monkeys.

“How shall we know when each tree has enough?” they asked. The Chief of the Monkeys had no good answer, so he said: ‘Tull up each young tree and look at the length of its roots. Give a great deal of water to those with long roots, but only a little to those trees that have short roots.^* Then those stupid Monkeys pulled up all the young trees to see which trees had long roots and which had short roots.

When the gardener came back the next day, the poor young trees were all dead.

VII The Cunning Wolf

O NCE upon a time the people in a certain town went out into the woods for a holiday. They took baskets full of good things to eat. But when noontime came they ate all the meat they had brought with them, not leaving any for supper.

‘T will get some fresh meat. We will make a fire here and roast it,'’ said one of the men.

So taking a club, he went to the lake where the animals came to drink. He lay down, club in hand, pretending to be dead.

When the animals came down to the lake they saw the man lying there and they watched him for some time.

'That man is playing a trick on us, I believe,” said the King of the Wolves. "The rest of you stay here while I will see whether he is really dead, or whether he is pretend¬ ing to be dead.”

Then the cunning King of the Wolves crept up to the man and slyly pulled at his club.

At once the man pulled back on his club.

Then the King of the Wolves ran off saying: ‘Tf you had been dead, you would not have pulled back on your club when I tried to pull it away. I see your trick. You pre¬ tend you are dead so that you may kill one of us for your supper.’’

The man jumped up and threw his club at the King of the Wolves. But he missed his aim. He looked for the other animals but there was not one in sight. They had all run away.

THE CUNNING WOLF

Then the man went back to his friends, saying: ‘T tried to get fresh meat by playing a trick on the animals, but the cunning Wolf played a better trick on me, and I could not get one of them.”

VIII The Penny-wise Monkey

O NCE upon a time the king of a large and rich country gathered together his army to take a far¬ away little country.

The king and his soldiers marched all morning long and then went into camp in the forest.

When they fed the horses they gave them some peas to eat. One of the Monkeys living in the forest saw the peas and jumped down to get some of them. He filled his mouth and hands with them, and up into the tree he went again, and sat down to eat the peas.

As he sat there eating the peas, one pea fell from his hand to the ground. At once the greedy Monkey dropped all the peas he had in his hands, and ran down to hunt for the lost pea. But he could not find that one pea. He climbed up into his tree again, and sat still looking very glum. ‘‘To get more, I threw away what I had,” he said to himself. The king had watched the Monkey, and he said to himi self: ‘T will not be like this foolish Monkey, who lost much to gain a little. I will go back to my own country and enjoy what I now have.”

So he and his men marched back home.

IX The Red-bud Tree

O NCE upon a time four young princes heard a story about a certain wonderful tree, called the Red- Bud Tree. No one of them had ever seen a Red- Bud Tree, and each prince wished to be the first to see one.

So the eldest prince asked the driver of the king’s chariot to take him deep into the woods where this tree grew. It was still very early in the spring and the tree had no leaves, nor buds. It was black and bare like a dead tree. The prince could not understand why this was called a Red-Bud Tree, but he asked no questions.

Later in the spring, the next son went with the driver of the king’s chariot to see the Red-Bud Tree. At this time it was covered with red buds.

The tree was all covered with green leaves when the third son went into the woods a little later to see it. He asked no questions about it, but he could see no reason for calling it the Red-Bud Tree.

Some time after this the youngest prince begged to be taken to see the Red-Bud Tree. By this time it was covered with little bean-pods.

When he came back from the woods he ran into the gar¬ den where his brothers were playing, crying, ‘T have seen the Red-Bud Tree.’'

‘*So have I,” said the eldest prince. ‘Tt did not look like much of a tree to me,” said he; “it looked like a dead tree. It was black and bare.”

‘‘What makes you say that?” said the second son. “The tree has hundreds of beautiful red buds. This is why it is called the Red-Bud Tree.”

THE RED-BUD TREE

The third prince said: ‘‘Red buds, did you say? Why do you say it has red buds ? It is covered with green leaves.”

The prince who had seen the tree last laughed at his broth¬ ers, saying: “I have just seen that tree, and it is not like a dead tree. It has neither red buds nor green leaves on it. It is covered with little bean-pods.”

The king heard them and waited until they stopped talk¬ ing. Then he said: “My sons, you have all four seen the same tree, but each of you saw it at a different time of the year.”

X

THE WOODPECKER AND THE LION

O NE day while a Lion was eating his dinner a bone stuck in his throat. It hurt so that he could not finish his dinner. He walked up and down, up and down, roaring with pain.

A Woodpecker lit on a branch of a tree near-by, and hear¬ ing the Lion, she said, “Friend, what ails you?” The Lion told the Woodpecker what the matter was, and the Wood¬ pecker said: “I would take the bone out of your throat, friend, but I do not dare to put my head into your mouth, for fear I might never get it out again. I am afraid you might eat me.”

“O Woodpecker, do not be afraid,” the Lion said. “I will not eat you. Save my life if you can!”

“I will see what I can do for you,” said the Woodpecker. “Open your mouth wide.” The Lion did as he was told, but the Woodpecker said to himself: “Who knows what this Lion will do? I think I will be careful.”

THE WOODPECKER AND THE LION

So the Woodpecker put a stick between the Lion’s upper and lower jaws so that he could not shut his mouth.

Then the Woodpecker hopped into the Lion’s mouth and hit the end of the bone with his beak. The second time he hit it, the bone fell out

The Woodpecker hopped out of the Lion’s mouth, and hit the stick so that it too fell out. Then the Lion could shut his mouth.

At once the Lion felt very much better, but not one word of thanks did he say to the Woodpecker.

One day later in the summer, the Woodpecker said to the Lion, ‘T want you to do something for me.”

‘*Do something for you?” said the Lion. ‘Wou mean you want me to do something more for you. I have al¬ ready done a great deal for you. You cannot expect me to do anything more for you. Do not forget that once I had you in my mouth, and I let you go. That is all that you can ever expect me to do for you.”

The Woodpecker said no more, but he kept away from the Lion from that day on.

xr

THE OTTERS AND THE WOLF

O NE day a Wolf said to her mate, “A longing has come upon me to eat fresh fish.”

“I will go and get some for you,” said he and he went down to the river.

There he saw two Otters standing on the bank looking for fish. Soon one of the Otters saw a great fish, and entering the water with a bound, he caught hold of the tail of the fish.

But the fish was strong and swam away, dragging the Otter after him. ‘^Corne and help me,” the Otter called back to his friend. “This great fish will be enough for both of us!”

So the other Otter went into the water. The two together were able to bring the fish to land. “Let us divide the fish into two parts.”

“I want the half with the head on,” said one.

“You cannot have that half. That is mine,” said the other. “You take the tail.”

The Wolf heard the Otters and he went up to them.

Seeing the Wolf, the Otters said: “Lord of the gray-grass color, this fish was caught by both of us together. We can¬ not agree about dividing him. Will you divide him for us The Wolf cut off the tail and gave it to one, giving the head to the other. He took the large middle part for him¬ self, saying to them, “You can eat the head and the tail with¬ out quarreling.'’ And away he ran with the body of the fish. The Otters stood and looked at each other. They had nothing to say, but each thought to himself that the Wolf had run off with the best of the fish.

THE OTTERS AND THE WOLF

The Wolf was pleased and said to himself, as he ran to¬ ward home, “Now I have fresh fish for my mate.’^

His mate, seeing him coming, came to meet him, saying: “How did you get fish? You live on land, not in the water.’'

Then he told her of the quarrel of the Otters. “I took the fish as pay for settling their quarrel,” said he.

XII

HOW THE MONKEY SAVED HIS TROOP MANGO-TREE grew on the bank of a great river.

The fruit fell from some of the branches of this tree into the river, and from other branches it fell on the ground.

Every night a troop of Monkeys gathered the fruit that lay on the ground and climbed up into the tree to get the mangoes, which were like large, juicy peaches.

One day the king of the country stood on the bank of this same river, but many miles below where the mango-tree grew. The king was watching the fishermen with their nets.

As they drew in their nets, the fishermen found not only fishes but a strange fruit. They went to the king with the strange fruit. “What is this?’^ asked the king.

“We do not know, O King,’^ they said.

“Call the foresters,’' said the king, “They will know what it is.”

HOW THE MONKEY SAVED HIS TROOP

So they called the foresters and they said that it was a mango.

“Is it good to eat?” asked the king.

The foresters said it was very good. So the king cut the mango and giving some to the princes, he ate some of it himself. He liked it very much, and they all liked it.

Then the king said to the foresters, “Where does the mango-tree grow?”

The foresters told him that it grew on the river bank many miles farther up the river.

‘'Let us go and see the tree and get some mangoes,’^ said the king.

So he had many rafts joined together, and they went up the river until they came to the place where the mango-tree grew.

The foresters said, “O King, this is the mango-tree.”

“We will land here,” said the king, and they did so. The king and all the men with him gathered the mangoes that lay on the ground under the tree. They all liked them so well that the king said, “Let us stay here to-night, and ga¬ ther more fruit in the morning.” So they had their supper under the trees, and then lay down to sleep.

When all was quiet, the Chief of the Monkeys came with his troop. All the mangoes on the ground had been eaten, so the monkeys jumped from branch to branch, picking and eating mangoes, and chattering to one another. They made so much noise that they woke up the king. He called his archers saying: “Stand under the mango-tree and shoot the Monkeys as they come down to the ground to get away. Then in the morning we shalj have Monkey’s flesh as well as mangoes to eat.”

The Monkeys saw the archers standing around with their arrows ready to shoot. Fearing death, the Monkeys ran to their Chief, saying: Chief, the archers stand around the

tree ready to shoot us! What shall we do They shook with fear.

The Chief said: “Do not fear; I will save you. Stay where you are until I call you.”

The Monkeys were comforted, for he had always helped them whenever they had needed help.

Then the Chief of the Monkeys ran out on the branch of the mango-tree that hung out over the river. The long branches of the tree across the river did not quite meet the branch he stood on. The Chief said to himself: “If the Monkeys try to jump across from this tree to that, some of them will fall into the water and drown. I must save them, but how am I to do it ? I know what I shall do. I shall make a bridge of my back.”

So the Chief reached across and took hold of the longest branch of the tree across the river. He called, “Come, Monkeys; run out on this branch, step on my back, and then run along the branch of the other tree.”

The Monkeys did as the Chief told them to do. They ran along the branch, stepped on his back, then ran along the branch of the other tree. They swung themselves down to the ground, and away they went back to their home.

HOW THE MONKEY SAVED HIS TROOP

The king saw all that was done by the Chief and his troop. ‘That big Monkey,” said the king to the archers, “saved the whole troop. I will see to it that he is taken care of the rest of his life.”

And the king kept his promise.

XIII

THE HAWKS) AND THEIR FRIENDS FAMILY of Hawks lived on an island in a lake not far from the great forest. On the northern shore of this lake lived a Lion, King of Beasts. On the eastern shore lived a Kingfisher. On the southern shore of the lake lived a Turtle.

'‘Have you many friends near here?” the Mother Hawk asked the Father Hawk.

“No, not one in this part of the forest,” he said.

“You must find some friends. We must have some one who can help us if ever we are in danger, or in trouble,” said the Mother Hawk.