Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Part A: How the Turtle Saved His Own Life

    For this week I chose to read Jataka Tales. Specifically, I wanted to write about the story of how the turtle saved his own life. The story starts out talking about a king who decided that he wanted to put a lake in the courtyard. The princes played in the lake all the time, and eventually their father the king told them that fish had been put into the lake. So they went to the lake to see the new fish. It so happened that there was a turtle lying on the bank. The princes had never seen a turtle before, and they thought it was a demon.

    They came running their father, and when he heard he had the turtle/demon brought in and they decided what to do with it. Many suggestions were made about how to kill the poor turtle. Then a man, who was scared of the water, suggested throwing it into the river. The turtle was cunning, and upon hearing this he said things like "Oh, not the water!!" The people took him for his word, and the turtle was brought to the water, where he was able to safely escape with his life. 

     I thought this was a really interesting story. It's so crazy how mob mentality works. You would think at least ONE person had seen a turtle before. The King, for instance. He would have to be many years older than his sons, surely in that time he'd seen a turtle. I loved that the turtle was so clever and held his silence until someone mentioned throwing him into the water where he'd be safe. 

    Overall I enjoyed this story. If I were to write my own version of this story, perhaps I would make a more modern, human version of this story. I think it could be really cool to have a human version of it with a similar vibe.

People deciding the Turtle's fate. 

Bibliography. Jataka Tales "How the Turtle Saved His Own Life" by Ellen C. Babbit. Web Source.